1974 British comedy/horror film by Clive Donner
Vampira
is a 1974 British
comedy horror
film directed by
Clive Donner
, and starring
David Niven
and
Teresa Graves
.
[1]
This spoof of the
vampire
genre was re-titled
Old Dracula
for release in the United States,
[2]
in an attempt to ride the success of
Young Frankenstein
.
In the film,
Count Dracula
is facing the problems of
old age
. His attempts to
resurrect
a female
vampire
from his past turn her into a
black woman
. She in turn changes him into a black man. The vampire couple travel to
Rio de Janeiro
at the end of the film.
Plot
[
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]
Count Dracula
is an old vampire who, because of his advanced age, is forced to host tours of his castle to get new victims. In an attempt to revive his long-lost love, Vampira, Dracula needs to find a victim with a very specific
blood group
combination to
resurrect
Vampira by a
blood transfusion
. So he sets out to collect blood from the bevy of
Playboy
Playmates
visiting his castle. However, one of the Playmates whose blood is drained is
black
, turning the revived Vampira into a black woman.
Dracula enthralls the hapless Marc to collect blood from three white women in hopes of restoring Vampira's original
skin color
. Dracula transfuses the blood into her but she is unchanged; however, her bite turns Dracula black. Marc and his love Angela race to destroy Dracula but are taken aback upon seeing Dracula's new skin tone. Their surprise gives the vampires time to slip away to catch a flight to
Rio de Janeiro
for
Carnival
.
Cast
[
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]
Release
[
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]
The film was released theatrically in the
United States
by
American International Pictures
in 1975, under the title
Old Dracula
in an attempt to cash in on the success of director
Mel Brooks
1974 horror movie spoof
Young Frankenstein
. Exhibitors frequently paired
Old Dracula
on a
double bill
with
Young Frankenstein
.
[3]
Critical reception
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]
The Monthly Film Bulletin
wrote: "Jeremy Lloyd has constructed an entire screenplay on one-line jokes with a vampire theme, with a series of witless and repetitive gags. ... The other joke format is based on the fact that Vampira is black, with her lines including such gems as her reminiscence of dancing in the Twenties: "Do you remember the big apple, the charleston, my black bottom"; like the whole concept of there being something disturbing about being black, they strike a very sour note. ... As for the performances, Teresa Graves is very beautiful, Peter Bayliss provides amusement by overplaying in a desperate attempt to save the script and, much to his credit, almost succeeds, while Mr. Niven proves that even suavity cannot excuse the indignity of being blacked up."
[4]
Roger Ebert
, writing for the
Chicago Sun-Times
, gave the film one out of four stars, describing it as a mess with only Niven being a highlight, describing the film as a "depressing exercise" due to not being to the standard of British horror films of the time and feeling dated to the previous decade.
[5]
Trivia
[
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]
In the opening scene, David Niven flips through the July 1973 issue of US
Playboy Magazine
.
[6]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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Universe
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Characters
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Publications
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Possible inspirations
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Castles
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Original characters
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Alternative versions
of Dracula
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Relatives of Dracula
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Other
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