Jess Franco Double Bill Vol.01: Dracula Prisoner Of Frankenstein / Curse of Frankenstein (1972) (DVD)

Controversial director and protegé of Andy Warhol, Jess Franco, directs these two stylised and erotic takes on popular horror tales. In 'Dracula - Prisoner of Frankenstein' (1972), the evil vampire count (Howard Vernon) is revived by the crazed scientist (Dennis Price). In 'The Curse of Frankenstein' (1972), the scientist's latest experiments on the dead are thrown into chaos when an evil bird-woman steals his monstrous creation for the sinister Dr Cagliostro (Vernon).

"Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein": Dr F creates his monster AND resurrects Dracula! A young gypsy girl intervenes to save the day but not before Frankie's monster, Dracula, and not forgetting the Wolfman, get to fight it out.

"Curse of Frankenstein": Evil Cagliostro steals Frankenstein's monster & sends out the blind bird woman to find a young virgin girl mate for the monster, in order to create a monster master race/cult.

These films must have been made back to back in 1972 - they share almost the same cast, sets & locations. So, well done Tartan for reissuing them as a double disc set with decent prints, extras such as scenes from alternate "harder" versions & there's even some cards of the original kitsch film posters enclosed in the package. Most importantly, the films are subtitled & so don't have dreaded English dubbing.

Regular horror fans will be appalled & bored by these 2 films but Jess Franco fans will be delighted. They date from his best period and, though slow & meandering, they feature stylish cinematography, lots of strange images, mad characterization and, overall, the inimitable Franco mix of sublime brilliance and hopeless ineptness. Great music too - the Curse soundtrack is especially amazing. The films seem to have had a decent budget, maybe in an attempt to make two non-sleazy mainstream movies: Franco's loving homage to monster B movies. Needless to say both films are far too eccentric to succeed as horror. They do contain Franco's usual fetishistic quirks - though maybe not enough, he holds back from really taking the material to the edge, getting diverted from the most imaginative characters & scenes, seemingly distracted by having too many half-baked plots - there are just too many monsters!

Given the inherent silliness of the monsters, these films don't have the impact of the Franco's best movies, perhaps he should have stuck to De Sade & vampires and left Frankenstein alone. But if you like Franco's better late 60s/early 70s films, then there's quite a lot to enjoy here & this double-pack is worth getting.