This is a very painful movie to watch if you love old horror films. That's because both J. Carrol Naish and Lon Chaney, Jr. both starred in this film shortly before their deaths. As for Naish, he was so sickly that he acted in a wheelchair. Additionally, he had lost an eye and could not remember his lines, so he read from cue cards--and you could literally watch his one good eye darting back and forth while the glass one remained still. A sad and creepy effect, I must say. As for Chaney, he was killing himself with booze and he naturally looks bloated and a shadow of his former self.
Not surprisingly, these performances reminded me of Bela Lugosi in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Like Naish and Chaney, Lugosi was dying and many rather pointless scenes were dumped into PLAN 9 by director Ed Wood, Jr.. Like Wood, Al Adamson seemed to just dump film randomly into the film, as he took scenes from a planned sequel to SATAN'S SADISTS (a biker film) and dumped them into this horror of a film. Additionally, he hired a lady who looks like a stripper to play lead.
So is there any reason to watch this film? Well, if you want a quality film, then keep looking!! However, if you enjoy laughing at incompetence, then this film has it in spades. There's a Dracula who looks nothing like the familiar Count (perhaps he looks a bit more like a gay porn Dracula--you be the judge). There's also a Frankenstein that looks more like a mushroom man from ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE and his face is just,....well,...impossible to describe, though comparing it to Frankenstein is NOT possible! And, if that's not bad enough, the dialog and acting are horrid and the film just screams "crap" from start to finish! So overall, the film is horrible and it begs the question "was Al Adamson perhaps a worse director than Ed Wood, Jr."? With such great films to Adamson's credit as THE NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES, LASH OF LUST, BRAIN OF BLOOD, HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS and PSYCHO A GO-GO, if he ain't the worst director ever, he sure is a runner up!!
FYI--Angelo Rossitto is also in the film. While he's not a household name, this midget starred in a heap of old horror films in the 30s and 40s--most notably in FREAKS and some Bela Lugosi films.
Not surprisingly, these performances reminded me of Bela Lugosi in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Like Naish and Chaney, Lugosi was dying and many rather pointless scenes were dumped into PLAN 9 by director Ed Wood, Jr.. Like Wood, Al Adamson seemed to just dump film randomly into the film, as he took scenes from a planned sequel to SATAN'S SADISTS (a biker film) and dumped them into this horror of a film. Additionally, he hired a lady who looks like a stripper to play lead.
So is there any reason to watch this film? Well, if you want a quality film, then keep looking!! However, if you enjoy laughing at incompetence, then this film has it in spades. There's a Dracula who looks nothing like the familiar Count (perhaps he looks a bit more like a gay porn Dracula--you be the judge). There's also a Frankenstein that looks more like a mushroom man from ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE and his face is just,....well,...impossible to describe, though comparing it to Frankenstein is NOT possible! And, if that's not bad enough, the dialog and acting are horrid and the film just screams "crap" from start to finish! So overall, the film is horrible and it begs the question "was Al Adamson perhaps a worse director than Ed Wood, Jr."? With such great films to Adamson's credit as THE NAUGHTY STEWARDESSES, LASH OF LUST, BRAIN OF BLOOD, HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS and PSYCHO A GO-GO, if he ain't the worst director ever, he sure is a runner up!!
FYI--Angelo Rossitto is also in the film. While he's not a household name, this midget starred in a heap of old horror films in the 30s and 40s--most notably in FREAKS and some Bela Lugosi films.