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Good concept, poorly executed.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This review is of the Vinegar Syndrome edition just released on blu-ray.While watching this film I kept thinking how familiar it seemed. The further into it I got I finally realized that I had seen this movie years ago in a terrible format from a video vendor of public domain titles I won't name. That's because it wasn't their fault, they were offering the best they could with the quality of the film they had on hand. Needless to say the quality of that film didn't help my enjoyment of it. So while watching it this time I'm pleased to say the quality of this blu-ray release from Vinegar Syndrome made it a much better time.The story follows 5 companions, one man and four women, traveling through the Carpathian Mountains when their carriage breaks down and loses a wheel. Imre (the man) and Marlene are secretly lovers and while they go in search of the wheel, the driver is killed by the horse. The group walks along in hopes of reaching a nearby castle now owned by Wendell Marlow (Paul Naschy) who in reality is Count Dracula. He makes the travelers welcome, feeds them and offers them shelter until someone can come and take them on their way.Legend has it that Dracula can return to human form when a virgin offers her love to him willingly, an offering that will include making a blood sacrifice to bring back his deceased daughter as well. Of course this means that at least one of these women must be the love of his life and willing to do so. Unfortunately there are other vampires among the household and they begin picking off the guests who in turn set out to transform their friends as well. Along the way plenty of flesh is exposed, the typical Euro-horror inclusion of lesbian attraction between the female vampires, gore enough to satisfy those seeking it as long as they keep in mind the film was made in Spain and in 1973 and a lack of concern from the characters over the disappearance of their friends. And yet…it works.Part and parcel of the reason it works is the performances on display. Each of the actors here presents their character with enough conviction that they are believable as opposed to caricatures we've seen in other films. They do seem like friends, they do seem to care for one another (even if they don't question each other's disappearances) and they offer performances that don't come across as low budget at all. I've only come across Naschy in recent years (I know, forgive me) but each time I watch one of his films I see a passion for the genre that many tend to want to deviate from. Instead he embraces it. His performance here is one of the most subtle from him I've seen.All of this being said the true test of this release is how it looks. With all previous efforts to present this film have been severely lacking, offering washed out prints, visible scratches and a version from Elvira that included her performance as that character, I wondered what this version would look like. It was the first thing I've seen from Vinegar Syndrome so I had no idea what to expect.What I found was that this is a company that gets what fans want. Unlike those previous incarnations of this film this one was given star treatment with a transfer that is stunning to view. Gone are the washed out colors and scratches replaced by a crisp and clean print that fans will clamor for. Without those distractions the cinematography can now be appreciated and for the most part the film is well shot. If that wasn't enough, the disc comes with the inclusion of several extras including a commentary track with director Javier Aguirre and actor Paul Naschy, a video interview with actress Mirta Miller, both an English dub and Spanish language soundtracks, a still gallery, an 8 page booklet and reversible cover artwork.Horror fans and Naschy fans will want to toss aside any of those previous releases of this film and add this one to their collection immediately. With any luck Vinegar Syndrome will find access to more films Naschy has done and release them in the quality format that they have here.

Paul Naschy's version of the notorious character Dracula , it turns out to be an acceptable picture compellingly directed by Javier Aguirre with a good cast plenty of Eurobabes . A stagecoach is crashed when the carriage loses a wheel while traveling over the Borgo Passa , then passengers stop at a creepy sanitarium in the mists of eastern Europe . A man (Vic Winner) along with four women (Ingrid Garbo , Mirta Miller , Rosanna Yanni , Haydee Politoff) spend the night in an old deserted and rundown mansion on a mountain of a far country , Los Carpatos , Romania . They each in turn fall into the the evil hands of a physician (Jacinto Molina) who forces them to suck each others blood and to whip innocent village virgins so they can lick the oozing cuts clean . As Dracula starts a reign of seduction and horror, draining the life from four girls .This thrilling as well as terrifying film contains horrifying scenes , chills , lots of gore and red tomato was used for the blood . The picture contains a crazy love story , but also nudism , lots of blood and gore as when Dracula stabs enemies and bites women . It is a passable and average-budgeted version with gorgeous actresses , functional set design and brilliant costumes . It's a delirious story about ¨amour fou¨ with multiples literary references and Hammer elements ; all of them thrown in . It results to be a strong tale as well as sensitive flick with melodramatic touches in which Dracula falls in love with a gorgeous young played by Haydee Politoff . Beautiful and naked actresses along with brief appearance two actors who performed several Spaghetti/Paella Western : Alvaro De Luna and Jose Luis Martin . Good performance from Naschy as a doctor with dark secrets . The picture was shot at the same time to ¨Hunchback of Morgue¨ with same director , cameraman , musician and actors that deals with a below average intelligence hunchback who works at the morgue. Both of them shared a similar theme , as a lone being , Hunchback and Dracula, who fall in love with a virginal maid . Naschy deservedly won the prize George Melies the best performance in Fantastic Festival of Paris and other several prizes . Naschy's success started in 1967 when Paul played and wrote the script for ¨Mark of wolfman¨ . He was forced out of necessity to play the lead role of tormented werewolf Waldermar Daninsky after Lon Chaney, Jr. turned it down . He reprised this character in over a dozen subsequent sequels . Naschy's portrayals of the anguished and sympathetic werewolf Daninsky became his signature part and consolidated his enduring cult status as a bona-fide horror icon. Other significant horror figures Paul played were the Mummy, Jack the Ripper, the Hunchback, the Frankenstein Monster, the Phantom of the Opera, the Devil and even Dracula , his performance as the Prince of Darkness in this "Count Dracula's Great Love" it was one of his personal favorites. Atmospheric cinematography by Javier Pere Cubero though would have been necessary a photography similarly to Hammer Films , glamorous gowns and regular production design , including evocative sets . Flawed but interesting screenplay by Jacinto Molina and the same director Javier Aguirre who blends diverse themes ; however , the picture contains a silly finale . Thrilling and frightening musical score by Carmelo Bernaola . Appropriate sets and production design by Cubero and Galicia who worked in many Spaghetti Western . The motion picture was professionally directed by Javier Aguirre . Rating : Good , it will appeal to mad-cults movies and Naschy fans ; it's one of the best films .

This is a very low budget Spanish version of Dracula that is chock full of breasts--sort of like a nudie version of a horror film. Plus, while I didn't think it looked very realistic, there was tons of fake blood as well. This surprised me, as it was marketed as a horror film presented by Elvira--and usually these are more family-friendly films. So beware when you get this--this is a soft-core horror film with more groaning and moaning than I thought was possible! Oh, and speaking of Elvira, I should point out that if you do get this version, you also get Elvira interrupting the film periodically to make comments. Fortunately, on the DVD you can chose not to see these--this is strongly recommended as they interrupt the flow of the film and really add nothing to the experience.As for the quality of the film overall, this isn't a particularly bad film for the first half and it does have an interesting plot twist (Dracula finding love). However, oddly, after he and his lady love profess their love, the film continues for some time and seems to drag. However, to make things worse, the original style of the narrative vanishes. No longer do people talk or act, but there is an annoying voice-over during the last half of the film--as if they ran out of money for translating the dialog! Plus, instead of story, the film is full of rather disjointed sadism and blood-letting. In hindsight, it probably would have been best to end the film shortly after he finds love, as up until then it was a rather decent (if "boobified") film.My final verdict is that this film is too hard-core for most people and the story itself is too convoluted and poor to merit it as a "must see" for people wanting a porno horror film--as a result, it probably won't appeal to many out there.

1870. A quintet of wayward travelers -- one jerky guy and four hottie ladies -- wreck their stagecoach in the middle of nowhere and seek refuge in the opulent castle of Dr. Marlow (glum, stocky, plain-looking Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy, who's miscast, but not half bad in the part), who turns out to be none other than Count Dracula. Dracula develops a special interest in Karen (lovely, charming brunette Haydee Politoff), a sweet and chaste virgin with pure blood Dracula needs to resurrect his long dormant daughter. Javier Aquirre's bluntly effective direction may lack grace and subtlety, but it does the crudely pleasing trick just the same: there's plenty of nicely creepy'n'misty atmosphere, cruddy dubbing, gorgeously voluptuous actresses who happily disrobe with satisfying frequency (Rossana Yanni, Mirta Miller and Ingrid Garbo are all absolutely ravishing as deadly, yet enticing bloodsucker babes who attack their victims with ferociously uninhibited abandon), lurid, ratty photography, a suitably abundant amount of sleazily graphic sex and violence, a few endearingly hokey cheap scares (a black cat jumps out from behind a door), a spooky ooga-booga score, and a hypnotically slow pace. Granted, this flick sure ain't no work of exceptional sophisticated art, but it still hits the scuzzy spot as a perfectly trashy serving of Eurojunk horror fun.