Sun 25 Oct 2015
A Halloween Movie Review by Jonathan Lewis: BILLY THE KID VS. DRACULA (1966).
Posted by Steve under Horror movies , Reviews , Western movies[7] Comments
BILLY THE KID VS. DRACULA. Embassy Pictures, 1966. John Carradine (Count Dracula), Chuck Courtney (William ‘Billy the Kid’ Bonney, Melinda Plowman, Virginia Christine, Harry Carey Jr., Walter Janowitz, Bing Russell. Director: William Beaudine.
Fans of hybrid Westerns/vampire B-movies rejoice! For Billy The Kid vs. Dracula has all the elements one might expect in a film with such a captivating title. Things like clumsy dialogue and acting, silly special effects, and a plot just formulaic enough that almost works. But most importantly, Billy The Kid vs. Dracula has John Carradine in it.
Now, if you’re not a fan of Carradine and don’t particularly care for his unique gait and voice, this obscure low-budget production definitely isn’t for you. If you are like me and happen to appreciate Carradine (all the while knowing he appeared in some truly dismal features), then you might appreciate how much he towers, both literally and figuratively, over all the other actors in the otherwise forgettable film. His portrayal of a vampire lurking about in the Old West is both campy and creepy. Although I am hardly a specialist on horror Westerns, I dare say there’s really nothing quite like it out there in any movie before or since.
More than anything else, the movie’s premise is so absurd that it almost makes this ludicrous experiment in genre-bending a cult classic, one of those bad horror movies that’s so bad that it’s actually good. Almost being the key word.
October 25th, 2015 at 1:11 pm
At one time this was on a double bill with the even worse Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter.
I agree that Carradine was the only reason to watch.
October 25th, 2015 at 3:47 pm
It is a shame Carradine never got to play Dracula in a really good film (HOUSE OF DRACULA is the closest) but only in films like this and Mexican Luchadora films. He and Lon Chaney both did interesting turns as Drac for Universal but at the end of the cycle.
This one and most Western horror films strain my willing suspension of disbelief and my taste for bad films. It’s a good idea, and it has been done well on the small screen a few times and in books, but it never seems to work on the big screen for me. COWBOYS AND ALIENS succeeded as an SF Western, but the horror thing just doesn’t usually.
An interesting variation though is THE STALKING MOON based on T.V. Olsen’s novel about a scout who adopts a small Half Apache boy and the boy’s supposedly dead father comes hunting for him. The film, with Gregory Peck as the scout plays the Apache father as a force of nature almost supernatural in his ability.
A few modern Westerns have done the horror thing well, but I’m hard put to find an actual historical Western that has.
Never was a great actor (GRAPES OF WRATH, THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND, BLUEBEARD)as wasted by Hollywood as Carradine was though.
I’m sure everyone knows the story, but Carradine told of playing Dracula on stage. It came to the end of an act and he climbed in the coffin needing to urinate badly and waiting for the end of act curtain to fall, but something was wrong and the curtain didn’t budge.
As the crew strived to free the curtain Carradine was getting more and more uncomfortable, and finally in his best sepulchural voice, and staying in character, intoned: “Dracula has to wee wee,” and rose from the coffin and stalked off stage wrapped in his cape.
October 25th, 2015 at 4:02 pm
Is anyone really supposed to take this film seriously either as a western or a horror film? This and the Jesse James movie (both of which I saw upon first release)seem to me more comedies using genre conventions than serious takes on either of those genres. I think both films are great fun, and may have had more than a little influence on my recent Blaze epic, Zombies Over Yonder.
October 25th, 2015 at 5:16 pm
Carradine could do anything with a straight face (See HILLBILLIES IN A HAUNTED HOUSE) but you’re rught,David; it would have been pleasing to see him a really good Dracula movie. Universal did a decent Vampire Western in THE CURSE OF THE UNDEAD, and it’s sort of a shame they didn’t cast him in it.
October 25th, 2015 at 5:51 pm
In 2005, Wendy L. Marshall published a detailed biography of her grandfather, William Beaudine – the director of this movie and its sibling, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter.
Here’s a quote from Sam Manners, the production manager:
“They were made for fun.”
The two movies were filmed back-to-back in 1965, for release mainly to drive-ins and the like.
Beaudine filled his cast and crew with old pros he’d been working with for years.
Like many older players, these folks were scrambling for work, and Bill Beaudine was always ready and willing to provide employment for his friends.
As it turned out, these were the last theatrical features Bill Beaudine made (he made a bunch of TV episodes after this, up to about a year before his death).
Sam Manners again:
“This was not serious stuff, and Pappy (Beaudine) enjoyed every moment of it. Everybody did.”
Isn’t that why we’re all here?
October 26th, 2015 at 6:04 am
William “One-Shot” Beaudine directed a truly amazing number of movies (check his Wikipedia entry) of which the most memorable might be BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA.
October 26th, 2015 at 4:56 pm
I believe he was one of the most prolific and most enduring directors, having worked for maybe 50+ years or so