BLOOD of DRACULA

Blood of Dracula is another film in the AIP line of teen horror pictures. I find it strange that they didn't include the word "teenage" in the title as they did with I Was A Teenage Werewolf and I Was A Teenage Frankenstein. I would think it would have been natural in this group of movies to call this film "I Was A Teenage Vampire". Blood of Dracula has the same theme as I Was A Teenage Werewolf - a teen with troubles is turned into a monster to satisfy an experiment by an adult who thinks they are going to save mankind. An underlying message in both of these movies, while not overt, but understood, is "Don't Trust Adults".

Blood of Dracula, like How To Make A Monster, includes only one song performance. This time with Jerry Blaine who sings "Puppy Love", which he also wrote.  Blaine previously had written "Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo" for the song performance in I Was A Teenage Werewolf; although he didn't have a part in that film, instead that song was performed by Ken Miller. And when I say performances, it's interesting to note that both of these songs are accompanied by a dance number. Of the two songs, I prefered "Puppy Love" with it's cute lyrics and Blaine really looked like he was enjoying the song and his performance added a lot to my own enjoyment. Sadly, these two songs and one acting appearance appear to be the complete resume of Jerry Blaine in films. Too bad, because he definitely had both talent in songwriting and acting.

At the first of Blood of Dracula, the movie appeared it was going to carry a very feminist message, which would have been a surprise for a late 50s cheapo film. The female teacher/scientist states her thesis keeps getting rejected because academia is ruled by men and they won't accept the findings of a female researcher. It's this drive to prove them wrong that compels her to experiment on the teen. Ultimately, the message (which I guess could be construed as feminist) in Blood of Dracula is a woman can be just as crazy as a man.

I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF

I Was A Teenage Werewolf just barely makes it onto this page since there is only one song in the movie - "Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo" sung by Ken Miller and written by Jerry Blaine. Ken Miller not only sings the song, but also has a little dance number during the instrumental break. A nice little number that doesn't rock, but does swing. If you check youtube you can see the performance.

I Was A Teenage Werewolf stars Michael Landon as a troubled teen who angers too quickly and lashes out in violence. To help control these outbursts, Landon is steered to a psychiatrist/scientist for help. Unbeknownst to Landon the good doctor is actually performing an experiment on him to regress him back to earliest man, which for some reason makes Landon a werewolf.

I Was A Teenage Werewolf was a top moneymaker at the time for American International Pictures, and besides being a story that appealed to teens, I think Michael Landon, in his breakout role as the titular character, might have had something to do with its popularity. He definitely had on-screen charisma and while some of his acting comes off as James Dean lite, for the most part his acting ability was as good or better than the adult actors in the film.

My favorite lines of dialogue from the movie: 

Landon "People bug me." 

Police Detective "That's right, hide behind jive talk."