Classic Horrors Club

The poster for Tender Dracula (1974) aka The Big Scare, gives us a good idea about how conflicted the movie is going to be. Drawn with dripping red blood in the background is a gorgeous image of Peter Cushing baring fangs as a vampire (perhaps the titular Dracula,) yet in the foreground are green caricatures of four naked people cowering in fear. 

It’s definitely more of a sex comedy than a horror film, but that’s not all it is. At its heart (which it does have one) is a meta tribute to an aging movie star reflecting upon his career. Like Boris Karloff in Targets and Vincent Price in Madhouse, Cushing plays a version of himself at a specific point in his life reconciling his feelings about being a horror film icon.

I admire the concept. After 40 years of scaring people, MacGregor (Cushing) wants to leave horror and star in a romantic series. Le Productuer (Julien Guiomar) sends two of his writers, Alfred (Bernard Menez) and Boris (Stephane Shandor), to MacGregor’s isolated castle in the country to convince him otherwise.

Before leaving, they discover in the back seat of their car two young women, Marie (Miou-Miou) and Madeleine (Nathalie Courval,) that Le Productuer has sent along to “inspire” the two men at the castle. When they arrive, they will inspire not only the writers, but MacGregor himself and even his wife, Heloise (Alida Valli.)

There’s the sex comedy. Other than the spooky castle and a modicum of atmosphere, there’s virtually no horror unless you count a couple of times MacGregor inexplicably bares fangs as he’s ranting, raving, and trying to convince the writers that horror films are dying and romance is rising. He finds examples of romance at every turn and doesn’t hesitate to excitedly share them.

It’s another meta angle that reflects the actual state of horror at the time. It was a period of change as Hammer was taking advantage of loosening restrictions on mature material. It all works better on paper, though. The execution here is sometimes zany, sometimes poignant, but at almost all times nearly incomprehensible.

I don’t know enough about French comedies to know how Tender Dracula compares. There are a handful of isolated moments when I did smile or laugh, but the rest doesn’t suit my sense of humor. Maybe it will yours. At least we get to see more of Peter Cushing in Tender Dracula (1974) than we have in the other Cushing Curiosities.

Speaking of the box set from Severin Films, now that I’ve completed it, it’s a good time to comment that it couldn’t be more aptly named. Every one of the films is indeed curious. For the movies alone, part of me regrets the investment. However, when you add the name Cushing, the regret dissipates. I truly appreciate getting to see some different sides of the great actor.