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Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy's take on another traditional monster (making for the blood-sucking Count's beefiest incarnation since Lon Chaney Jr.'s turn in SON OF Dracula [1943]) results in one of his more enjoyable efforts, albeit given the "Euro-Cult" style's trademark languid approach and with a few weird touches all its own. This begins with the shot illustrating a man falling down the cellar steps of Dracula's castle after having his head split open with an axe being repeated ad nauseam all through the credit sequence! As the film opens, Dracula is hiding under the guise of a Dr. Kargos (presumably a play on the meshing of Karloff and Lugosi a' la our very own Joe Karlosi ) at an abandoned nearby sanatorium while also assuming the duties of butler at his own castle! Soon, his quest for peace and solitude is interrupted with a vengeance by the arrival of no less than five strangers – one man and four(!) women; the latter ostensibly serve the function of duplicating the count's three brides featured in Bram Stoker's original novel (and a handful of its myriad screen incarnations), with the remaining girl filling in the requirements of the title. Anyway, following some bed-hopping antics (the nudity being crudely inserted since the Spanish censor's repressive hand would only allow such fare to be released in "clothed" versions!), the cast of characters rapidly starts joining the ranks of the undead – leaving only the heroine (gorgeous, doe-eyed Haydee' Politoff whom I was recently impressed by in the obscure but fairly good erotic giallo INTERRABANG [1969]). Also in the cast are Rosanna Yanni (from Jess Franco's two "Red Lips" films from 1967) and others bearing such dubious names as Vic Winner and Ingrid Garbo (her character is named Marlene to boot)!; on a personal note, it was nice to see character actor Jose' Manuel Martin (who had been one of the beggars in Luis Bunuel's VIRIDIANA [1961]) as Dracula' first victim – subsequently 'residing' in his house, he notches up victims of his own and is even killed by the master (oddly enough, all vampires here contrive to dispose of one another) for daring to attack his beloved! Other unusual ideas, then, include: the fact that Dracula's prowlings occur on full-moon nights (as if he expects to turn into a werewolf?!); his having a dead daughter, which he intends to revive by mixing the blood of a virgin (Politoff, who rather than being vampirized has a knife driven through her throat in the manner of a conjuror's act) and an innocent (a village girl his brides abduct and present before him to be whipped)!; and, perhaps most baffling of all, Politoff's rejection of Dracula's offer to live eternally by his side throws him into such a dejected state (apparently, he has fallen hard for her) that not only is he willing to give up on his daughter's revitalization but actually commits suicide by piercing his own heart with a wooden stake! As I said, the film is certainly among the better of the star's vehicles that I have come across (though still not adding up to a completely successful work) and, in fact, this viewing inspired me to acquire another Spanish variant on the theme i.e. THE Dracula SAGA (1972), directed by frequent Naschy collaborator Leon Klimovsky but not involving the redoubtable Jacinto Molina himself

This is a strange version of Dracula with Paul Naschy as Dracula. Four women in gorgeous outfits travel by stagecoach through a forest, when the accident happens, and a wheel comes off and rolls away. They're all left with a random stud and a driver, who is then killed by one of the horses. And when it gets darker, wolves howl, scaring off the horses but then magically return to the carriage in the next clip! It seems editing didn't do well here. The horses should've bolted right after the scene when all of them walked away to look for the castle. When they find it, its soon clear that they end up spending more than a night in the place! Quite good, with over-the-top blood, bosoms and screaming. Sorry to disappoint fans of Spanish horror but it's just too 70's and weird.

Paul Naschy authored the story and co-wrote the screenplay for this decent vehicle for himself. He plays Dr. Wendell Marlow, who offers sanctuary to five travelers on their way through the Carpathian mountains. They consist of four gorgeous babes and the studly male Imre (Victor Alcazar); Imre is certainly in enviable company. Of course, there are no prizes for guessing who Marlow REALLY is. He falls in love with one of the woman, and she will ultimately have to make a decision: "live" forever as his bride, or turn him down and live as a mortal.

Only the amusing ending lifts this above average for this genre. It does have a fair bit to offer Euro horror lovers, like the expected sex (some of the ladies bare their breasts), the violence (the camera really loves zooming in on the red stuff), and the sadism (virgin girls are whipped so their torturers can lick up their blood). And, of course, it's a Naschy film, so you can't really go wrong. The thing is, the film just doesn't have that great a story. Other than that ending, there's nothing nuanced or particularly interesting about it.

At least viewers can soak up that atmosphere common to so much Euro horror. Naschy, as usual, has a compelling presence, and it's nice that he was an actor who embraced being a genre star. The other performances aren't as effective, but it's doubtful that people are going to care too much, since it's such an attractive cast.

The opening credits are priceless, though. They play over a scene of a murder victim tumbling down some stairs. This sequence is reversed and then played again numerous times.

Not prime Naschy, but if you're a completist of his works, you'll still want to see it.

Six out of 10.

Oh this was almost a great flick. Firmly placed in the sexploitation Eurotrash genre, it just needed to push the envelope a little bit more. Sadly it is therefore only a 4/10 job.

So blood and guts were only quite good, when they had every ability to be better. Naschy is on form as the villain, but is just a bit wooden. The women are beautiful, but do not take enough of their clothes off to make the film truly sensual etc. We really need a touch of Jean Rollin on this one.

The DVD transfer I saw on Sinema Diable is a woeful effort direct from video. No extras. A bargain basement job that gives the film no chance to redeem itself. In summary, an also ran....

In "Count Dracula's Great Love" Paul Naschy plays legendary vampire Dracula.The legend says that he is still lurking in his castle in the middle of nowhere.Four buxom ladies decide to spend the night at the old castle which most recently was used as a sanitarium.Quickly the passengers fall prey to Count Dracula.But Count falls in love with Karen...Javier Aguirre's "Count Dracula's Great Love" is a trashy and sleazy piece of Eurohorror with plenty of nudity and grue.The shots of white mists and dense forests are wonderfully atmospheric and the macabre mood is very sensual.Paul Naschy is memorable as Count Dracula/Dr.Wendell and he plays his evil character with gusto.8 sensual vampires out of 10.

Paul Naschy's version of the notorious character Dracula , it turns out to be an acceptable picture compellingly directed by Javier Aguirre with a good cast plenty of Eurobabes . A stagecoach is crashed when the carriage loses a wheel while traveling over the Borgo Passa , then passengers stop at a creepy sanitarium in the mists of eastern Europe . A man (Vic Winner) along with four women (Ingrid Garbo , Mirta Miller , Rosanna Yanni , Haydee Politoff) spend the night in an old deserted and rundown mansion on a mountain of a far country , Los Carpatos , Romania . They each in turn fall into the the evil hands of a physician (Jacinto Molina) who forces them to suck each others blood and to whip innocent village virgins so they can lick the oozing cuts clean . As Dracula starts a reign of seduction and horror, draining the life from four girls .

This thrilling as well as terrifying film contains horrifying scenes , chills , lots of gore and red tomato was used for the blood . The picture contains a crazy love story , but also nudism , lots of blood and gore as when Dracula stabs enemies and bites women . It is a passable and average-budgeted version with gorgeous actresses , functional set design and brilliant costumes . It's a delirious story about ¨amour fou¨ with multiples literary references and Hammer elements ; all of them thrown in . It results to be a strong tale as well as sensitive flick with melodramatic touches in which Dracula falls in love with a gorgeous young played by Haydee Politoff . Beautiful and naked actresses along with brief appearance two actors who performed several Spaghetti/Paella Western : Alvaro De Luna and Jose Luis Martin . Good performance from Naschy as a doctor with dark secrets . The picture was shot at the same time to ¨Hunchback of Morgue¨ with same director , cameraman , musician and actors that deals with a below average intelligence hunchback who works at the morgue. Both of them shared a similar theme , as a lone being , Hunchback and Dracula, who fall in love with a virginal maid . Naschy deservedly won the prize George Melies the best performance in Fantastic Festival of Paris and other several prizes . Naschy's success started in 1967 when Paul played and wrote the script for ¨Mark of wolfman¨ . He was forced out of necessity to play the lead role of tormented werewolf Waldermar Daninsky after Lon Chaney, Jr. turned it down . He reprised this character in over a dozen subsequent sequels . Naschy's portrayals of the anguished and sympathetic werewolf Daninsky became his signature part and consolidated his enduring cult status as a bona-fide horror icon. Other significant horror figures Paul played were the Mummy, Jack the Ripper, the Hunchback, the Frankenstein Monster, the Phantom of the Opera, the Devil and even Dracula , his performance as the Prince of Darkness in this "Count Dracula's Great Love" it was one of his personal favorites.

Atmospheric cinematography by Javier Pere Cubero though would have been necessary a photography similarly to Hammer Films , glamorous gowns and regular production design , including evocative sets . Flawed but interesting screenplay by Jacinto Molina and the same director Javier Aguirre who blends diverse themes ; however , the picture contains a silly finale . Thrilling and frightening musical score by Carmelo Bernaola . Appropriate sets and production design by Cubero and Galicia who worked in many Spaghetti Western . The motion picture was professionally directed by Javier Aguirre . Rating : Good , it will appeal to mad-cults movies and Naschy fans ; it's one of the best films .

I always had some sort of respect for the late Paul Naschy and I even definitely consider myself a fan of the Spanish horror legend, but I really have to be in a special kind of mood in order to enjoy – or sometimes even endure – his films. This is mainly because the majority of Naschy's flicks are incoherent, senseless and largely just intended to flatter his own damn ego. I have seen a few Naschy movies that are quite bonkers already, but "Count Dracula's Great Love" is surely one of the craziest. In spite of what the title suggests, the film has very little do with the classic Dracula tale and – quite honestly – I don't even understand one iota of the plot as presented here. Our hero Naschy stars as Count Dracula, but he has actually taken the human shape of Dr. Wendell Marlow. He will only become a vampire again if a true virgin falls in love with his personality. The blood of this virgin, along with that of a random other virgin, will then subsequently resurrect Dracula's daughter. Meanwhile, Dracula's raises a small army of buxom vampire vixens. They are women who craved for Marlow's body, but they weren't virgins anymore so he just killed them. Typically Paul Naschy … In practically all of the films that he (co-)wrote, his character is extremely successful amongst the ladies even though he's not the least bit attractive. He also cannot decide whether he wants to be the hero or the monster and a combination of both most definitely doesn't work in a Dracula movie; as illustrated during the incredibly preposterous and pseudo-melodramatic finale. Fans of gory and sleazy 70's exploitation flicks certainly can't complain, though, as "Count Dracula's Great love" is a 80 minutes showcasing of gratuitous nudity and thick red bloodshed. Quite often, the two are even combined, as the film contains numerous images where blood is slowly running down from the girls' necks and over their breasts. I suppose Paul Naschy and director Javier Aguirre must have thought that male viewers get aroused by a sight such as this. Purely talking technical, "Count Dracula's Great Love" is truly horrible. The dubbing and sound quality are horrendous, but still I'm willing to blame that to the DVD release. The painfully bad acting performances, the clumsy photography, the lazy directing and the amateurish editing are strictly due to a lack of skills. This film is only recommended to avid Naschy fans. People who have yet to get acquainted with him should primarily see some of his better movies, like "Inquisition", "The Hunchback of the Morgue" or – naturally – the "Hombre-Lobo" cycle.

DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE (1972) ** ½ Paul Naschy, Haydée Politoff, Rosanna Yanni, Ingrid Garbo. Four women and a man wreck their stagecoach and must take refuge in a nearby castle. Unfortunately for the travelers, the castle's owner, Dr. Wendell Marlow (Paul Naschy), turns out to be none other than Count Dracula. After Dracula falls in love with one of the women, she must decide whether to live eternally as Dracula's bride or reject him and continue to live as a mortal. Her not-so-surprising choice leads to a strange and surprising ending. Like a lot of '70s European horror movies, the film suffers from slow pacing and a somewhat muddled plot. But there's lots of gothic atmosphere and a few creepy moments here and there to keep things interesting. Worth a look.

This film is just an excuse for several beautiful women to show their breasts. Its stupid trashy script, unconvincing and dull acting, boring direction, poor editing and cheap production made it probably the worst and sleaziest Dracula movie to date. If you decide to watch it because of boobs, I'll spare you the agony of watching whole damn thing. Just watch from 0.50.30 to 0.51.40. to see two female vampires sucking blood from the tits of the third and skip everything else.

2/10

Oh dear god! I can't believe how bad this was. Where shall I begin? I'll start with the atrocious dubbing if you don't mind. It's a joke. there's no emotion in the dubbing whatsoever. I had to laugh when Dracula says "I'm the happiest man in the world." In a tone more suited for a sentence like "I can't find my keys."

Also, Dracula speaks in this mind-numbing, monotonous voice for the whole movie! It's like listening to someone read mass.

What about the plot you may ask. There isn't one. Just a random series of events: shots of day becoming night, scenes of people walking down empty corridors for what seems an eternity. Absolutely horrendous! The only reason this movie was made was to show tits. I was screaming at the film to end after the 50 mins mark, it's just so goddamn, dull. After watching it through however I can safely say two things. 1)This is easily the worst movie ever made. 2) I'd like to have met Mr. Paul Naschy before he died. So I could kick his ******* ass.

A bunch of beautiful women get stranded near a castle one night. Naturally Count Dracula (Paul Naschy) lives there and attacks them all. However he falls in love with one and gives her a choice to live as his lover for all eternity...or death. At least that's what I could make out.

I saw the dubbed American print. To make it even worse I caught it on TV late at night so it was edited to pieces. Naschy (an old pro at this) was good and there were a few good scenes--Dracula and his female vampires walking down a hall ready for a night out and the ultimate fate of the female vampires. But, aside from that, this was VERY confusing, made next to no sense and all the violence and sex was completely cut out! Also Naschy was showing his age when he made this one. He looks far too old (and heavy) to play Dracula. I've heard the uncut print is MUCH better so try to seek that out. This version gets a 1.

Imagine a Latin, less animated Bob Hoskins playing Dracula and you've got Paul Naschy in this film. Even one of the victims wishes he was a bit slimmer and taller!

Two dodgy guys are delivering a mysterious crate when one of them gets his throat ripped out and the other gets an axe to the face and fall down a flight of stairs over and over again while the credits roll. Funnily enough, the picture is cropped just enough so the credits read that this is an 'Anus' production.

A group of four women and one guy are crossing through Romania by carriage and as the guy is explaining about Dracula and what not the wheel falls off the carriage and a horses kicks the driver right in the head and kills him, which isn't the best form of criticism. Now this lot are stuck in the mountains with only a creepy sanatorium for shelter, and the only guy there is Paul Naschy! Well, him and the guy who got bit on the neck at the start - in vampire form.

Paul gives it the old 'you're all welcome to stay here' jive and makes excuses for why he's only around at night. One of the girls takes a fancy to him, but she a bit on the dirty side for Drac I mean Dr Wendel and he starts eyeing up the virginal one. We later get an explanation (from a narrator or Naschy, I'm not sure) that Drac needs a virgin to bleed onto the corpse of his daughter to bring her back to life and only true love etc etc zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Luckily this is a Spanish Vampire film and not a Hammer vampire film and things shortly get underway with the neck biting and the staking and naked boobs and the blood and the vampire chicks in nightgowns and more boobs and the slaughter of the villagers and even more boobs, so you've not got much time to get bored.

The ending as well was quite different to what I expected* and these films are rather short and sweet so don't try your patience. Naschy plays Dracula with a hint of regret and the only bit that confused me is that for a large part of the film it seemed Dracula was talking but also wasn't moving his lips. I look forward to seeing the next six hundred films Naschy made in the seventies.

Well, this time we have the indefatigable Paul Naschy, starring in a film in which he plays Count Dracula, (he is one of the actors who has played the vampire most times in the history of cinema).

The story is simple, a group of people, a man and four beautiful women, get lost in the middle of a carriage ride and seek refuge in an old castle inhabited by a mysterious man, played Naschy. From there will unleash a story full of attractions and sexual tensions on the part of women towards that attractive and mysterious man.

The film is developed in few scenarios, but these are pretty well decorated and detailed so as not to be crappy, which raises the quality of the film.

The address of Javier Aguirre is quite contained and correctly fulfilled.

Photography, on the other hand, could have been better, although it was not horrible either.

And as for the actors, Naschy is much better than usual, showing us a Dracula quite sentimental and full of emotions. The actresses are very beautiful, highlighting the French Haydeé Politoff, with a body, eyes and lips of infarction, very sensual.

Altogether the film is quite decent, with several scenes gore and quite erotic, as was usual in the Spanish horror films of the time.

Without being any wonder, it is quite acceptable. It can be seen.

The inimitable Paul Naschy stars as the eeevil character of the title, living high in the mountains in his crumbling castle of solitude.

Uh oh!

Drac's serenity is interrupted when a carriage full of nubile lasses arrives. It's not long before these unexpected guests take a nice, naked dip in the castle pool. When one of the Count's vampire henchmen bites the lone male of the group, a bloodsucking plague begins.

Much nudity ensues as the Prince of Darkness attempts to resurrect his dead daughter.

A lot of this film is rather muddled, making little sense. Still, as Naschy films go, it's not bad. His fans will want to see it no matter what...