Tendre Dracula

I'm giving this one a four out of ten just based on sheer obscurity: There is nothing quite so satisfying as engaging in some activity that most others cannot, and for very good reasons "Tender Dracula" is about as obscure as it gets, as in literally "difficult to see". For a few years I have made it a policy to neither confirm nor deny that I have an original VHS of this title after being warned that there were people who would literally do anything to get a copy of it ... Now that I have finally found time to see the movie I can think of a few things I'd like to have, so bring it on.

Peter Cushing manages a little tongue in cheek as the Count of a wonderfully crumbling French castle that along with him are the best things in this film. There is nudity, sex, some graphic dismemberment and lots and lots of jabbering Frenchmen running around waving their arms and acting in that "gonzo Euro comedy" manner that mystifies most American viewers. A pair of French writer doofuses are sent by their producer to his castle to get an exclusive on Cushing's Count, who is a horror film actor or something like that, an idea that would later be used in "Dracula: Father and Son", which also was a French made horror/comedy spoof/satire filled with lots of French actors running around, waving their arms excitedly and jabbering. I sense an idiom trait here of the sub-genre I refer to as "Weird French Crap". See other long lost mega-obscure titles like LA GOULVE/EROTIC WITCHCRAFT or DEVIL STORY for more information, they are priceless.

The story was too perfunctory to be memorable, with the most potent aspect of the film being it's atmosphere and all of the cringe inducing would-be musical numbers being sung by Miou-Miou stark naked whilst wearing an appalling 1970s super curl wig and metallic makeup. Meanwhile Cushing's half mute shuffling Igor type butler is lopping off his toes & administering beatings to the pair of writers, one of whom is portrayed by Bernard Menez, who would later figure prominently into "Dracula: Father and Son" as well. When Hammer went bale in 1974 their best actors went to France to make gonzo Euro comedy spoofs ala YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN with this putz? I know I am just not getting into the spirit of things here and promise to try and find time for another screening between now and when hell freezes over, but aside from looking at the gloriously dank, unkempt and uncomfortable looking castle the proceedings were set in I didn't get much out of this movie. The best way that it can be described of is "some French hack aping Jess Franco aping Juan Lopez Moctezuma aping Mel Brooks" but even that doesn't quite put the sheer vapidness of the production into perspective. It's also curious for a movie with such abundant nudity to not be sleazy: The Euro artiness even smothers the smut factor, unless you find yourself attracted to skinny French B actresses wearing obnoxious looking wigs.

I'll try one more time: This is another one of those confusing European horror comedies like FRANKENSTEIN'S GREAT AUNT TILLIE, DR. TARR'S TORTURE DUNGEON, "Mama Dracula", "Lady Dracula", or THE THRILLING VAMPIRES OF VOGEL with some otherwise respectable genre actor plunked in the middle of Euro arty cacophony. There are a few good laughs and plenty of nude bodies (including the obligatory French orgy conclusion, played for laughs rather than erotica), some good atmosphere and lashings of gore, but in the end you kind of have to wonder what they were thinking when they proposed the film. It's not quite horrifying enough to be an outright horror movie and not quite funny enough to be a recommended comedy, it's more kind of an experiment in surrealism with Peter Cushing trying his darndest as usual. Fans of Jean Rollin's work will no doubt be enamored, anyone else may very well wonder what the point of it all was. Other than coming up with an excuse to film a low budget movie in that amazing castle they found. What a place!

4/10

Tender Dracula (1974)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Weird French mix of horror and comedy has two screenwriters and their girlfriends going to the home of a retiring horror actor (Peter Cushing) who played Dracula countless times in his career. It doesn't take long for the guests to wonder if he was playing Dracula or if he's the real thing. Well, I'm really not sure what to say about this film other than it's quite rare and that's a good thing. While the film isn't nearly as horrible as it's reputation, the entire thing is quite bizarre to say the least and in the end it comes off like an Abbott and Costello film with a lot of nudity and sex jokes. I do wonder if the filmmakers had Abbott and Costello in mind because I couldn't help but think of some of their monster mash movies and of course it's quite fitting that they've got Peter Cushing here playing the "Dracula" character. The film pretty much has the two writers and their two hot girlfriends running around and encounters countless bizarre things. This includes Cushing but we've also got blood in the bathtub and various other strange things throughout the castle. One running joke involves the horror star wanting to do romantic movies but it's not all that funny. In fact, most of the comedy here just doesn't work because the direction is simply all over the place and if you check out Pierre Grunstein's credits you'll notice this was the first and last time he worked the director's chair. To say the film is uneven would be an insult to the word uneven. You really can't tell what exactly they were going for because the pacing is off but there's also issues with the screenplay. The script simply goes on and on at times and you just sit there wondering what the whole point is. Even worse is that the horror elements really don't work either but I must say that you do get a good performance from Cushing who is at least energized and appears to be having fun. The supporting players really aren't all that memorable, although there is plenty of nudity with the two female leads. TENDER Dracula has pretty much been forgotten and there's really no reason for anyone to re-discover it.

Tender Dracula is a combination horror film and French bedroom farce. It is one of Peter Cushing's least known films and for good reason. He plays a hammy actor who may or may not be a real vampire. Though Cushing is listed as the star, the film centers a lot more on the antics of two writers who visit Cushing's castle by the sea and the two girls they bring with them. There is a lot of nudity, some blood, some dream sequences and very little sense. It's like the makers want the viewer to puzzle over whether what is happening is real or not. By the end, the film becomes almost dream-like and makes no sense whatsoever. It's anybody's guess as to why Cushing signed on for this film. It is way beneath him. It's even beneath John Carradine!

In this set called CUSHING CURIOSTIES there are 5 feature films and the 6 remaining episodes of the BBC's SHERLOCK HOLMES series from 1968. The movies were made between 1959 and 1974 and reflect not only the growth of Cushing's career but the many changes in society and the movie industry that brought about the end of the Gothic horror films in which he specialized. Three of the films are in black and white. SUSPECT (1960) and THE MAN WHO FINALLY DIED (1962) have pre-James Bond espionage themes. CONE OF SILENCE, based on a book, deals with faulty aircraft design and is based on fact.

In SUSPECT, Cushing plays a scientist who wishes to publish his findings on deadly bacteria while the British Government wants them withheld from public knowledge. The film co-stars Donald Pleasance and Ian Bannen. In THE MAN WHO FINALLY DIED, Cushing is an ex-Nazi who is trying to commit insurance fraud...or is he? Headlining the movie is Stanley Baker, just 2 years away from international stardom in ZULU. Baker plays a man who is shocked to discover that his German father (not Cushing), whom he thought was long dead, is still alive. Both movies are tense and terse.

The earliest movie in the set, CONE OF SILENCE, dates from 1959. It tells the story of a new line of airplanes that sometimes crash while attempting to land. Peter is an ambitious pilot who, in order to advance his career, blames the crashes on an older cohort rather than the structural flaw he knows to be the real cause. The film has a strong cast that includes George Sanders and Bernard Lee. Future Hammer regulars Andre Morell and Marne Maitland have significant supporting roles. As stated earlier, the screenplay is based on fact.

The other two films, BLOODSUCKERS and TENDER DRACULA are both in color, made in the early 1970s and were barely released. The first movie, about modern day vampires, suffered from producer interference resulting in the director having his name removed. It also underwent several name changes. I first saw it in a drive-in and it wasn't half bad. In addition to Cushing, it has the added presence of Patrick Macnee and Edward Woodward. The 10 minute LSD induced orgy scene, which caused the director to leave and was ultimately cut, has been restored here. .. SPOILER ALERT!... It adds absolutely nothing to the film.

TENDER DRACULA (THE BIG SCARE) is a real oddity. It was made in France in 1974 and, aside from Cushing and THE THIRD MAN star Alida Valli, features an all French cast and crew. It was intended to be a combination horror comedy and sex farce and how well it succeeds will depend on your taste for...French horror comedies / sex farces. It does have its admirers but only in France which is the only place it was released before going straight to video. Whether it is Cushing's worst movie is debatable. He didn't think so, giving that distinction to 1967's THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR, but TD gets my vote.

As for the 6 SHERLOCK HOLMES episodes, they prove that Peter Cushing was one of the great Holmes interpreters right up there with Jeremy Brett and Basil Rathbone. His lean, gaunt features, dismissive attitude, and nervous energy are very close to Doyle's description of the character. Cushing also insisted that his wardrobe match the illustrations from the Victorian period magazines where Holmes first appeared. Nigel Stock is the perfect Dr. Watson. An ordinary man who helps to ground his extraordinary friend. Of the stories, only A STUDY IN SCARLET disappoints as the murderer's background has been eliminated.

So, in the final summary, CUSHING CURIOSITIES is a must for all fans of the actor even if not all the material is first rate. It gives us a chance to see Peter in some of his solid supporting roles before he became a horror star and some lesser known movies that he made to keep himself busy after his wife died in 1971...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

Peter Cushing in a vampire movie. Sound good? Yes I thought so too...until I saw Tender Dracula. This is a French film and comes across as something like an arty Hammer Horror flick. The plot focuses on two writers. They go on a trip with their girlfriends (who both look like men in drag) and end up at the castle of an aging actor. He is famous for portraying vampires on screen; but as the night progresses, the group begins to wonder if the man is really acting when he is on screen. The film basically consists of eighty five minutes of boring dialogue and as you can probably imagine; it gets boring quickly. The copy I saw was of really poor quality; but in spite of that it's clear that the film doesn't utilise any particularly interesting locations which helps to make it more of a dull experience. The title, 'Tender Dracula' lead me to believe that it might be some sort of soft-core porn outing, but there's no sex or nudity in the film and the title is quite inappropriate. I'd hesitate even to call this a horror film really since there's no actual horror in it. Tender Dracula is a 'lost' film, and really that is for good reason and I doubt it will be resurfacing any time soon!