Search - Exploitation Cinema: Nightmare in Wax/Blood of Dracula's Castle on DVD

Bloody Al Adamson

Brad Baker | Atherton, Ca United States | 10/25/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"How about a little low-budget Al Adamson blood-letting? "Exploitation Cinema: Nightmare in Wax/Blood of Dracula's Castle" features two pot-boilers, bound to thrill(or bore) you to death.
No. 1 is Paragon Intl.'s 1969 "Nightmare in Wax(96 minutes. Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1)".
Cameron Mitchell stars as the horribly disfigured ex-makeup artist Vincent Renard in a variation on the horror classic "House of Wax". Renard runs the Movieland Wax Museum. As part of his entertainment, Renard kidnaps actors, gives them paralyzing drugs, and dips them in wax for use as exhibits. Two detectives(one is Al Adamson) start poking around, and you know the fur is gonna fly. Mitchell's campy performance as the fiend is hampered by Adamson's dreary pace. The other detective is played by B-film star Scott Brady, who was the brother of veteran Lawrence Tierney. Cameron Mitchell began his career on Broadway in 1934, and signed a movie contract with MGM in 1945. Cameron Mitchell also appeared in the first Cinemascope film, "The Robe" in 1953. Mitchell was the voice of Jesus in the Crucifixion scene. Filming locations for "Nightmare in Wax" included the Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park, Southern California.
No. 2 is "Blood of Dracula's Castle(1969. 84 minutes. Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1)".
"Blood of Dracula's Castle" was directed by Al Adamson. Glen Cannon(Gene O'Shane) inherits a seaside castle called Falcon Rock. He and his girlfriend(Barbara Bishop) visit the castle, but find it is already occupied by Count and Countess Dracula(played by Alex D'Arcy and Paula Raymond). The Draculas' butler(John Carradine) keeps young girls shackled in the cellar. John Carradine is listed with top-billing in "Blood of Dracula's Castle", but his role as George the butler is rather small. Over-the-top Carradine is first seen using a hypodermic needle to extract blood from one of the captive basement girls(Vicki Volante). Carradine fills two glasses with the "beverage" and serves it to his masters, adding: "Count, I think you will enjoy this vintage..". A long opening scene was shot at Marineland of California and other locations were Castle Ranch, an actual castle in California. Producer Rex Carlton borrowed money to finance this film and "Nightmare in Wax(shot around the same time). The low-budget atmosphere is almost palpable. The budget was about $50,000. "Dracula's Castle" actor Robert Dix said later: "Al Adamson did make a few people's lives miserable; as a matter of fact, eventually, somebody shot and killed him"."

How Did You Rate This DVD - It Was Never Released!

A. Tucker | Clarksville, USA | 03/25/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"How can anyone rate this DVD when it was never released? BCI closed their DVD division right as this DVD was about to be sent out and it it's a darn shame. Their Exploitation Cinema DVDs were, for the most part, great. I was dying to finally see a decent release for Blood of Dracula's Castle but now it looks like we can forget it unless another company buys the Crown International film package. People - please don't post reviews of things you could not have reviewed. Thanks."

Available now at Wal-Mart

ESP | Lehigh Valley, PA USA | 10/19/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Mill Creek has put out a "Gorehouse Greats" collection, which you can snag at Wal-Mart for $5. On there is both Nightmare In Wax and Blood Of Dracula's Castle plus an additional 10 movies."