Dracula Vs Frankenstein (1971)

Dracula vs. Frankenstein is a 1971 American science fiction horror film directed and co-produced by Al Adamson. The film stars J. Carrol Naish as Dr. Durea, a descendant of Dr. Frankenstein who is working on a blood serum for his assistant Groton (Lon Chaney Jr.). The serum soon becomes sought after by Count Dracula (Zandor Vorkov), who hopes that it will grant him the ability to be exposed to sunlight without harm. Other members of the film's cast include Anthony Eisley, Regina Carrol, and Angelo Rossitto.



Plot
At Oakmoor Cemetery, the vampire Dracula exhumes the remains of the Frankenstein Monster. A caretaker stumbles upon them and Dracula bites him upon the throat, killing him.

At a nearby amusement park, a girl named Joanie Fontaine is walking beneath the pier of a fog-shrouded boardwalk. From out of nowhere, a man with an ax appears and lops off her head.

Meanwhile, Judith Fontaine performs her act at a Las Vegas casino. After the performance, she receives a telegram from a Sergeant Martin of Venice, California, with regards to the missing persons report on her sister, Joanie. She goes to Martin's office to discuss the case, but the sergeant is particularly reassuring. He explains how the neighborhood piers and surrounding areas are increasingly violent, and how dozens of young women suffer unspeakable tortures there. In his mind, people suffer these indignities because deep down, they want to suffer them.

Elsewhere, two teenagers named Strange and Samantha walk the boardwalk until they arrive at Doctor Durae's Creature Emporium. A dwarf named Grazbo takes their money (which he pretends to eat) and ushers them inside. He escorts them down the dark corridors where the teens see various fright house spectacles. At one point however, the tour stops and they are greeted by their host, the wheelchair bound, Doctor Durae. Attending Durae is his mute assistant, Groton. Durae goes on about the power of illusions and how he has mastered the art form to bring forth his creature emporium.

After the hippies leave, Doctor Durae and Groton retire to their secret laboratory in the back of the emporium. Durae shows Groton his most recent experiment. He has taken the decapitated head of Joanie Fontaine (now revealing that Groton was the man with the ax) and how he has re-attached it to the body with the promise of complete cellular reanimation. It is through this work that Durae seeks to find a cure for nearly any ailment. He reminds Groton that he too will benefit from his work and he administers a shot of a special formula, apparently to help arrest a mysterious ailment that Groton suffers from. After receiving the injection, several boils begin to develop across Groton's face. Doctor Durae sends Groton out to procure another body for him.

After Groton leaves, Durae discovers the vampire Dracula has appeared before him in his laboratory. He asks him how he got inside the laboratory, but Dracula dismisses his questions. He reveals that Durae's real name is Frankenstein and that he knows all about him. He recounts how Durae’s career was ruined by a group of scientists (led by a man named Beaumont) who exposed Durae’s family lineage so as to cover up their own experiments with the Frankenstein Monster. It was Doctor Beaumont who caused the fire that ultimately crippled Doctor Durae. Dracula further tells him that he has the body of the Frankenstein Monster in his possession and that together, the two of them can help each other realize their greatest dreams; Dracula's insatiable lust for power, and Durae's revenge against those who ruined his career.

Meanwhile, Groton continues to stalk the beach in search of new victims. He comes upon two lovers, Laura and Bob, in the midst of an argument. He swings his ax down, killing both of them, but he is only interested in the body of the female.

Elsewhere in the city, Judith Fontaine arrives, still searching for her sister. She goes to a hippie hangout and begins asking questions. One of the workers there, a man with a severe scar across his forehead, suspects that Judith might be a cop. When she begins asking questions regarding a biker named Rico, the scarred man decides to take action. He slips some pills into a coffee cup and gives it to Judith. After drinking the coffee, Judith begins to suffer a hallucinogenic episode. She begins stumbling throughout the room, knocking into people dancing. Strange and Samantha are present and they keep Judith steady and begin walking her out of the building. They bring her to the home of a friend of theirs named Mike Howard.

Back at the lab, Dracula and Doctor Durae successfully reanimate the body of the Frankenstein Monster. Dracula points out that the success of the experiment is contingent upon acquiring radiation from a passing comet. The monster awakens and Dracula is able to control its actions. They use the creature as the instrument through which Durae will gain his revenge. They find Doctor Beaumont and Dracula mystically appears inside the man’s car. Beaumont is shocked by the vampire's sudden arrival, but is even more shocked when the Frankenstein Monster appears in the middle of the road. Beaumont tries to escape, but the Monster grabs him and crushes him to death in a massive bear hug.

The following morning, Judith awakens in Mike Howard's beach house. He explains how Strange and Samantha brought her to him. Judith tells him that she is looking for his sister and Mike says that he knew Joanie, though admittedly, not extremely well. He tells her that Joanie would often frequent Doctor Durae's Creature Emporium because she had "fantasies about being a freak". A boy approaches the back of the beach house and tells Mike that the police have discovered the dismembered remains of a man out by Rocky Point.

Mike, Judith, Strange and Samantha decide to pay a visit to Doctor Durae's Creature Emporium. After wandering about through the exhibits, they finally meet Doctor Durae. Judith asks about her sister and shows Durae a photograph of her. Durae feigns ignorance and says he doesn't recognize her. The four decide to leave. Outside, Judith runs across Sgt. Martin. She asks him about his progress on her sister's case, but the cynical detective dismisses her once again. He does warn her however, that there are some dangerous elements in the area, and tells her to stay away from the beaches for there is a dangerous maniac on the loose.

Meanwhile, Strange and Samantha walk down an alley where they are accosted by Rico and his biker gang. The thugs circle around Samantha, but a police cruiser turns down the alley and the biker’s take off.

Back at the laboratory, Doctor Durae continues to pontificate to Groton as he examines the body of his most recent victim. He criticizes Groton for drawing so much attention to himself and calls him weak. He then gives him another shot of his formula. Durae is now relying upon the Frankenstein Monster to do his strongman work for him.

The Monster meanwhile, stalks the desolate highways and attacks a couple in their car. He pulls the car door off its hinges and reaches inside. Two police officers appear and begin firing their guns at the monster, but the invulnerable creature easily kills them.

Later in the evening, the bikers find Samantha walking under the pier and attack. They corral her to the section of boardwalk near Durae's lab and prepare to rape her. Groton appears and hacks away at the bikers with his ax, dismembering them. He brings the unconscious Samantha back to the laboratory.

Judith and Mike go for a walk near the pier and Mike finds Samantha's locket, partially buried in the sand. Investigating further, he finds a trapdoor in the dock above him which leads to Durae’s lab.

Entering through the trapdoor, they find the laboratory and Judith discovers Joanie's prone body, strapped upright to a table on the wall. A wicked scar stretches across her throat. Doctor Durae appears and speaks again about the importance of his experiments, emphasizing how trauma-induced cellular conversion is needed for his experiments. It soon becomes clear however, that these two have seen too much and must be dealt with. Durae orders Groton to kill them.

While Groton lunges towards Mike and Judith, Durae' dwarf ticket man, Grazbo, enters the lab via the upstairs entrance from the emporium. He grabs an ax and moves towards a ladder, but his cane gets caught on one of the ladder's steps and he falls down. His face lands on the bladed side of his ax and he instantly dies.

Judith races out of the laboratory as Doctor Durae begins firing a gun at Mike. Groton chases after her, leaving Durae alone to deal with the last intruder. Mike ducks behind several tables, but Durae manages to shoot him in the shoulder as he is making his way up the stairs. Durae follows him into the Creature Emporium, but his wheelchair accidentally collides with the guillotine display, pitching Durae forward. His head lands on the chopping block and the blade slides down, decapitating him. Mike runs outside.

Meanwhile, Groton continues to chase Judith across the rooftop. From the street below, Sgt. Martin appears along with Samantha's boyfriend, Strange. Strange points out Judith and Groton and Martin fires his gun. The bullets strike Groton in the chest and he falls from the top of the roof.

Judith then runs into Count Dracula. Dracula hypnotizes her and brings her back to the roof of the building where he ties her up. Echoing the sentiments of the late Doctor Durae, Dracula tells Judith that her fear energizes the molecular structure of her blood and the resulting formula will make Dracula invincible, enabling him to command legions of the undead.

Mike steals a police squad car and tracks Judith down. He takes a flare from the glove compartment and races up the metal fire escape. However, Dracula still has the Frankenstein Monster under his control. The monster appears and barricades Mike's ascent, but Mike lights the flare and shoves it into the monster's face, blinding him. The monster spins about in pain, unsure of who to attack. Mistaking Dracula for Mike, he begins throttling the vampire, but Dracula hypnotizes the monster into calming down.

Mike frees Judith and the two begin running away. Dracula points his ring towards them and fires a heat ray that burns Mike to death. Dracula then re-captures Judith.

As the evening wears on, Dracula and the Monster bring Judith to an old, abandoned church where they tie her to a chair. Dracula now intends on biting Judith, turning her into a vampire. The Frankenstein Monster however, has since become enamored with Judith and does not wish to see her come to harm. As Dracula leans over to bite her, the monster pushes him backward and the two begin fighting. The Monster pulls the ring from Dracula's finger and the vampire now realizes that he is at a disadvantage.

Their fight continues in the nearby forest and Dracula attempts to hypnotize the Frankenstein Monster. This tactic fails, but Dracula soon gets the upper hand. He wrenches both of the monster's arms free from their sockets, then pulls his head off. The fight has gone on too long however, and the sun is beginning to rise. Dracula begins racing through the woods back to the church, but he is running out of time. Just as he reaches the church steps, the sun bears down upon him, reducing him to ash.

Judith manages to free herself and walks outside where she sees a ring, a discarded cape and a pile of debris that was once Count Dracula.