Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Dracula vs. Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 20, 2020

Note: This film is available as part of Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection.

Disc Six of The Masterpiece Collections offers two films with only rather tangential connections to each other, in that each feature the time honored horror cliché of a "mad scientist". 1971's Dracula vs. Frankenstein is arguably among the better known titles in Adamson's filmography, while Brain of Blood at least offers some "backstage" interest in terms of its production ( Brain of Blood is one of the films in this set which has already received a Blu-ray release from Severin, in both a standalone version and as part of The Hemisphere Box of Horrors).

One man has already died, and the other was never born shows up as a tag line of sorts in some of the marketing material for Dracula vs. Frankenstein, and is perhaps a smarter encapsulation of the film than anything the screenplay itself offers. The "mad scientist" in this case is a descendant of the venerable Dr. Frankenstein who is named Durea (J. Carroll Naish) for some reason, but who is involved in experiments along with his Igor-like assistant Groton (Lon Chaney, Jr.), which come to the attention of Dracula (Zandor Vorkov, unsurprisingly a stage name for -- wait for it -- producer Samuel Sherman's stock broker, whom Adamson preferred over John Carradine for the role). A Faustian bargain is made between Durea and Dracula to resurrect Frankenstein's Monster (John Bloom), with expected carnage ensuing. But in the "wait, you also get" department, and one assumes at least in part because some of Adamson's films like Satan's Sadists had been rather unexpectedly sizable hits, there's a biker gang (once again headed by Russ Tamblyn) involved in the mayhem.

Dracula vs. Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dracula vs. Frankenstein is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. There's pretty bad damage during the opening, with noticeable print through and what almost look like wide vertical stripes of milky white floating through the frame. Starting with some of the Vegas material, the palette can look a little ruddy or even orange at times. There's some noticeable flicker in an early scene with Jim Davis and Regina Carrol. This is another feature in this set where there are intermittent but kind of curious moments (like at circa 17:43) where the image suddenly looks less saturated and clear for a second or two. A lot of the dark material doesn't have much shadow detail and grain, which is already pretty gritty, spikes to pretty noisy levels in the darkest scenes (as in the big showdown at the climax of the film). The palette improves at least marginally after around the 45 minute mark, but stylistic conceits like some blue tinted material don't support much in the way of fine detail.

Dracula vs. Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dracula vs. Frankenstein features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that is one of the better overall sounding tracks in the set, with a relative absence of damage, and a really fun score by William Lava (while I don't think it's an actual theremin being used, there are some "theremin like" effects in some cues). Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. English subtitles are available via the button on your remote.

Dracula vs. Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Zandor and Friends (1080p; 22:36) features interviews with Zander Yorkov, John Bloom, Sam Sherman, Gary Graver and Sean Graver.


• Archival Audio Commentary with Producer / Distributor Samuel M. Sherman


• Feed Your Head! Lose Your Head! (1080p; 55:43) is a really fun piece that is listed as an appreciation of the film by Howard S. Berger on the disc menu, though it "describes itself" in its title card as a visual essay by the Flying Maciste Brothers (who turn out to be Berger and Kevin Marr).


• Monster Protest Home Movie Footage (1080p; 5:28) is culled from what looks like a pretty badly damaged video source.


• Sam Sherman Interviews Forry Ackerman (1080p; 4:51) is an archival piece that looks like it was done at some kind of fan convention.


• Outtakes & Extended Scenes (1080p; 20:33)


• Trailer (1080p; 2:28)


• TV Spots (1080p; 1:34)


• Radio Spots (2:30)

Dracula vs. Frankenstein Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dracula vs. Frankenstein was a pretty big hit in its day, but it's basically nonsensical and frankly doesn't even deliver much in the way of scares. Still, in typical Al Adamson fashion, it's often so completely bizarre that it's a ton of fun to watch. Video has some issues, but audio sounds fine, and this film has some of the better supplements in The Masterpiece Collection set.