Cheap Dracula's Great Love (DVD) (Javier Aguirre) Price

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Customer Reviews of Dracula's Great Love

Decent Film, So-So DVD
In this 1972 film from Spanish director Javier Aguirre, four women and a man wreck their stagecoach and must take refuge in a nearby castle. Unfortunately for the travelers, the castle's owner, Dr. Wendell Marlow (Paul Naschy), turns out to be none other than Count Dracula. After Dracula falls in love with one of the women, she must decide whether to live eternally as Dracula's bride or reject him and continue to live as a mortal. Her not-so-surprising choice leads to a strange and surprising ending. Like a lot of '70s European horror movies, the film suffers from slow pacing and a somewhat muddled plot. But there's lots of gothic atmosphere and a few creepy moments here and there to keep things interesting.

If there's anything to complain about, it's Sinema Diable's cheapo packaging. For a mid-priced DVD like this, you'd expect to see a reasonably sharp video transfer and decent audio, but both are very marginal here. In fact, the picture and sound quality are comparable to what you typically see in bargain-bin DVDs costing a third as much. There are no extras, either, like a trailer or talent bios, which are almost always included in DVDs in this price range. So I've deducted one full star for the low overall quality of the release. Hopefully, we'll see a little more bang for the buck in Sinema Diable's future products.

Of course, if you're a Naschy fan, or just can't get enough of these low-budget Euro-horror films, these faults probably won't bother you too much. Besides, until Anchor Bay or another company comes along with a better release, this may be your only chance to see this lesser-known, but worthwhile, entry in the Naschy catalog.

Two out of five stars.

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The dubbing leaves a lot to be desired
I've been waiting a long time for a DVD release of this quintessential Naschy potboiler. Available in various truncated versions on VHS I waited with bated breath as I opened the package and popped it into the DVD player. The film is taken from a rather grainy print but it's not bad. The widescreen treatment clips some of the top and bottom of the film itself. Surprisingly it is the most complete version of the film I have seen-lots of nudity (PG) and all gore intact. The main problem is the dubbing. The entire soundtrack sync is off just enough to be noticeable and the English speaking actors sound like the cast of a small town community theater group. There was no attempt to remotely sync up the dialogue with what is happening on the screen. Add to this a threadbare plot and you've got 83 minutes of pure Euro trash. I didn't say it's not enjoyable but beware. The quality and care of the DVD prep work done on the recent Naschy "Werewolf Daninsky" series is miles above this release.