Monster of the Day #1166

Updated on June 15, 2015 By Ken Begg 14 Comments

This week was in the works anyway, due to my recent Billy the Kid vs Dracula review. Then Christopher passed away, and it seemed even more appropriate.

If I remember correctly, I started Monster of the Day with Karloff’s Frankenstein Monster. The second day was Lugosi’s Dracula. Everyone’s Dracula is a separate monster in a way.

Here we get Lon Chaney Jr’s version. Every monster fan loved Larry Talbot, but the beefy, Joe-American Chaney was a poor choice to play the aristocratic, European Count. Not disastrously bad, but not a patch on John Carradine or, of course, Lugosi. Still, the movie itself is quite fun.

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  • Flangepart

    Yankee Vamp. Yup…just don’t quite get it. Sure, if Vamps existed, they’d echo what they were in life. Which means a Redneck Vamp…would wear a ‘wife eater’ T-shirt.
    Yeah, yeah, ‘Wife eater’ seems more apt. for Zombies. Work with me here!

  • Gamera977

    I love this movie, I love the role reversal between Dracula and hi lovely young ‘victim’ and the setting of the decaying plantation in Louisiana. As Ken pointed out the weak link is Chaney who just seems out of place here.

  • bgbear_rnh

    Tell me about the rabbits, George!

  • Luke Blanchard

    One of the things about Lee was how good he was at the bits where Dracula’s inner beast comes out. Perhaps the problem with Chaney is you don’t get that contrast between the suave exterior and inner beast.

  • Luke Blanchard

    I’ve got a seriously good idea for a vampire movie. There’s this gridiron team, and one of the cheerleaders is a vampire who begins putting the bite on the players. Whenever the team plays nights, it wins. But of course its best players can’t play day games. And more and more people at the club keep getting converted. The team’s owner knows what’s going on and conceals it so he can keep winning night games while desperately trying to keep the vampiric players, cheerleaders, staff members etc. from turning more of his best day players.

  • Eric Hinkle

    I’d watch it. Heck, it could make a good novel or short story, too. Better than Twilight, definitely!

  • Eric Hinkle

    Yes, it was amusing to watch the great Count Dracula get played for a fool by his girlfriend and her boy toy. The Lee Dracula and Prince Mamuwalde never had problems like that.

    I also really enjoy the scene where the two would-be vampire hunters are discussing how the vampire can ‘turn into mist to sneak among his enemies and destroy them’. And behind them we see Dracula doing precisely that, completely unnoticed. Really made them look competent, didn’t it?

  • sandra

    Chaney was totally miscast, but he tried hard to exude suave menace and managed not to make a fool of himself. It helps that Kay isn’t attracted to er, Alucard, just to the idea of becoming a vampire.

  • CaptNemo

    “What have you done with those plans!”

  • Eric Hinkle

    By the way, talking about vampires, has anyone here ever heard about or seen a movie titled ANKLEBITERS, about a town attacked by midget vampires? Yes, I am serious. I’ve seen it for sale (used) in a local store but am unsure if I want to spend good money on it.

  • Gamera977

    Nope, but it does remind me of the jokes about halfing vampires in our D&D game, we called ’em Kneebiters though…

  • Eric Hinkle

    I have to make a correction — according to Amazon the film is ‘Ankle Biters’ and it’s about redneck dwarf vampires. Mullets and all. Sounds like a classic.

  • The Rev.

    I’ve heard of it. That’s about all I know about it.

  • Eric Hinkle

    From what I’ve read on Amazon, it’s “a film to hear of, not to watch” to slightly paraphrase Excalibur.