Dracula Father and Son (1976)

This humorous story tells us that the ageing Prince of Darkness (Christopher Lee) decides he should have an heir to his estates and vampiric tradition.

A Transylvanian coach crashes one evening and a beautiful but stranded damsel provides the Count with an ideal means to his desired end.

The initially terrified girl, Herminie (Catherine Breillat) soon becomes accustomed to living in Castle Dracula, however, and is astonished to find her master loving and affectionate. Not once does he bare his fangs to her, and she begins to doubt the legends of his undead ways.

Eventually, Dracula is provided with a son, Ferdinand (Bernard Menez) and, no sooner does Herminie give birth than the Count pounces . . .

And so young Ferdinand grows up with his vampiric mother and father and develops a rather strange sense of humour. A sense of humour that provokes such whims as shutting his undead nanny outside the castle as the sun rises and chuckling at her screams as her ashes float under the door.

But the happy family trio is soon broken up. Herminie, now deeply loved by the Count, returns one night from terrifying the village but is trapped by the light of day before reaching the safety of the darkened castle.

Before being able to recover from the shock, Dracula and his son find they must flee their native home when the Communist government spreads to engulf the country. Separated from each other, the Count finally arrives in London and finds fame and fortune as the star of horror films, usually playing the part of a vampire.

Ferdinand, however, does not fare so well in France. His fumbling ways at night-stalking prevent him from gaining his much-needed ‘life-blood’ – he even tries a blood bank one night in a Paris hospital but, caught in the act, he has to flee and make do with a handy cat in an alley.

After many months of living in a run-down apartment (his coffin hidden under the bed) and working as a night watchman, Ferdinand hears of a famous horror actor visiting Paris. At the airport that night, he is reunited with his father and moves into his stately hotel rooms.

One hilarious gag has the Count taking his son to a high-class funeral parlour where they are guided around until they reach the most expensive coffin in the establishment.

Before the salesman’s startled gaze, Ferdinand leaps in and snuggles down, telling his father it’s fine, he’ll take it.

A rift eventually develops between the two, in the lovely shape of Nicole (Marie-Hélène Breillat) who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ferdinand’s mother. Both father and son fall for her.

An all-out fight ensues, with coffins being thrown out of the top floor window of the hotel, with the life (or un-life) of Nicole as the winner’s prize.

Originally released in France as Dracula Père et Fils.

Dracula
Christopher Lee
Herminie Poitevin
Catherine Breillat
Ferdinand (Dracula’s son)
Bernard Menez
Nicole Clement
Marie-Hélène Breillat
Khaleb
Mustapha Dali
Jean
Bernard Alane
Marguerite
Claude Génia

Director
Edouard Molinaro