8mm Forum: Doom of Dracula-8mins/b/w/snd.

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Topic: Doom of Dracula-8mins/b/w/snd.

Andrew Wilson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 784
From: dundonald,belfast,co.antrim,northern ireland.
Registered: Jan 2006

posted January 06, 2007 06:48 AM

This one reeler is from House of Frankenstein.It covers the first half of the feature.I found it well edited and a neat little one reeler.
After the title sequence,were in the universal thunder and lighting
storm,as two men come out of the woods.They see a carnival,stuck in the mud,and help the owner get it out.
The owner offers his living wagon to the two strangers,bad idea!.
It is of course Dr.Niemann(BORIS KARLOFF) and his hunckback assitant Daniel(J.CARROL NAISH).
Daniel murders the owner,and now pretending to be the owners of this travelling show,Niemann wants to seek out the main man responable for putting him into prison in the first place.
They arrive at a small villeage,were Niemann cant believe his luck,the mayor is this man.
Niemann has the remains of Count Dracula(John Carrdine),he removes the stake,Dracula returns from his grave,and Niemann
tells him that he will protect his casket,if Dracula does him a
favour..Dracula argees...
Dracula does kill the mayor,but also becomes attracted to Rita(Anne Gweynne);so the chase is on...
Rita's husband and the local police give chase as Dracula kidnapps Rita in a coach.
Dr.Niemann,meanwhile,is camped no to far away,sees the local police,give chase,and loads up his own wagon,and heads out of the villeage.
He soon realies that they are in pursit of Dracula,and dumps Dracula's coffin off.Dracula's coach crashes,and as he tries to get to his coffin,is too late,the sun rises,and Dracula,is destroyed by the first light of dawn....
I find this a neat little one reeler,that covers the first half of the feature very well indeed.It still has good print and sound.Well worth tracking down.very nice indeed.Recommend.Andy.

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Peter Richards
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 137
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Dec 2006

posted January 06, 2007 03:35 PM

Great review Andy,i'll track this one down [Cool]

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Andrew Wilson
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 784
From: dundonald,belfast,co.antrim,northern ireland.
Registered: Jan 2006

posted January 06, 2007 07:30 PM

Hi Peter,You have a couple of P.M's.Andy.

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Brad Kimball
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1171
From: Highland Mills, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted January 07, 2007 10:52 AM

Defiinitely one of the best-edited one-reel cutdowns that CASTLE ever did. I've always thought the 9-minute digests were sometimes better than the full-length feature due to the fact that it eliminated the slow portions of the narrative.

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Peter Richards
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 137
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Dec 2006

posted March 29, 2007 02:21 PM

I've finally managed to get my hands on this title and what a superb edit, Many thanks Andrew for the review and another highly recommended title - a must have [Cool]

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Lee Mannering
Film God

Posts: 3216
From: The Projection Box
Registered: Nov 2006

posted March 29, 2007 03:46 PM

My Dad, now 89 met Boris once when he came to his farm. Long long time ago but pa still keeps on about it even yet. I love that reller which was a great job by Castle.
Good to read about this one Andrew..

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Guy Taylor, Jr.
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 606
From: Galveston, Texas, U.S.A.
Registered: Mar 2007

posted March 29, 2007 04:02 PM

This is one of the very best didgets from Castle Films.

When I was a kid, my parents had only a standard 8 projector. This was the early to mid seventies and my purchases were limited to mailorder from the back of the Warren Magazines Creepy, Vampirella, Eerie, and Famous Monsters of Filmland.

The camera stores and discount stores at the time only offered Super 8.

I knew my parents were going to by a new Super 8 projector in the near future so I purchased a copy of Doom of Dracula 200'silent on Super 8 back around 1975. I had to take it to my cousin's house to watch on their projector until my parents had their own. It is still one of my favorite didgests.

I now have a copy of it and the other didgest of the second half on House of Frankenstein on 16mm.

I still have my old Super 8 didgest in the beautifully illustrated Castle films box.

Truly a great didgest to have on Super 8 or 16mm.

Cheers!

--------------------
Guy Taylor

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James N. Savage 3
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1375
From: Washington, DC
Registered: Jul 2003

posted March 29, 2007 06:00 PM

Thanks for that review Andrew.

Does anyone know which, if any, of the other Castle 200 footers were from House of Frankenstien? Since Castle re-named some of the digests, I have trouble figuring out what movie some of them are from.

Thanks!

James.

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Guy Taylor, Jr.
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 606
From: Galveston, Texas, U.S.A.
Registered: Mar 2007

posted March 29, 2007 06:41 PM

I'm fairly certain that "Doom of Dracula" and the one titled "House of Frankenstein" are the only two.

--------------------
Guy Taylor

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Douglas Meltzer
Moderator

Posts: 4554
From: New York, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted March 29, 2007 08:03 PM

James,

Guy is correct. Here's the rundown on the other Castle horror digests with different titles than the features they're pulled from:

"Battle of the Giants" is from the 1940 "One Million B.C.". Castle also released another excerpt using the actual title.

"Frankenstein's New Brain" & "The Trial of Frankenstein" are both from "Ghost of Frankenstein".

"The Wolfman's Cure" is from "House of Dracula". Castle also released another excerpt using the actual title.

"War of the Planets" is from "This Island Earth".

Doug

--------------------
I think there's room for just one more film.....

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James N. Savage 3
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1375
From: Washington, DC
Registered: Jul 2003

posted March 29, 2007 08:58 PM

Thanks Doug!

Appreciate the run-down. Its hard to tell, with alot of those titles.

James.

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Gary Crawford
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 979
From: Manassas, VA. USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted March 30, 2007 06:41 AM

Yes....that Doom of Drac is a very nice edit...but , of course, the Dracula portion of House of Frankenstein was only about 23 minutes to start with...so it was a lot easier for the Castle editors to bring it down to size. I know it's been said before here, but Scott MacGillivray's book, Castle Films, A Hobbyist's Guide....is a must for us collectors. He gives you all the titles of the digests cross referenced with the feature from which it came...plus a lot of inside info on the various editions and films. Some of the Castles, such as Son of Frankenstein had two slightly different edits. Highly recommended.

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