ZOLTAN: HOUND OF DRACULA (1977) Blu-ray
Director: Albert Band
Kino Lorber Studio Classics

You've met his son, his daughter, and some of his brides, now meet "Dracula's dog" in ZOLTAN: HOUND OF DRACULA, on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

During training maneuvers, the Romanian army accidentally uncovers the tomb of the Dracula family. A lone corporal (Dimitri Logothetis, THE CHOIROBYS) is left to guard the tomb for the night while an archaeologist is summoned. Further tremors unearth a coffin in which the soldier discovers a corpse in a burial shroud with a stake through its heart. He removes the stake and is attacked by its resurrected occupant: Zoltan, a Doberman Pinscher bitten by Count Igor Dracula (Michael Pataki, GRADUATION DAY) two hundred years ago. The dog resurrects his other master, Veidt Schmidt (Reggie Nalder, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE) but further tremors cause the tomb to collapse before they can resurrect the Count, so Veidt and Zoltan decide they must find a new master. Upon unearthing the bitten soldier and the coffins of the Dracula family who have all been staked, Major Hassel (Arlene Martel, ANGELS FROM HELL) consults local police inspector Branco (Jose Ferrer, BLOOD TIDE) who is an expert in the local folklore. Branco discovers that the one of the empty coffins was occupied by Veidt who is fractional lamia, a half-vampire who is able to guard his master with his ability to walk in the daylight, but that he cannot survive without a master. Branco discovers the last of the human Draculas is Michael Drake (also Pataki) who was smuggled away from the old country to America, ostensibly due to a political uprising, and surmises that Veidt intends to turn him into his new master. Branco arrives in Los Angeles just days after Drake and his wife Marla (Jan Shutan, THE SEVEN MINUTES), children Steve (John Levin) and Linda (Libby Chase), and German Shepherds Sampson, Annie, and their newborn pups have gone off camping at Lake Arrowhead. Branco follows but Veidt and Zoltan are already ahead of him, with the fanged canine vampirizing the area dogs to wage a siege on the Drake family.

One of a strain of 1970s films with vampires in the "olde country" transported to the New World including COUNT YORGA: VAMPIRE, BLACULA, and LOVE AT FIRST BITE, ZOLTAN: HOUND OF DRACULA for the most part is sillier in concept than execution. Attempts to evoke the Gothic in the Romanian scenes and the woodsy California settings are reasonably atmospheric, and the electronic scoring of Andrew Belling (THE KILLING KIND) is an effective touch that went largely unnoticed by this reviewer on previous viewings. Ferrer lends some gravitas to the story while Nalder is sadly underused – and undermined by the foley work and dubbing of the pair's climactic fight scene (I swear there's a Wilhelm Scream or two in the mix of that scene) – while Pataki fairs better as Drake than Dracula. Zoltan the dog is striking but the viewer cannot help but "awe" when he stares at the camera with those glowing eyes or yelps, but the puppet heads of Stan Winston (THE THING) are convincing enough (it is difficult, however, to determine if the "vampuppy" was meant for a laugh or a final chill). Director Albert Band – father of producer Charles Band (PUPPET MASTER) and composer Richard Band (THE HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW) – had previously produced the EYES WITHOUT A FACE rip-off MANSION OF THE DOOMED which had been directed by Pataki and also had distributor Brandon Chase's daughter Libby in a small role (Pataki would also direct a softcore CINDERELLA film for Band). The film was novelized by Ken Johnson under the alternate title "Dracula's Dog."

Released theatrically by EMI in the U.S. and the U.K., ZOLTAN: HOUND OF DRACULA arrived on VHS stateside both under that title from Thorn/EMI and as DRACULA'S DOG from United Home Video and then VCI. The film passed along with other EMI product into the ownership of Studio Canal who licensed the film to Anchor Bay Entertainment for a barebones DVD release in 2002, followed by a DVD-R on-demand release in 2012 when Lionsgate had a deal with Studio Canal. Kino Lorber's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen Blu-ray comes from a new 4K master. It is still a very low budget film but one notices improvements in texture of clothing and settings from the beginning while the first bold primaries comes with the title card. The night and day-for-night scenes are better judged while the flashback scenes look appropriately diffused rather than soft-focused, and a dog attack on a human gains from the increased detail as particularly deserving of the R-rating than anything else on view. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track is clean enough to distinguish the clarity of the dialogue recording and mixing of the score against an underpowered effects track of overdubbed barks, growls, and human screams. Optional English SDH subtitles are included.

Kino's feature presentation is accompanied by an audio commentary by film historians Lee Gambin and John Harrison who note that the film crams the more Gothic tropes of vampire cinema into the first thirteen minutes, noting both commonalities shared by the film and aforementioned vampires in the New World films, and arguing that the film usually derided for its title alone plays things straight for the most part. Gambin had previously written a book on the making of CUJO and recorded a commentary track for the U.K. Blu-ray edition, and is able to draw on that research since the dogs and bats for ZOLTAN were also trained by CUJO animal trainer Karl Miller who along with animal furnisher Lou Schumacher had previously worked on THE DOBERMAN GANG which was written by ZOLTAN's Frank Ray Perilli (who also scripted a handful of productions for pre-Empire Pictures Charles Band). The disc also includes a radio spot (0:30), theatrical trailer (3:21), and trailers for JENNIFER, DERANGED, MADHOUSE, BURNT OFFERINGS, CHOSEN SURVIVORS, PARASITE, and PHOBIA. The cover is reversible with DRACULA'S DOG art on the inside. (Eric Cotenas)

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