Philip Marshak's surprisingly faithful XXX adaptation / send-up of Bram Stoker's Dracula. I'm surprised, if not a little disappointed, that Marshak didn't opt for the nom de porn Bram "Stroker", perhaps fears of potential litigation far out-weighed the comedy potential.

Starring: Jamie Gillis, Annette Haven, John Leslie, Serena, Reggie Nalder, Kay Parker, John Holmes, Paul Thomas and Seka.

What a cast, eh? All the hardcore heavy-weights of the '70s (literally) came together to give Stoker's legendary novel the XXX treatment. I must stress though this shouldn't be confused with Shaun Costello's Dracula Exotica (1980), a completely different movie that also stars Jamie Gillis as the bloodsuckin' Count.

One of the first, and dare I say, few genuine and sincere attempts at melding horror with pornography that isn't merely played for shocks like Come Again (1973), Hardgore (1974), Wet Wilderness (1975) , or anything from the demented mind of Zebedy Colt.

I also meant it when I said it's a faithful adaptation of the source material, serious attention to detail went into crafting Dracula Sucks and it might also be the only adaptation of Dracula where you'll hear Van Helsing utter a suggestion for "warm water enemas" as a treatment for Dr. Seward's patients.



Count Dracula (Gillis) purchases a gothic estate, that's actually name-dropped as Carfax Abbey, next door to Dr. Seward's (Leslie) sanatorium. At the same time Richard Renfield (Richard Bulik), a kind of odd young fellow who's suffering from insomnia, gets dropped off at Seward's mental institution by his Aunt Irene (Pat Manning). During one particularly restless night Renfield is drawn towards the Abbey and after battling his way through layers of cobwebs, discovers the Count's coffin. The next day Drac swings by the asylum and is introduced to the cast, where he takes an immediate shine to Mina (Haven) and not before long the patients and staff begin suffering from symptoms of vampirism. Van Helsing (Reggie Nalder) arrives and along with Seward they realise that Count Dracula is the cause of the sickness, armed with Van Helsing's extensive knowledge, experience, and a fistful of wolfsbane, they attempt to defeat Dracula and save the beautiful Mina.



The horror elements effectively highlight the bestial nature of Count Dracula, appearing more akin to animal than man. In Dracula Sucks, the Count possesses a ruthlessly primal sexual nature; in brief sequences that are shown as a kind of composite with fire underneath and negative-image effect overlaid, except that it's red not inverted, Dracula gives Lucy (Serena) a golden shower while she's in a trance-like state, mercilessly depicting the Count's total control over his victims. The incestuous scenes between the Seward siblings is interesting too, exhibiting human deviancy that's perfectly offset against the aberrant animalistic sexuality of Dracula.

Johnathan Harker (Paul Thomas) suffers a particularly savage and sexualised death at the fangs of a recently-turned Mina with Dracula standing by. There's a sort of subtle and demeaning sexual assault on Harker perpetrated by Dracula in the lead-up to Mina tearing-out his throat, the moment feels like an act of extremely perverse foreplay for the two vamps, with them sharing a mutual climax of orgasmic delight in Harker's degradation and eventual exsanguination.



Dracula Sucks is a really fun adaptation of a seminal work of horror. Shot on location at Castle Ranch in Lancaster, California; where Al Adamson had shot Blood of Dracula's Castle (1969), its rough rock walls and moody interior exude a believable gothic splendour. Production values are aided by beautiful lighting, thoughtful photography and the set dressing & costumes are pretty great too. Reggie Nalder is fantastic as Van Helsing, his distinctively gnarled, crinkly features and Austrian accent go the extra mile to really sell it.

Unfortunately, its not without a couple of drawbacks. It suffers from choppy, uneven editing; scenes feel cut too short and the ending comes to a close a little too abruptly. Nevertheless, there's a good time to be had with Dracula Sucks, everyone brings their A game, nothing is taken too seriously, scenery is chewed, and everyone gets to have a go with the fake vampire teeth. It definitely has far more going for it than against it.

The final scenes of a fully-outfitted Count Gillis & the gorgeous Annette Haven making love in Dracula's cobweb-strewn love nest is grand, expertly lensed erotica, if you're gonna do it, have it look like this.



And... for the primo sleazo crowd, there's an alternative version retitled as Lust At First Bite, it's a reordered edit using alternate footage and substituting storytelling, along with scenes of violence & death, for more hardcore footage and an alternate ending, so if that's your preference, that'll be version for you. Adding a smidge confusion to the mix, there's another film, Dracula's Bride (1980), that's believed to be put together by William Margold, I've not been able to successfully track this down so I can't comment for sure whether or not it's an original production or spliced together with footage from Dracula Sucks!