‘Trip… into a nightmare of evil!’
Guess What Happened to Count Dracula? is a 1970 PG-rated US comedy horror movie written, produced and directed by Lawrence Merrick (The Demons; Manson). In 1969, more obscure X-rated edits of the film, with an emphasis on male gay sex, were released as Does Dracula Really Suck? and Dracula and the Boys. In Italy, it was released as L’orgia del vampiro with promotional artwork that erroneously listed Al Adamson as the director.
The film stars Des Roberts, Claudia Siefried, John Landon, Robert Branche, Frank Donato, Yvonne Gaudry, Gene Stowell, Denny Lester,John King III, Jeff Cady, Angela Carnon. It was mostly filmed at the famous Magic Castle in Hollywood.
Plot teaser:
In order to escape communists in Romania, Dracula transforms himself into a swinger named “Count Adrian” and runs a theme restaurant in Los Angeles with his sidekicks.
Meanwhile, the real villain is his new love’s ex-boyfriend, an egotistical TV actor…
Buy with Dracula (The Dirty Old Man) on DVD from Amazon.com
Reviews:
“This isn’t the absolute worst thing you’ll ever see, but I do have to wonder what kind of audience they had in mind when they made this. On the plus side, it’s surprisingly stylishly lit, very colorful and not horribly photographed. On the down side, the acting’s not very good, it doesn’t bring much new to the table storywise and there are lots of glaring continuity issues.” The Bloody Pit of Horror
“But, the funniest parts of the movie have to be Count Adrian’s facial expressions. His attempts to be vampire-y end up looking like a strange combination of surprised and concerned. His attempts to merge his eyebrows with his hairline almost succeed, however. Aside from the ridiculous story, stupid dialogue and questionable acting, also be ready to have your ears raped by grating organ music. Count Adrian’s club plays annoyingly half-hearted circus music, as well. The editing is jumpy and sometimes cuts off lines…” Bad Movie Nite
“It’s way too slow and lacking in wit, but it sure has enjoyable moments including a dream sequence and some hypnotism montages. The makeup is inspired so its no surprise that Ric Sagliani went onto better things…”David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers
Ad in the Village Voice of December 4, 1969, for the New York opening (complete with bowdlerised title)
Thanks to Doctor Kiss on the 70s Horror and Sci-Fi forum for the Does Dracula Really…? ad mat
