by Ashley Jane Davis

First thing’s first. This is barely a movie. It is not good, by any means. 

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, allow me to discuss the 1974 movie Son of Dracula at great length. Yes yes, it’s a mess. But folks – HARRY NILSSON’S SON OF DRACULA.

The first time I saw this, it was a stormy day one October approximately 7 years ago. I actually stayed late at the doctor’s office I used to work at, waited for everyone to leave and I watched it right there in the dark office that smelled like dusty latex, beside the skeleton model – keeping one eye on the door, should someone return to the office. Shh, don’t tell. I didn’t have internet access where I was living at the time and I was in the middle of my massive Harry Nilsson deep dive where I had to listen to everything. I had to watch everything. Even this.

We won’t get toooo into the plot or story here because, well, that’s not why it matters. I did like that Dracula was depicted as a Max Schreck lookalike and his son looks like just a regular ass dude. Nilsson’s Count Downe, the titular Son of Drac, is one of those sympathetic monster characters, like The Wolf Man or Frankenstein’s monster. He’s been summoned by Merlin (played by Ringo Starr, naturally in a full-on stereotypical blue with gold stars wizard gown with a pointy hat and white beard) to take over the family business.  However, he’s resistant - he doesn’t like that he’s found himself in that body any more than other people do. Not to mention, he is in l-o-v-e. What’s a monster to do? Why, call on ol’ Dr. Van Helsing, of course, to help him ditch the fangs!

This movie was directed by Freddie Francis. Academy Award winning cinematographer, Freddie Francis. This guy’s filmography is unique, to say the least. Years ago, I wrote about one of my favourite movies for Moviejawn, The Innocents. Well, from the mastermind who delivered the countless breathtaking scenes in that stunner, comes another timeless gothic tale – this time, including vampires, wizards and weird sci-fi effects!

Did this movie need to be made? Absolutely not. They simply *wanted* to. Listen, I’ll be the first one to wonder, “why was this made?” when discussing Van Sant’s Psycho or Zombie’s Halloween. But consider this. They didn’t take this seriously. This isn’t meant to be an artful statement, it was made for fun, out of their own pockets. I wish rock stars did this kind of stuff more. Just unapologetically make shit because they have the money and the connections, out of enjoyment, rather than to make money. Imagine, for instance, that there was a Dracula movie made with the big shots of the late 80s-early 90s grunge scene. Tellllll me you wouldn’t watch it, even though the movie itself was horrid. See, for me, Nilsson is one of those once in a lifetime artists and I have an endless fascination with him. So yeah, he missed me by a few decades, but I don’t care. I wanna see Nilsson’s Rock N Roll Vampire Movie.

This wasn’t the first time Harry was feelin’ like a vampire. His cape-tastic ways were first showcased on the cover of his album Son of Schmilsson, which he released hot on the heels of his biggest major success, Nilsson Schmilsson. Turns out, Son of Schmilsson was not what the public wanted. His next album of standards sung over a live orchestra was even less this (he did this decades before people made money on it after everyone’s parents bought those Rod Stewart and Michael Buble albums). However, can we talk about this album cover? 

This was taken at George Harrison’s home, Friar Park (the musical trivia my brain holds onto is silly). When I first saw this cover, I was hoping for some haunted tunes. There are really none to be found. However, the soundtrack to this film is quite another thing entirely!

The album cover opens up like the wings of a bat to display all kinds of kooky images from the film itself. The soundtrack features mini dialogue tracks and samples of the score peppered in between a collection of Harry-sung legitimate songs. The record label has the cutest drawing of a vampire dog wearing a cape with bats and it evennnnn came with a cheeky full size iron-on that says “Bite It” that you could iron on your very own t-shirt (note: this is my favourite t-shirt that I own). There’s nothing about this package that isn’t fun! The one song recorded specifically for this film, Daybreak, is also a lot of fun. It’s sung from a vampire’s perspective and spawned all kinds of very bad, but very earnest, ghostly songs written and recorded by yours truly (one was called Lonesome Castle Blues and was about Frankenstein’s monster – I can’t make this up).

Another noteworthy thing to consider is that there is very little performance footage of Nilsson, for someone of his fame. He wasn’t a touring musician and made very scarce television appearances entirely on his terms. So even this lip-syncing bit is a treat for a fan. My favourite part is when he performs Jump Into The Fire with his spooky band of Keith Moon, John Bonham, Klaus Voorman, Peter Frampton, Leon Russell, Bobby Keys and Jim Price – whatta band! You don’t see this kind of thing everyday.

When you look at it on paper, there is a lot for me to love. But let’s be honest. The real reason I love it, is because of the romantical love story. Love is a powerful thing. Sometimes you’re in a bloodsucking cult and then you fall in love and realize there’s more to life than the world you know and are used to. When that happens, you just gotta do what’s right and break that damn family line. I knew it. Count Downe knew it. And for THAT, Son of Dracula is priceless (please just let me have this moment).

~ Epilogue:

To make a long story short, it’s okay to like things that aren’t “good”, or things that nobody else you know likes. Even if I’m the only one, I will always hold this movie close to my lil heart.