Blood of Dracula's Castle (1969)

Directors: Al Adamson, Jean Hewitt

Writer: Rex Carlton

Composer: ??? Stock library?

Starring: John Carradine, Paula Raymond, Alexander D'Arcy, Robert Dix, Gene Otis Shayne, Jennifer Bishop, Vicki Volante, Ray Young, John 'Bud' Cardos, Ken Osborne, Joyce King

More info: IMDb

Tagline: ONCE THE GATE CLOSES YOU'LL NEVER GET OUT!

Plot: Count Dracula and his wife capture beautiful young women and chain them in their dungeon, to be used when they need to satisfy their thirst for blood.

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I've often wondered what John Carradine's going rate was in the last twenty years of his career.  He did an incredible amount of low budget crap that he must have been working for sandwiches, liquor and the occasional damaged goods prostitute.  

Being from Al Adamson I really expected this to be as bad as the other pictures I've seen of his.  It's not good, either, but it's not an abomination.  I'll give the man this, though, he knew how to squeeze every dull nickel out of his near-non-existent budgets.  Yeah, it looks it but the man could make movies on the cheap and make money off of them.  The cast does a pretty good job, considering.  Alexander D'Arcy is amusing as Count Dracula looking more like an oilier version of Gomez Addams.

There's not much of a story but it's enough to get our heroes to their new castle only to be taken hostage and prepped for a ritual feast or something.  The pacing is surprisingly not dreadfully dull.  The 'castle' is in what appears to be the middle of nowhere north of Los Angeles.  It doesn't look like a pleasant place to live and I couldn't help but wonder who built it (in real life) and why.  It looks weak and boring.  Considering what this is and who was behind it you'd think it would be a complete stinker but it's mildly amusing.  Yes, that's a compliment.  It's one of several Crown International movies I've got in a set from Mill Creek called Gorehouse Greats Collection.  I picked it up for a dollar (or maybe less) as it's missing 2 of the 3 discs but the one disc in it had 3 movies I hadn't seen so it was worth it.  The anamorphic widescreen print is incredibly filthy in the first reel.  It's got more lines than the 2011 Rolling Stones concert after party.  Sadly there are no extras, barely any blood and no nudity.  Sigh.