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Zoltan: Hound of
Dracula (1978)
(aka Dracula's Dog)
Directed
by Albert Band
Zoltan
Hound of Dracula
is a 70s horror movie produced by Crown International Pictures. The
movie was originally released under the title Dracula's Dog, and
in certain parts of the world it is still marketed under that name,
but—as far as movie titles go—it's a pretty lame choice. The story
begins with some Russian soldiers practising their blasting skills in
rural Transylvania. Why they are doing this is never explained, but it
provides a good excuse for the accidental unearthing of the entrance to
an underground tomb.
The tomb houses several coffins that contain the
remains of members of the Dracula family and, presumably working under
the assumption that these will have historic significance, the
soldiers' commanding officer sends for an archaeologist, and posts a
guard to protect the tomb overnight. The soldier given the unenviable
task of guarding the evil remains gets top marks for bravery because he
just appears to take it all in his stride, and even manages to get a
little shuteye, but is shaken awake in the middle of the night when
violent earth tremors dislodge one of the coffins and causes it to
slide onto the floor. Either from curiosity or just bad
judgement, the soldier decides to remove the coffin lid. Then when he
notices a wooden stake sticking out of the burial shroud he removes
that as well, and a vampire dog jumps from beneath the shroud and goes
straight for his throat.
There are no prizes for guessing this beast of Hell
is Zoltan and, after he has finished feeding, the hound of Dracula
tries to free his master, Count Icor Dracula. Unable to do so, Zoltan
chooses an easier option and uses his teeth to pull the stake from the
chest of the count's servant, Veidt Schmidt. A second quake buries the
tomb before Zoltan and Schmidt can revive the count, and the pair are
forced to flee, but this is bad news for Schmidt because he is a
fractional lamia (a part vampire ) and although he does not require
blood to feed upon, and can walk about in daylight, Schmidt
can
only survive for a limited amount of time without a master, so he is
soon hunting down the last living member of the Dracula family—Los
Angeles psychiatrist, Michael Drake, a happily married father of two,
who has no idea of his vampire legacy.
When Schmidt finds Drake, he plans to get Zoltan
turn him into a full-blooded vampire who can be his new master and give
him a reason to go on not living. The whole project turns out to be a
lot harder than Schmidt anticipated though. When he arrives in LA he
finds the Drakes just about to take their Winnebago and go on a camping
trip. This is only a minor problem because he just steals a hearse,
follows them into the wilds and sets up camp within comfortable
snooping distance of the Winnebago. Schmidt's real problem is that
Zoltan is not always obedient to his wishes and it is not long before
the hound of Dracula does a little unauthorised snacking and creates a
vampire puppy. Schmidt is not happy about this unforeseen turn of
events, but can see the advantages when Zoltan creates a pack of canine
companions to assist his hunt for a new master.
Michael Pataki plays Drake and succeeds in making
his character come across as the perfect stereotypical family man, but
when vampire expert, Inspector Branco (Jose Ferrer), tracks him down,
informs him of his heritage, and warns him that Schmidt is out for his
blood, Drakes reluctance to accept the story comes across as a token
gesture only and he is convinced far too easily for it to be even
slightly believable.
Ferrer is adequate as Branco, but—as the movie's
alternative to Van Helsing—he is a bit of a disappointment and his
onscreen persona is easily eclipsed by that of Schmidt (Reggie Nalder),
who is intimidating, creepy-looking and altogether not the kind of guy
anyone would want to bump into in a darkened alleyway.
Special effects in the movie are limited, and the red glowing eyes,
favoured by Zoltan and his pack of vampire dogs are passable, but it
is all too obvious that they have been superimposed onto the tape
during the editing process.
Although it is unlikely to cause too many
nightmares, one of the scariest scenes occurs towards the end of the
movie. Drake and Branco are holed up in a wooden cabin with only a few
wooden stakes for company. Drake is there as bait, but when
the pack of vampire hounds put in their expected appearance he and
Branco just sit out the attack and wait for sunup; so it is all rather
pointless, but the vicious onslaught against the outer wall and roof of
the cabin almost qualifies for edge of the seat excitement.
Zoltan
Hound of Dracula is not one of the better Dracula spin-off
movie productions, but it is not by any means the worst and although
the thrills and chills are few and far between it remains a strangely
watchable movie that may be especially appealing to fans of
creature-feature-type horror movies, anyone who loves all things
vampire, and those who remember seeing the movie when it first came out
and feel in the mood for a little nostalgia.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Runtime 85 mins
Certificate: 15 (UK), R (USA) ~Related
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