Chirphymium
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
Donald Seymour
This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
Philippa
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
avalonjoyous
Just saw this today I dvred it on TCM and now I wish I hadn't.This has got to be one of the worst,boring,incoherent,hilariously bad movies I've seen in years this one was a doozy for real.It's essentially about some weird mans dog and the weird mans part are hilariously bad and his part goes absolutely nowhere .The dogs owner the weird man I spoke of is staked by a detective near the middle of the movie which made his already bad part even worse .The effects are laughable and the acting was alright but nothing to write home about .Oh and the twist ending was adorable not the least bit scary no part of this entire movie was SCARY only boring,comical,and stupid .I can't believe I wasted my time with this one but if you like movies where a weird man stares menacingly over and over again ,communicates with his dog telepathically , and dogs eyes glow in a hilariously bad way then by all means check this COMEDY out and see for yourself just how bad it actually is.
Paul Andrews
Zoltan, Hound of Dracula starts in Romanian as the local there seems to be blowing holes in the ground for no apparent reason, while doing this seemingly random act of environmental vandalism they unearth an ancient tomb belonging to the Dracula's. They post a soldier there to guard the tomb until a further more detailed examination can be made, that night one of the coffins open & the soldier is stupid enough to remove a wooden stake from whatever it is embedded in & before he know's it a Vampire Dog named Zoltan has returned to life & bit his throat out. Zoltan then pulls the stake out of his master's remains, his name is Veidt Smith (Reggie Nalder) & is servant to Dracula who is long since dead. Feeling unwanted & lonely Veidt travels to California to find Michael Drake (Michael Pataki) who is the last living blood relative of Dracula, using the vicious Zoltan he plans to turn Drake into a Vampire like his ancestor & serve him for all eternity...Originally released as Dracula's Dog this American & Italian co-production was produced & directed by Albert Band, this Dog of a film really should be taken away & put down humanely as it's absolutely terrible & I had a hard time getting to the end. Everything about this lousy film is terrible, I had heard of the film before but thought it would be better. I don't know why but I always imagined it to be a period Gothic horror film featuring Dracula himself set in Transylvania in a big stone castle like Hammer Studios were making at their peak but I was wrong, I was very wrong as Zoltan, Hound of Dracula features Vampire Dog's & is set in some woods near Los Angeles. The idea of a Vampire biting another person & turning them into a Vampire is standard horror film stuff but a Vampire Dog that bites other Dog's turning them into Vampires is just weird & is as ridiculous & absurd as it sounds. It's hard to keep a straight face during the majority of Zoltan, Hound of Dracula with it's terrible attempts at tension & scares along with the barest of stories that drags on & on, throw into that a funny & utterly predictable twist ending (I kept saying out loud 'What about the puppy! What about the puppy!') in which a cute little puppy is meant to be scary as it has plastic fangs & glowing eyes. The character's are awful especially Drake who believes everything Inspectoir Branco tells him about Dracula & Vampires without questioning it, from bit part campers to Drake's wife & kids who disappear totally from the film about two thirds of the way through to Veidt Smith whose only motivation is to be a servant to Dracula. Hasn't this guy heard that slavery has been abolished? Why can't he just be his own man? Why can't he just enjoy his life with Zoltan his Vampire Dog? Why can't he & Zoltan just settle down somewhere in Romania & live happily ever after with some dignity & self respect? Why does he want to be a slave to Dracula? He may be evil but he has human rights too you know. I mean would Dracula even pay him a decent wage for his services? I doubt it. The guy's not much of a conversationalist either, I don't think he says anything to anyone during the whole film except Zoltan who he can talk to telepathically, seriously & Zoltan understands every word he telepathically says. At just over 80 odd minutes long Zoltan, Hound of Dracula drags & is very boring with not much going on. Also, has anyone else noticed that Michael Drake is constantly referred to as the last blood ancestor of Dracula yet he has two children of his own?Another big problem with Zoltan, Hound of Dracula is how seriously it takes itself with no attempt to ham things up a big & deliver on it's absurd title & premise. All we want is to be entertained & have a bit of fun while watching a film & Zoltan, Hound of Dracula fails miserably at this basic requirement. The direction is stiff & at times laughable, the Dog's on show are obviously tame & well trained so the attack scenes often look more like the Dog's are trying to play with people rather than rip them to shreds. Constant scenes of docile looking Dog's walking around with plastic fangs & glowing eye's is as silly as it gets. There's not much gore, a guy has his neck bitten, a few Dog's are staked through the heart & a camper is bitten by Zoltan but little else. Director Albert Band later went on to form the likes of Empire Pictures & Fullmoon Productions with his son Charles Band.Filmed on what must have been a low budget the effects, music & production values are all average at best, isn't it unusual how the Romanian army all speak perfect English & with Americn accents? The acting is not great, Oscar winner José Ferrer is slumming it while Michael Pataki looks likes he's there for the money & nothing else. Pataki also starred in the much, much better Vampire film Grave of the Vampire (1974) several years prior.Zoltan, Hound of Dracula is terrible, it really is & I found it pretty hard to make it to the end. It's a complete Dog of a film that sure be put down, it would be a mercy killing. Not recommended apart from the hilarious Vampire puppy at the end which is genuinely quite funny.
DreddMancunian
I actually love this film. I saw it in the late 70s as a kid and it scared the heck out of me. Nowadays it isn't scary. However there are some nice effective moments where Zoltan watches the sleeping humans. But come on guys... for sheer inventiveness this film deserves a better rating! Features the great Jose Ferrer in his silliest role, vampire dogs, a great pre-Salem's Lot Reggie Nalder as the baddie, and a preposterous plot about Dracula's descendants. But... the set pieces are really very good. Some unforgettable moments of suspense, great music, and who can forget those glowing dog eyes? Not quite a cult classic, but certainly worth watching. Unintentionally funny? Yes. But this is film with its heart in the right place... held there firmly by a wooden stake!
alistairc_2000
I had an old VHS of this so I thought today is the time to watch it again after 10 years. Plot The Count had Zoltan as a familiar to do his bidding when he gets the chop, Zolty get resurrected 100 years later. Then with another of Dracs buddies they go to the US of A to get the last in the line of Dracs to become the Drac head of the family. Very much in the way you could resurrect the godfather, now there's a thought. Thoughts There are various scenes where Zoltu and his pals attack. They are well handled and its an enjoyable and quite scary movie in parts. However, this is the tenuous movie in respect to the Count Dracula that Bram Stoker wrote in 1895.
