This would-be homage to the classic Universal cycle of horror films from the 1940s could have been interesting, but it’s defeated by listless presentation (marked by Franco’s trademark zoom-happy technique) and inadequate plotting (what there is is extremely lazy and contrived – such as Frankenstein’s idiotic manifesto for world domination and his baffling about-face towards self-destruction at the end).

It was a good idea to present the latter (played by Dennis Price) as a deluded megalomaniac, but the dire physical condition of the actor makes this something of a lost cause. Howard Vernon’s Dracula, then, is underused and saddled throughout with a silly fixed expression! Alberto Dalbes plays Dr. Seward – Vampire Hunter(!), Luis Barboo gives a hammy performance as Frankenstein’s mute hunchback assistant, while Fernando Bilbao gets as little screen-time playing the Frankenstein Monster as his counterpart in the latterday Universal monster flicks themselves!!

With respect to the female members of the cast, at least, we get two lovely presences in Josiane Gibert (as a tawdry chanteuse turned into unwitting sacrifice in the re-animation of Dracula – the scene where the bat is bathed in blood is actually nice and grisly) and Britt Nichols (a vampire lady with her own agenda and whose coffin is stupidly never noticed by either Frankenstein or his assistant!). Also on hand are Anne Libert (who’s killed off immediately), Genevieve Deloir (as Vernon’s new bride) and Mary Francis (as a gypsy girl).

The film is capped by what is the most hilarious monster mash I’ve ever seen – with a werewolf who comes out of nowhere, only to get beaten to a pulp by the Frankenstein monster! Just as amusing, though, is the fact that Frankenstein (and his prisoner Dracula) use a hearse as their method of transportation! Incidentally, the way such great locations as Franco had at his disposal are squandered makes this that much more of a missed opportunity – not that the visuals are helped by the dismal print utilized for this transfer (featuring washed-out colors and the wrong aspect ratio to boot)! By the way, a sure sign of the film’s rushed production is its recycled score – comprising the instantly recognizable main theme from MARQUIS DE SADE’S JUSTINE (1968) and, possibly, even cues from COUNT Dracula (1969)!

In conclusion, this one emerges as easily the least of Franco’s ‘classic monster’ films. For the record, its viewing was promptly followed by THE EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN (1972) – by way of the version the director himself preferred. His most respectable efforts in the genre remain COUNT Dracula (not really connected to the others, as it was a Harry Alan Towers rather than Robert De Nesle production) and DRACULA’S DAUGHTER (1972; a contemporaneous release with, again, much the same cast and crew but which is altogether more satisfying – mainly in view of its novel giallo elements).