La dinastía de Dracula (1980) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
2 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
6/10
cheesy vampire horror with Gothic atmosphere
trashgang16 October 2012
People ask me why I am still searching the globe for VHS. The answer is simple. There are so many horror flicks out that never had a DVD or Blu Ray release until this writing. And even as they have one it's sometimes necessary to search the VHS release.

Dynasty Of Dracula is a perfect example why I searched the very rare Eagle Video release on VHS. I admit, this flick is was out in Germany on the OOP 'Astro' DVD but it do has it's problems. First it's dubbed in German and secondly it was only 77 minutes long. The VHS is full uncut and clocks in at just over 85 minutes.

Still being a very rare release and also the only uncut one worldwide it is watchable but only for the nostalgia of good old Gothic horrors or maybe even the Hammer buffs.

Don't watch it for the effects because they are very laughable. Bats are hanging before windows but it's so easy to spot the wires hanging on the bats. A lot of effects is done by editing. And the editing is viewable. You see a vampire standing and suddenly, with a bad cut, he disappeared. And the vampires itself are so cheesy. They had to take care while speaking not to lose their fangs.

The story is a bit hard to get because the only release this Mexican vampire flick had was Spanish. Still you can easily spot what's going on. First you will see an execution of Lord Duke Orloff, a Satanist and vampire done by the inquisition. We move forward to the 19th century were a witch performs a ritual to provoke power and removes the stake from Lord Orloff. Dracula has risen from the grave. Together with the witch he's trying to possess a town to make it theirs together with Satan.

Looks all great but it's very low on red stuff and as said has a lot of laughable and cheesy effects. The cutting effects reminded me of some Hammer horrors so no prob there. It's still watchable if you are used to grindhouse horror because the print had a lot of scratches which adds toward the grindhouse feeling. If you dig Paul Naschy flicks then this is a must to see...if you only can possess the VHS.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 1/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5
15 out of 17 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
Mexican Satanic vampires
BandSAboutMovies10 September 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Alfredo B. Crevenna was born in Germany, but would find his way to Mexico, where he directed tons of movies between 1945 and 1995. Seriously, the guy has a catalog that rivals people like Jess Franco. Of date, I've seen his film The Fury of the Karate Experts, which pits Santo against, well, karate experts, as well as his movies The Whip Against Satan, Santo vs. the Martian Invasion, Planet of the Female Invaders and Adventure at the Center of the Earth.

Here, he tells the story of Duke Antonio de Orloff, who starts the film as a dog before Holy Water is thrown on him. He's led through the streets by a priest, who then stakes him and buries him. Luckily for our vampire - and this movie - he's rescued 300 years later by Madame Kostoff (Erika Carlsson, The Devil's Rain!, Demonoid, Muerte Infernal), who attempts to take the land that he is buried on.

If you can imagine a Hammer film made in 1980 in Mexico, then you understand the movie that is The Dynasty of Dracula. Also, these vampires have a healthy command of the occult arts, having given their souls over to Satan. Oh yeah - in addition to wanting to bring back Orloff, Kostoff has brought Dracula himself - using the name Baron Von Helsing! - to town to drink all the victims that he'd like.

The main reason why I sought this out was that some sources list the male lead as Fabian. However, it's not Fabian Forte, but Mexican actor Fabian Aranza. The idea that crooner Fabian was battling South of the Border blooddrinkers is way too much for my mind to bear.

As Dracula and Kostoff attempt to bring Orloff back to the land of the living on Walpurgis Night - paging Paul Naschy! - Mexican Fabian and a priest suddenly decide to turn the last part of this movie into The Exorcist.
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed