DRACULA'S
GREAT LOVE (1972)Director: Javier Aquirre
Eclectic/Sinema Diable
DRACULA'S
GREAT LOVE (1972)One of the most interesting directors
to work with Spanish horror legend Paul Naschy was Javier Aquirre. Together
they made EL GRAN AMOR DEL CONDE DRACULA (DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE) and EL JORBADO
DE LA MORGUE (THE HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE), both of which many fans consider
to be his best work. The idea of having Naschy play Dracula seems ludicrous,
but somehow with the help of some nice added attractions, it all works rather
well. 
Two scoundrels (one whose dubbed voice sounds amazingly like Mel Blanc) deliver a coffin to a smoke filled ex-sanitarium. After foolishly wandering around for items to steal, they encounter what appears to be the Count. One is given the ax in the head and the other is turned into an ugly imbecile vampire. Later, Imre (macho Vic Winner) arrives with a bevy of beauties (Haydee Politoff, Rossana Yanni, Ingrid Garbo, and Mirta Miller), when their carriage breaks down. They are greeted by one Dr. Wendell (Naschy), who is really Dracula in disguise. For most of the first half, Wendell appears to be the hero, as the vampirizing of the guests is commenced by the imbecile scoundrel. After combing his hair back, sporting some fangs, and donning a black cape, he is revealed to be Dracula (made up to look like Christopher Lee), and has designs on reviving his long dead daughter. To do this, he must find true love and almost succeeds (with Politoff), but she refuses his wishes and he resolves to suicide.
Aquirre's
vampire film is filled with enticing eroticism that pads out the film to good
effect. Like Leon Klimovsky's vampire endeavors, it's a sex film, and is openly
content with the fact. There are lesbian vampires who slowly caress and seduce
each other and attack their victims with a grin of gratified lust (the scene
where two vampire women feast on Rossana Yanni is particularly outrageous).
Less impressive, but somewhat amusing is Naschy's Dracula. His awkward-looking
Wendell is later redeemed by his tolerable vampire persona. Dracula's role is
not all that demanding, as he hardly ever uses his mouth to speak (most of his
words are hear
d
as narration interpreted as thoughts). Dracula
is essentially limited to these thoughts, as well as acts of sex and sadism,
but two of his scenes stand out; Dracula embracing his lover, casting only her
passionate reflection in the mirror, and the close-up of tears on Dracula's
face as he departs with his dead daughter. On the whole, Aquirre's sole vampire
contribution is a credit to its genre, yet it is highly underrated within its
confines.
Eclectic
uses the same tape source seen on the Sinister Cinema version that was on VHS
for many years, and recently sold as a DVD-R. This cut of the film was always
preferable to other VHS versions out there (Gorgon Home Video, Iver Film Services),
since it's the most uncut one available. It has all the sex and gore that was
present in the U.S. theatrical release, and splices can be heard where these
steamy scenes are inserted (many Spanish horror films had alternative "clothed"
versions that removed much of the meat and potatoes).
Culled from a 16mm print source,
the transfer isn't bad, but it isn't perfect either. Colors are stable, but
blacks are too dark and sometimes the image bleeds or becomes soft. The original
widescreen image is here cropped, causing the loss of much picture information
on the sides. For some reason, the first nine minutes of the DVD have a fake
letterbox over the already-cropped image (cutting off the tops and bottoms of
some of the opening credits), but then the black bars mysteriously disappear
(perhaps this is also to cover up the "SC" mark seen in the bottom
corner of the Sinister DVD-R release?). The audio is a bit scratchy at times,
and blanks out for a second or two on several occasions. There are no extras,
but it should be noted that Eclectic opted to use the original Spanish poster
art for the cover.
(George
R. Reis)