FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY
Fifty Years Ago Today was October 26, 1973…The United Nations recognized the
independence of Guinea-Bissau…
California's Alcatraz Island and the federal prison building that had been located there, were
both opened by the U.S. Park Service as a tourist attraction.
Born: Seth MacFarlane, American comedian, TV and film producer, and actor, known for
Family Guy and Ted; in Kent, Connecticut
Top of the Pops back when: MIDNIGHT TRAIN TO GEORGIA by Gladys Knight and
the Pips.
Gladys Knight and The Pips - Midnight Train To Georgia
FRANKENSTEIN’S BLOODY TERROR
Or; LA MARCA DEL HOMBRE LOBO …
I wanted to take another look at FRANKENSTEIN’S BLOODY TERROR. Why would
I--or anyone on Earth--want to do that? Well, it’s that old Fifty Years Ago thing. I first
saw this Paul Naschy mishmash in October of 1973, at a drive-in, and sensibly hadn’t
seen it since.
But… I was surprised and even a bit shocked to find how tough it is to see that
blighted U.S. version of LA MARCA DEL HOMBRE LOBO. I was NOT prepared to
spend the big bucks for a VHS or evidently rare DVD of the thing.
YouTube did offer a version of the movie. Though the title on the print is the original
Spanish, the movie is listed on YouTube as being under the German title: DIE VAMPIRE
DES DR. DRACULA. Them Germans, huh? And, despite the highly visible Spanish title,
this print did feature a German-language soundtrack and (only) German subtitles. But
better’n nothing, hey? I know a smidge of Deutsches and, with the subs on, I could
pretty much follow the simple storyline. Plus, I had seen it before after all.
I will say that the print looked sensational. I’m pretty ding dong sure that it didn’t look this
good on the big screen at the Clarksville Drive-in. On the other hand, I had nothing to eat
while watching this which could remotely match the terrific Clarksville hot dogs. Boy, I’d
like to have me a couple o’ them right now…
This was, of course, the first horror film from Paul Naschy and probably remains his
most-seen. I can’t remember definitely, but I believe that when I saw this in 1973, I was
well aware that Naschy, numerically at least, was positioning himself as a genuine
latter-day horror star. I also am pretty sure I knew that, American title notwithstanding, this
was no Frankenstein movie. So I was very interested in seeing Naschy at work, and I was
not surprised by the cheaty ending.
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Okay, here I make a wild and kind of embarrassing confession. I wanted to relate how
poorly I judged this movie on first viewing, so I just now dipped into my old records to
check what rating I’d given it on my old 1-10 scale. I find that I rated it at only 2, so,
terrible. But, though that’s probably too low, it’s not the embarrassing thing.
Those old records tell me that I originally saw FRANKENSTEIN’S BLOODY TERROR
in October, 1973, so that’s on the nose. But they also tell me that I saw the movie on
TV. On Cincinnati’s Channel 19, brought to me by cable TV. No Clarksville Drive-in, no
hot dogs. I have what seems to be a strong, crystal-clear recollection of seeing that
feeble American “explanation” for the movie’s title and that recollection is of viewing it
real big on a drive-in movie screen. The Clarksville’s screen, to be precise. And that’s
just not so. I was astounded to learn this…but not really.
In recent years, I’ve become all too painfully aware how mistaken even the strongest,
clearest memories can be. These days when research proves that an old memory is
true and right, I’m kind of surprised. I’ve come to expect to find that memory lies. But
this memory was so SO clear. It’s kind of scary to think my mind can fool me so totally
like that.
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Anyway. The movie is definitely better than my old rating would have it. I’d probably rate
it at 5 out of 10 these days. It’s silly, but the genuine European settings are impressive,
the lighting and photography are impressive. The ladies are lovely. We get a genuine,
snarling, biting werewolf and a couple of vampires. The male vampire even wears
Lugosian evening wear, including a cape with a bright red lining. Cool Monster Kid stuff.
Naschy is not much of an actor but he’s certainly the most physically wild and energetic
werewolf ever. Lon Chaney may be the most iconic, Oliver Reed the most intense,
Henry Hull the most…I don’t know…boring? But Senor Molina is, far and away, the
most physically scary. He jumps all over the place, including all over his victims. It's as
if a strong, furious madman attacked you. And he's also a werewolf.
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