''Lady Dracula'' is a 1977 West German comedy horror film, directed by

Franz Josef Gottlieb Franz Josef Gottlieb (1 November 1930 – 23 July 2006) was an Austrian film director and screenwriter. He directed 60 films between 1959 and 2005. He also directed the children's series '' Ravioli'' in 1983; it aired on ZDF in 1984. He was ...

and starring

Evelyne Kraft Evelyne Kraft (22 September 1951 – 13 January 2009) was a Swiss businesswoman and former actress. She was best known for her roles in the films ''Lady Dracula'' and ''The Mighty Peking Man''. Background Born in Zürich, Switzerland on 22 Sept ...

Brad Harris Bradford Harris (July 16, 1933 – November 7, 2017) was an American actor, stuntman, and executive producer. He appeared in a variety of roles in over 50 films, mostly in European productions. He was an inductee in the Stuntman's Hall of Fame ...

, and

Theo Lingen Theo Lingen (; 10 June 1903 – 10 November 1978), born Franz Theodor Schmitz, was a German actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1929 and 1978, and directed 21 films between 1936 and 1960. Life and c ...

in his final film appearance.Flynn p.199 The film is initially set in 1876, when

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some ...

kidnaps and bites an adolescent

countess Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

. Dracula is killed shortly after, and the girl is sealed in her tomb before having a chance to turn into a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...

. In 1976, she is accidentally released from her tomb and quickly changes into an adult form. The female vampire has to adapt to the changes in her life, while also working for a living. An inspector investigating a series of vampire murders quickly falls in love with the attractive vampire woman.

Plot summary

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, 1876,

emerges from his castle and raids a girl boarding school, kidnapping the young Countess Barbara von Weidenborn. A posse pursues him, but Dracula is able to bite Barbara and drain her blood before he is cornered and staked inside his tomb. Unwilling to defile Barbara's corpse, the citizens bury her in a coffin sealed with a cross to prevent her from rising as a vampire herself. In 1976, A hundred years later, two construction workers accidentally unearth Barbara's coffin, and one of them steals the cross to trade it for a drink of beer before they report their find to the police. In the meantime, however, the coffin is stolen and sold to an unscrupulous antique dealer. Barbara emerges the following night and kills the dealer; but after having consumed his blood, she turns into a beautiful adult woman. Barbara eventually finds employment with Theo Marmorstein, an undertaker, where she secretly drains the corpses of their blood for later consumption. However, during a carnival party, her supply of blood runs out (mostly thanks to Marmorstein's bumbling assistants), and in her thirst she attacks and drains Irene Ruhesanft, Marmorstein's love interest. When Marmorstein catches her in the act, she moves to attack him as well; Marmorstein accidentally knocks over a bunch of chemicals which set the building ablaze, forcing Barbara to flee and sustain herself on blood banks and the occasional human victim. The vampire murders are investigated by

Austrian police The Federal Police ( de-AT, Bundespolizei) is the national and principal law enforcement agency of Austria. The Federal Police was formed in July 2005 as one formal unit of police. In 2005, the Federal Police replaced the Austrian Federal Genda ...

Inspector Harris and his assistant Eddi. They encounter Barbara while she is still working for Marmorstein, and while Harris falls in love with her, Eddi gradually begins to suspect that the murderer is a vampire, which Harris dismisses. After the undertaker's firm has burned down, Harris is delighted to find Barbara still alive, but as they spend one evening together, she attacks and tries to drain him. The imminent sunrise forces her to retreat to her coffin stored inside a secret room within her apartment; when Harris uncautiously follows her and bends over the coffin, she pulls him inside and the lid falls shut. When Eddi, after having deduced that Barbara is the vampire, arrives right afterwards and comes upon the shaking coffin, he ends the film by nervously asking the audience: "I wonder if I should disturb them now?"

Cast

as Countess Barbara von Weidenborn / Lady Dracula ** Marion Kracht as Young Barbara *

as Police Inspector Harris *

as Theo Marmorstein *

Eddi Arent Gebhardt Georg Arendt (5 May 1925 – 28 May 2013) was a German actor, cabaret artist and comedian. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1956 and 2002. He was born in Danzig, Free City of Danzig (present-day Gdańsk, Poland) and died in ...

as Detective Eddi * Christine Buchegger as Irene Ruhesanft *

Walter Giller Walter Giller (23 August 1927 – 15 December 2011) was a German actor. He was very successful in the 1950s and 1960s, when he was often seen as a comedic leading man. One of his most successful and more serious roles was in ''Roses for the Pros ...

as Mr. Oskar * Klaus Höhne as Mr. Hubert *

Roberto Blanco Roberto Blanco (legal name: Roberto Zerquera Blanco), was born 7 June 1937 in Tunis, Tunisia. Of Afro-Cuban origin, Blanco is a German Schlager singer, actor, and entertainer. Early life Blanco is the son of Cuban folklorist and artist Alfonso ...

as Karli *

Stephen Boyd Stephen Boyd (born William Millar; 4 July 1931 – 2 June 1977) was a Northern Irish actor. He appeared in some 60 films, most notably as the villainous Messala in '' Ben-Hur'' (1959), a role that earned him the Golden Globe Award for Bes ...

Production

It was shot in 1975 on location in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, but the release was delayed to 1977.

References

Bibliography

* John L. Flynn. ''Cinematic vampires: the living dead on film and television, from The devil's castle (1896) to Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)''. McFarland & Co., 1992.

External links

* {{Franz Josef Gottlieb 1977 films 1977 comedy horror films Films set in 1876 Films set in 1976 German comedy horror films West German films 1970s German-language films Films directed by Franz Josef Gottlieb Films set in Austria-Hungary Films shot in Vienna Dracula films 1970s German films Films about kidnapping German vampire films