Dracula vs. Frankenstein

Dracula vs. Frankenstein is a 1971 horror film that was released by Independent International Pictures which was a top drive-in movie supplier at the time. The film was directed by the late Al Adamson and produced by Sam Sherman. The plot of the film revolves around Count Dracula (Zandor Vorkov) working with Dr. Frankenstein to revive the Frankenstein Monster in exchange for the Doctor creating a blood serum to help Dracula become even more powerful and achieve global domination.

The Doctor orders his assistant Groton (Lon Chaney Jr.) to murder young women so their blood can be used to create the serum. A female entertainer named Judith Fontaine is looking for her missing sister who was murdered by Groton. She was also involved with a motorcycle gang that has been terrorizing the local seaside community and Judith raises their ire as well.

Once the Frankenstein Monster is revived, Doctor Frankenstein uses it to murder those in the scientific community that rebuked him.

Dracula vs. Frankenstein was originally filmed two years earlier as a film entitled The Blood Seekers and Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster were never part of the plot. The original film centered on a biker gang. Feeling the final cut of the Blood Seekers was not going to be a commercial hit, scenes with the two monsters were shot and inserted into the new film with a new plot.

The depiction of both Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster is quite memorable. They do not, however, interact with the bikers in the film at all.

Dracula vs. Frankenstein played on the drive-in circuit at the time of its release. It would be released into syndication for repeat airings on television in the early 1980s. The film has gained a cult following and has experienced another re-release. This time, the release was on BluRay. The film still plays theatrically at revivals on a periodic basis.