I know a lot of people don't like this film for various reasons, but I love it, and always have. Yes it's dopey and silly, but still a favorite of mine.
John Carradine stars as Dracula who assumes the persona of a man killed in an Apache raid and arrives at a ranch. He pretends to be the owner of the ranch and he sets his sites on the dead man's niece, Betty (Melinda Plowman). It just so happens that Betty is engaged to a young man named William Bonney (Chuck Courtney).
Bonney is, of course Billy The Kid, and the Count will not allow the marriage as he wants Betty himself for a bride. This is quite a movie indeed.
I have always been a fan of this film even if it's kinda stupid. It mixes two genres I really enjoy and has a cast to die for. There are some outstanding and unforgettable moments in this film including Carradines' Dracula calling the town doctor of "female backwoods pill slinger" and ol' Drac setting his sights on an Indian squaw.
However one can never forget the close up shots of a young German woman's face as she recognizes the vampire from an earlier attack. These shots alone make the film worth while. The rest of the cast includes Virginia Christine, Bing Russell and Olive Carey.
One small it of trivia is that the director, William "One Shot" Beaudine lost most of his money in the stock market crash of 1929 and spent the rest of his life trying to make that money back, one low budget film at a time, and as people who read this blog know, he made a hell of a lot of them.
Enjoy this little gem for Halloween, and have a good time.
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