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Billy the Kid Meets Dracula

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  • Earth 2 Chris
    Verbose Member
    • Mar 7, 2004
    • 32498

    Billy the Kid Meets Dracula

    You know...I watched most of this on TCM last night, for the very first time, after hearing about it for decades...and it's not nearly as horrible as it's reputation would leave you to believe.

    Don't get me wrong, it's bad...but it's not atrociously made or anything like that. Billy The Kid as the pure of heart hero in his mid-30s and bug-eyed John Carradine as an old creeper Dracula are pretty laughable, but it is fun in a campy sort of way.

    It's like an episode of Bonanza with a vampire in it. Odd.

    Chris
    sigpic
  • palitoy
    live. laugh. lisa needs braces
    • Jun 16, 2001
    • 59200

    #2
    Yeah, I remember this and "Jesse James meets Frankenstein's Daughter" from the "Not So Great Movie" on City TV and they reminded me of "Wild, Wild West" episodes.

    The director for both was infamously known as "One Shot" and known for his ability to make movies quickly. He was a very busy TV director.
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    • YoungOnce
      Career Member
      • Aug 29, 2007
      • 966

      #3
      Originally posted by Earth 2 Chris
      It's like an episode of Bonanza with a vampire in it. Odd.

      Chris
      Ha. That's it exactly. I think my favorite part was at the end....

      (Spoiler alert)

      When the sherrif runs out of bullets that have no effect on Dracula and so throws the gun and knocks him out.

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      • Earth 2 Chris
        Verbose Member
        • Mar 7, 2004
        • 32498

        #4
        Yeah, I remember this and "Jesse James meets Frankenstein's Daughter" from the "Not So Great Movie" on City TV and they reminded me of "Wild, Wild West" episodes.

        The director for both was infamously known as "One Shot" and known for his ability to make movies quickly. He was a very busy TV director.
        Ha! Yes. Although I think Robert Conrad would have made short work of ol' wrinkly Carradine.

        "One Shot" Bodine's reputation made me expect something like flubs from a Dark Shadows episode, but I didn't detect anything that bad.

        When the sherrif runs out of bullets that have no effect on Dracula and so throws the gun and knocks him out.
        Yeah, that has to be Dracula's most embarrasing moment in cinema history.
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        • palitoy
          live. laugh. lisa needs braces
          • Jun 16, 2001
          • 59200

          #5
          They get bashed by critics a bit too harshly IMO, they're camp and there was never any illusions of being high art but they're competent and fun.
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          Buy Toy-Ventures Magazine here:
          http://www.plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop

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          • Falstaff13
            Persistent Member
            • May 28, 2008
            • 1251

            #6
            They're both fun, and I think having John Carradine as the vampire and some old western actors in secondary roles (including Olive Carey playing wife to her son Harry Carey Jr.) gives this one a fun vibe. It's nice to see the top-hatted Dracula as Carradine also played him in the two House of... monster rally pictures.
            Hugh H. Davis

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            • Werewolf
              Inhuman
              • Jul 14, 2003
              • 14615

              #7
              Never really carried for John Carradine's birthday party magician version of Dracula.
              You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return...

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              • Earth 2 Chris
                Verbose Member
                • Mar 7, 2004
                • 32498

                #8
                ^Yeah, he's got ONE good moment in House of Dracula where he's mesmerizing Martha O'Driscoll. You can almost get a Frank Langella vibe off of him there, but beyond that, he's got a good voice, an elegant presence, and that's it. Everyone gives Lon Chaney Jr. crap for Son of Dracula, but I prefer his "Count Alucard" over Carradine's Drac. At least Chaney had a seething menace about him.

                Chris
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                • TrekStar
                  Trek or Treat
                  • Jan 20, 2011
                  • 8354

                  #9
                  I thought Carradine was a decent Dracula, he was no Lugosi but still pretty good, he had that creepy kind of thin body frame and the voice was interesting, but the top hat and white gloves was a bit ridiculous.

                  Another thing about those House movies that was disappointing to me was that Drac was killed off early then the storyline with Chaney Jr and the monster begins, it's like two movies spliced into one.

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                  • PNGwynne
                    Master of Fowl Play
                    • Jun 5, 2008
                    • 19444

                    #10
                    Chaney's voice ruins it for me. Carradine could have been a better Dracula in better vehicles--the WW II-era Monster films are all neutered. Frankenstein's Monster, and the Mummy in his own series, are zombie stooges.

                    House of Dracula suffers IMO from too little Drac and too much Jekyll & Hyde.
                    Last edited by PNGwynne; Oct 13, '17, 3:59 PM.
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                    • PNGwynne
                      Master of Fowl Play
                      • Jun 5, 2008
                      • 19444

                      #11
                      Actually--in regards to evening wear, if you're going to be wearing a cape (outside), the top hat and gloves are the right accessories. Just saying.

                      I'm not saying Carradine is perfect--who can truly surpass Bela?--but he's not awful. Didn't Carradine play Drac the most next to Lee?
                      WANTED: Dick Grayson SI trousers; gray AJ Mustang horse; vintage RC Batman (Bruce Wayne) head; minty Wolfman tights; mint Black Knight sword; minty Launcelot boots; Lion Rock (pale) Dracula & Mummy heads; Lion Rock Franky squared boots; Wayne Foundation blue furniture; Flash Gordon/Ming (10") unbroken holsters; CHiPs gloved arms; POTA T2 tan body; CTVT/vintage Friar Tuck robes, BBP TZ Burgess Meredith glasses.

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                      • Earth 2 Chris
                        Verbose Member
                        • Mar 7, 2004
                        • 32498

                        #12
                        ^If you count stage performances, I'm not sure which one would win. If you are talking movies only, then Carradine played him at least 3 times, "officially" (although I don't know how "official" the Billy the Kid movie is), whereas Bela only played him twice on film. Of course he played other vampires who were pretty much the Count, especially in the excellent Return of the Vampire.
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                        • PNGwynne
                          Master of Fowl Play
                          • Jun 5, 2008
                          • 19444

                          #13
                          I was not considering stage performances, though I know Carradine did perform the play. Return of the Vampire is indeed excellent.
                          WANTED: Dick Grayson SI trousers; gray AJ Mustang horse; vintage RC Batman (Bruce Wayne) head; minty Wolfman tights; mint Black Knight sword; minty Launcelot boots; Lion Rock (pale) Dracula & Mummy heads; Lion Rock Franky squared boots; Wayne Foundation blue furniture; Flash Gordon/Ming (10") unbroken holsters; CHiPs gloved arms; POTA T2 tan body; CTVT/vintage Friar Tuck robes, BBP TZ Burgess Meredith glasses.

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                          • TrekStar
                            Trek or Treat
                            • Jan 20, 2011
                            • 8354

                            #14
                            I wish Svengolie would show Return of the Vampire, I don't know if they have the rights to it though, but it's right up that alley of classic 40's universal monsters films, Lugosi as a vampire even if he's called something else plus a taking werewolf
                            and creepy cemetery scenes and music, great for halloween late night watching.

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                            • Earth 2 Chris
                              Verbose Member
                              • Mar 7, 2004
                              • 32498

                              #15
                              ^Return of the Vampire is Columbia, so he'd probably have to go after those rights on their own, but it would be worth it. Great movie.

                              Chris
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