Blood of Dracula (1957) 4

I grew up watching these American International horror movies from the 1950's on TV, loved them, and love them still, but they were basically cheap quickies banged out for the teenager drive-in market. If they were "classics", it was of the kitsch-y, "so-bad-they're-good" kind. They ranged from supremely entertaining fun to boring and silly. "Blood of Dracula" is fun, entertaining, but not the best of this type. Basically, it's a rip-off of "I Was A Teenage Werewolf"; essentially, American International stealing from American International. The plotline is almost identical-- instead of a troubled and violent Michael Landon, we have a troubled and violent Sandra Harrison (she's supposed to be a teen, but she looks to be about 30 years old to me); instead of the sinister Whit Bissell using Landon for his own evil ends, we have the sinister Louise Lewis using Harrison for her own evil ends; instead of a werewolf, we have a vampiric-type creature who might as well be a werewolf; both have male "teen-idol" type singers lip-synching God-awful songs. It's all quite ridiculous, nowhere near as good as the equally ridiculous but somewhat iconic "Teenage Werewolf" film it ripped-off, and numbingly boring in spots, innocent in a way that nothing has been in decades, but great fun overall. Rent it and a few other American International films (some of them can be tough to obtain, for some reason, these days) and watch them with your kids for a fun Halloween activity. The kids (they're so jaded these days) might be bored, but if you're middle-aged like me and retain enough of the "kid" you once were in your emotional make-up, it'll be a great night.