Serious 60’s ‘B’ Western chronicling Dracula’s visit to the Southwest
The diabolic Count (John Carradine) travels to the Southwest in the late 1800s and masquerades as the uncle of a beautiful girl that the vampire wants to make his wife (Melinda Casey). But her beau, Billy the Kid (Chuck Courtney), gains increasing evidence of the true identity of her “uncle.”
The mere title “Billy the Kid Versus Dracula” (1966) spurs giggles, which isn’t helped by the cheesy looking bat in the opening scene, not to mention the hokey credits. If you can get past these drawbacks, the movie’s well done for a ‘B’ Western: It has an interesting story & characters and a quality cast that takes the material seriously.
The concept isn’t that laughable when you consider that Bram Stoker’s book debuted in 1897 and the fact that vampires are immortal unless destroyed. Since Dracula visited England in the novel, far from his native Transylvania, why not the American Southwest at some point? It also helps to understand both Dracula and Billy the Kid as cultural archetypes, mythical figures that can manifest in an infinite number of interpretations and reinterpretations. Just as there are many ways to play Robin Hood or James Bond, so there are myriad ways to depict Billy the Kid or Dracula. They can be whatever the creators want them to be.
Someone pointed out the seeming contradiction of bullets not hurting Dracula while a gun to the face does. On the surface this seems like an inconsistency, yet it can be explained if you read between the lines: Dr. Henrietta Hull in the flick explains that vampires are "undead" and sorta like ghosts that can morph into bats or manifest seemingly out of nowhere (which is illustrated several times in the movie). But they have to 'solidify' to function in the natural realm wherein people are able to touch them, like Betty (Melinda Casey). So, when the gun is thrown at the vampire he was caught off guard and evidently failed to de-solidify in time.
Another possibility is that the vampire is vulnerable to silver and Billy's gun was silver-plated. But, if vampires are weakened by silver, why did the Count set up operations in a silver mine? Because it had been defunct for years and any remaining silver would be deep within the earth far away from where Drac would conduct his diabolic ceremony. He needed the mine for this unholy ritual because it was located in the bowels of the earth, completely cutting him off from the weakening power of the sun, as well as unwanted interruptions from potential interlopers.
Speaking of the sun, in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula COULD operate during daylight hours, but it wasn’t preferable and direct exposure to the sun severely weakened his supernatural powers, yet it couldn’t kill him.
The film runs 1 hour, 13 minutes, and was shot at Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, with studio work done in Hollywood.
GRADE: B-
