Lady Dracula is a 1977 West German comedy horror film directed by Franz Josef Gottlieb.
The movie stars Evelyne Kraft (The French Sex Murders; The Mighty Peking Man), Brad Harris (who devised the story), Theo Lingen, Eddi Arent, Christine Buchegger, Walter Giller, Klaus Höhne, Roberto Blanco and Stephen Boyd (as Count Dracula).
Plot:
1876: Count Dracula kidnaps Barbara, a teenage girl, from a boarding school and is pursued by an angry mob who stake him. The girl is left buried in a sealed coffin…
1976: The coffin is uncovered during construction, stolen by small crooks, and sold to an antique dealer. At night, Barbara rises from her coffin and bites the antique dealer. Rejuvenated by his fresh blood, she becomes a beautiful adult woman. Quickly finding her way in the modern world, she finds a job as a beautician’s body in a Viennese funeral home, where she secretly feeds on blood transfusions.
During a costume party, Barbara lays hands on the mistress of the funeral director and is thereby discovered. Unfortunately, the company’s building also accidentally burns down. Now without a regular source of blood, Barbara stalks the city at night and soon arouses the interest of the police…
Our review:
Juvenile humour and repetitious situations make Lady Dracula a slog to sit through, unfortunately. That said, Evelyne Kraft has a certain appeal as the resurrected bloodsucker. Production values are fine. Essentially, one for ’70s film fans and comedy horror completists only.
Release:
Lady Dracula premiered on 16 March 1977 at the Paris Festival of Fantastic Films but wasn’t released until February 1978.
