Dracula vs. Frankenstein (Assignment Terror) 1970

This goofy Spanish movie has it all. Paul Naschy’s werewolf Waldemar Daninsky, aliens with a plot to kill off humanity and take over Earth, Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster and the Mummy. The plot tosses just about everything at you but the kitchen sink.

Michael Rennie (The Day The Earth Stood Still) plays an alien who’s inhabiting the body of an earthling. He takes on the guise of Dr. Warnoff, and along with his assistant Maleva and others, they hatch a plot to take over the Earth. It seems the planet they’re from, Ummo, is dying, so they must find a new home to inhabit or their species is doomed. They reanimate Earth’s most feared monsters, including Daninsky’s Wolfman, Dracula, The Mummy and the Frankenstein monster, in the hope of cloning them to create a world conquering army. Their evil plot begins to falter, however, when they begin to feel the human emotions of the bodies they’re inhabiting. Meanwhile, Detective Henry Toberman is investigating strange murders and kidnappings, which leads him to the alien’s scheme.

There are several romantic subplots, including Detective Toberman's romance with a woman named Ilsa, Maleva's romance with another alien, and a blonde who's under mind control who falls in love with Waldemar. Since the film is so overloaded with characters and stories, there's very little character development, with people randomly falling in love, amid all the ghoulish monster action. The original Spanish title is Los Monstruos del Terror (Monsters of Terror), which fits much better. I'm not sure why they retitled it Dracula vs. Frankenstein as that fight never happens. Dracula is killed by Detective Toberman with a wooden stake through his heart, and Waldermar's werewolf has duels with both The Mummy and the Frankenstein monster. Naschy is given very little to do other than his monster scenes, and I don't know how Rennie was able to keep a straight face while filming this. The dubbed dialogue is snappy, the murders are fun, the monsters are cool, the music is groovy, and the alien plot is absurd, resulting in an outrageous monster bash that just zips along from set piece to set piece. If you're in the mood for a retro, off-the wall bonkers story, then this flick is for you. It's available to stream on Tubi.

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