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    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1970s
    Movies - 1970s Movies - S 3 Mins Read

    Son of Dracula (1973)

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    Billed as “The First Rock and Roll Dracula Movie”, Son of Dracula was a project close to the heart of former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr (he produced it for Apple Films) who brought director Freddie Francis onboard when the concept was titled Count Downe. 

    American singer Harry Nilsson is Count Downe, the son of Count Dracula (Dan Meaden) who arrives in England to be crowned “the Overlord of the Underworld” by Merlin the Magician (Ringo Starr), who is friend, assistant and head astrologer to the Count.

    But the Count is distracted both by his rock band, The Count Downes – with members including Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, guitarist Peter Frampton and The Who’s drummer Keith Moon – and by a woman called Amber (Suzanna Leigh) who he falls in love with.

    Downe seeks out old family nemesis Van Helsing (Dennis Price) hoping he can make him mortal but doesn’t reckon with the scheming Baron Frankenstein (Freddie Jones) who has his eye on the Overlord title for himself.

    Van Helsing ultimately performs the operation and removes Downe’s fangs, informing the Count that he can now live out his days in the sunlight, with Amber at his side.

    It’s something of a minor curiosity – an attempt at a comedic modern-day vampire story that is most notable for its eccentric casting and pop soundtrack (predominantly by Nilsson), including a performance of Nilsson’s hit single Daybreak.

    The script is little more than a collection of tedious jokes, muddled plotting and dodgy logic. The direction is dull and uninspired. The performances are uniformly terrible (the central performances are so terrible that they render the film virtually unwatchable and old hands like Dennis Price and Freddie Jones look suitably embarrassed throughout).

    The shoot was chaotic, with Freddie Francis having to deal with too many rock star egos and an anarchic attitude on the set that resulted in him being ordered to take a rest by his doctor.

    Washing his hands of the whole affair he left post-production in the hands of Ringo and, when interviewed many years later, expressed some surprise that the film had been finished at all.

    Nilsson would later claim he considered the script “awful” but took the part for the chance to work with close friend Ringo Starr.

    Count Downe
    Harry Nilsson
    Merlin
    Ringo Starr
    Baron
    Freddie Jones
    Amber
    Suzanna Leigh
    Dr Van Helsing
    Dennis Price
    Brian (Manservant/Chauffeur)
    David Bailie
    Housekeeper 
    Shakira Caine (as Shakira Baksh)
    Monster 
    Maurice Bush
    Bill 
    John Colclough
    Gorgon Woman
    Nita Lorraine
    Igor
    Skip Martin
    Count Dracula
    Dan Meaden
    Club Hostess
    Rachelle Miller
    Wendy
    Beth Morris
    Woman in Black
    Jenny Runacre
    Vampire
    Hedger Wallace
    Countess Dracula
    Pamela Conway (as Lorna Wilde)
    Werewolf
    Derek Woodward
    The Count Downes
    John Bonham
    Peter Frampton
    Ricki Farr
    Bobby Keys
    Keith Moon
    Jim Price
    Klaus Voormann
    Leon Russell

    Director
    Freddie Francis

    Video

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