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Now there's a movie poster that over-promises and a movie that under-delivers (at least from the photos I've seen).
I too remember Rolfe's Cinemassacre review of multiple films by this title. I guess the characters were all public domain at this point?
I like when they try to connect the science to the magic stuff, it's such a weird neat fit. Like in the "House Of" movies when they want to swap the Wolf Man's brain into the body of Frankenstein's Monster because it will cure his lycanthropy or something.
Is Dracula's ring a power object in a lot of versions of his story? I just remember Alucard (Lon Chaney) had a prominent ring and then in "House Of" we see Dracula (John Carradine) with the same ring. They didn't shoot lightning though.
I think the best monster mash so far was Dracula and the Wolf Man in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein followed by the fight in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.
A stockbroker playing a vampire? Seems obvious, really.
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I just watched this 2008
interview with writer/producer Sam Sherman and it touches on most of these topics. I wish I had seen it before I posted. It's a 26 minute interview, so, obviously, I don't recommend it to anyone other than someone who is already a fan.
I believe both characters were in the public domain but I don't know when that occurred. There were lots of movies that used Frankenstein or Dracula in the title beforehand and I doubt all those low budget productions had to get permission.
Sherman says that they only had to make sure that the Monster makeup was different enough from Jack Pierce's Karloff makeup so that they wouldn't get sued.
This is the only movie I know of that shows the ring having power.
The version I watched and linked to must be a poor copy because at 17:30 in the interview above, they show the scene I remember of Dracula ripping off the Monster's head, not just in shadow. This makes me want to dig out my VHS copy (or actually VSV - Very Strange Video) and see what it shows.
Sherman also claims that Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame had a desk at Warren Publishing and, although he hated their monster stuff, might have seen the movie. Sherman further suggests that it's possible the scene influenced the Black Knight scene from The Holy Grail.
The Monster was played by two actors. They had to make the change because the first actor was an accountant and he was very busy due to tax season.
