Billy The Kid Vs Dracula

There’s nothing like a double feature, especially in the cinema or (if you’re lucky) at one of the few remaining Drive in Theatres. It’s something that most of us replicate at home, watching movies in endless succession as the very concept of sleep begins to elude you completely. No? Well, maybe that’s just me then. Anyway, I defy anyone to walk past a cinema that was showing the ‘Shockorama’ double feature of ‘Billy the Kid Vs Dracula’ and ‘Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter’.

Originally the first feature William Beaudine’s ‘Billy the Kid Vs Dracula’ (1966) is a movie that conjures up multiple expectations and preconceptions on its very utterance. Vampires and Cowboy’s eh? How will that work? Quite well, surprisingly. The budget is small (as you may have imagined) and the overall aesthetic is predominantly B-Grade Western material. Washed out and grainy, this is perfect zombiehamster fodder. There’s more ham than a pork chop sandwich factory and it smells pretty good from this side of the river.

There’s something very Fu Manchu, or even Coffin Joe about John Carradine’s vampire, who makes his designs on the fiancé of Billy the Kid, who’s just a simple trusting country girl. She is thankfully alerted to the Vampires presence by some helpful European immigrants who have just arrived into town. The dominant and headstrong ‘Kid’ decides that he will fight and kill Dracula for the honour of his bride to be. At a running time of only 71 Mins, there is little room for substantial plot development, so that’s about it. This, however, is not an issue of plot, it’s a movie about Billy the Kid, and he’s fighting Dracula. What more do you want?

The townsfolk are ridiculous, the sets cheap and the acting is generally atrocious. The dialogue is unconvincing and everyone speaks as if there were multiple exclamation marks printed after every line within the script. I absolutely loved it. Short, sweet and trashy as hell. Vampsploitation all the way baby!

I have as of yet been unable to acquire a copy of ‘Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter’ but as soon as I do, you’ll be the first to know. Something tells me that the two movies viewed together may be the greatest cinematic experience of all time. Although we’ll not know until I find it, will we?

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