Cineanalyst "Dracula and Son" is a light and amusing, if sometimes seemingly aimless, vampire comedy. It's the last of nine Dracula-esque movies starring Christopher Lee in the titular role that I've seen, and I think that's all of them. Of the nine, this one strays the furthest from Bram Stoker's novel; indeed, it's only mention of "Dracula" is in the title. Just like Dracula stars Bela Lugosi and John Carradine before him, his career in the role ends in parody. I think Lee comes off a bit more dignified here than Lugosi in, say, "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948), let alone the Ed Wood stuff, or Carradine in "Billy the Kid Versus Dracula" (1966) and the later "Nocturna" (1979). Regardless, "Dracula and Son" is better than some of the Hammer Dracula movies Lee made, let alone the pathetic 1970 Franco adaptation he starred in.In this one, Lee's Count sires a son (after, humorously, conceiving in a coffin), who ends up being something of a failure at following in his father's footsteps. Some of the film's best gags spring from the son, Ferdinand (Really, is that the best name they could come up with?), having difficulty learning the ways of the vampire, from his father yelling at him when a child to finish drinking his blood, to donating his own blood as replacement for a vat of plasma he accidentally ruined when caught trying to steal from a hospital. Not that Father doesn't have his own misfortunes, such as when he bites into a rubber sex doll under the misconception that it's a real woman. My favorite jokes, however, are those self-reflexively based on Lee's real-life star image. In the film, after leaving Transylvania, the Count becomes a movie actor in England, and, naturally, it's in the role of a vampire. Unlike in other Dracula movies, the Count in this one is quite photogenic.Speaking of vampire lore, I like that this film didn't adopt from the Hammer films vampires vulnerability to running water. And, their death by sunlight--something also absent from Stoker's novel--is played out here ad absurdum, with the vampires scouring for sewer entries when without their coffins as daybreak approaches. Another Hammer trademark, a makeshift cross is employed here once in an amusing scene where Romanian communists make one out of a hammer and sickle. Even the reincarnation romance, a device I detest in other Dracula movies (the 1974 and 1992 "Bram Stoker's Dracula" ones, i.e.), works fairly well here. For one thing, it gives the film some much-needed plot development in its later part. And, it develops into a quasi-Oedipus complex with a love triangle involving the Count and his son. More related to Stoker's book, Ferdinand's befriending of other immigrants and minorities in France is an interesting, although somewhat poorly developed, twist on Stoker's xenophobic invasion plot.By the way, I saw the original version and not the American butchered copy that others have decried. Beware, however, if you're a native English speaker like me, good luck finding translations for the majority French-speaking part of the film (some scenes are in English). I relied on bad auto-translations and two years of university French that I've since forgotten.(Mirror note: This one is thankfully consistent with vampires not casting reflections, a point that's important in the last of the film's three mirror scenes. The other two scenes are of the mother vampire crying when she discovers she has no reflection and of a prostitute screaming when she discovers Ferdinand to have no reflection in a ceiling mirror above a bed.)

wheelmanjosh This is not a movie I would consider terrible, since it stars the great Christopher Lee. I was introduced to this movie in a different and strange way, I picked up a copy at a outdoor trading market called "Traders Village" in Fort Worth, Texas in the early 90s when I was probably 12 or 13. I had a thing for the supernatural and in particular vampire movies, so I purchased it on VHS for $3 or so. I had no idea that this was a dubbed foreign movie, but being a young teenager was captivated to watch it multiple times because of the nudity, mainly,at first. Later on through learning who Christopher Lee was, and seeing his characters portrayed in many Hammer horror films, I subsequently returned later to search for what movie I had seen in my youth through nostalgia. Unbeknownst to me at this young age, I had no idea who Christopher Lee was but it probably subconsciously figured into my love for him as an actor in later life, watching his earlier films. LOL. Finding Dracula and Son somewhat difficult to locate, I have ended up here on IMDb, reading the history of the release through the comments section. Though this film may be bad, I look upon it as being special to me and it holds a nostalgic place in my mind and I will always be fond of it.I would recommend watching this just because Christopher Lee is in it, and also it is actually his unique,and last performance as Dracula.

Hartmut Berger Contains SpoilersThe original running time is a bit unclear, several sources give 110 min. The version I got to see (not the American one) is 94 min but shows no obvious holes/cuts.This is in my opinion one of the few successful comedic takes on the Dracula myth (please note that the name 'Dracula' doesn't occur anywhere in the film, Lee is just 'The Count' and plays his part totally straight(he actually protested against the the title)).Start of Spoilers Starting quite like a standard Hammer film it quickly turns a strange way resulting in the Count being responsible for a baby. After several time jumps (signified by the turning of a book's pages) passing through mischievous childhood and shy young adulthood Ferdinand and his father are literally driven away by hammer and sickle and find themselves in France (son) and England (father). Lee turns horror actor(!), Menez becomes an exploited night-watchman. Reunited at last both are interested in a young woman who tries to engage Lee for a toothpaste commercial. Now the film turns pure slapstick until only one remains standing. Jump to the next generation and some new toothing problems. End of SpoilersInterestingly there are only few overt gags, most of the time the film is quite realistic (how do you make a living when sunlight kills you and your diet is unconventional?). The different solutions for the coffin problem are ingenious. The comedy results primarily from people's reaction to our couple first hiding less than successfully their true nature and then openly declaring it ('That is my traveling coffin!'). Look out early in the film for the author of a book about vampires!If possible watch the French language version (subtitled if necessary).

MarioB Count Dracula had a son, by the name of Ferdinand. He's a shy and a good nature young man, not very happy to be a vampire. He don't want to bite people because he don't want to hurt them. So he bites rats and cats. His father becomes a movie star - playing, of course, a vampire - and fells in love with a young woman who reminds him his wife. But Ferdinand's in love with the girl too and don't want his father to bite the woman. Fun story of black humour, with great Christopher Lee making fun of his famous role of Dracula. But images are a little bit too dark and sometimes there's dull moments. Watch for funny lines like: Ferndinand, finish your blood and go to bed. Or : Ferdinand, don't play bowling with your mothers ashes. Good bloody fun could have been better, but it's pleasant to watch,