- Directed by William Beaudine
- April 10, 1966
A reformed Billy the Kid must save his fiancée from Dracula.
Billy the Kid Versus Dracula is a movie I had only ever heard about but never viewed. It sounded a little too silly for even me. John Carradine who played the part of Dracula in this was no fan. Of one of four times he played Dracula he said “I have worked in a dozen of the greatest, and I have worked in a dozen of the worst. I only regret Billy the Kid Versus Dracula. Otherwise, I regret nothing.” Later when asked on what he thought his worst film was he said “My worst film? That’s easy, a thing called Billy the Kid Versus Dracula…It was a bad film. I don’t even remember it. I was absolutely numb!” Reminds me of Burt Reynolds on Navajo Joe or Jamie Lee Curtis on Virus.
One of the most baffling things in this movie is Dracula (John Carradine) heading out West. He has no real plan at the beginning beyond travelling there and snacking upon whomever he happens upon. It is not until he crosses paths with a stagecoach while posing as a stranded traveler does he concoct a plan involving murder and identity theft by pretending to be James Underhill who is the uncle of young Betty Bentley (Melinda Plowman)-a woman engaged to a presumably reformed Billy the Kid (Chuck Courtney).
Betty’s mom was on the stagecoach that picked up Drac bringing the real Uncle James (William Forrest). Dracula assumes the role and finds out the family owns an abandoned silver mine that should make Drac weary since silver is considered a pure metal thus dangerous to the undead. But nope. In fact he hangs out a great deal in this rather well-lit cave system.
It’s a weird mishmash of horror and an assumed identity story. I’ve seen plenty of normal Westerns that use a similar idea without the undead. It makes it a bit silly somehow. Maybe it is also the obvious cheap bat used for the sinister presence of Dracula that looks like bad comedy from any campy horror movie. I’m just waiting for Bud Abbott or Lou Costello to show up whenever I saw it.
Chuck Courtney as Billy the Kid was in his mid-30s playing a man that never reached 22. Unless you believe Young Guns II. That is another matter. There are no throw away lines saying he is in hiding. It just appears this is presented as an unreported chapter in his life before death. I know I am overthinking this but even the kid in me would need to know how this story fits in.
There is questionable logic leading to unintended comedy. Carradine-as-Dracula’s eyes bulge ridiculously not only when he meets Betty but whenever he makes moves to make her his bride. Bullets don’t work to kill the vampire but throwing a gun at Dracula’s face knocks him cold? Carradine gets knocked to the ground flailing his hands and then just lays there. The gun didn’t even hit him that hard! It does give Billy enough time to run a metal stake through Dracula’s heart which helps the movie end.
I expected the silver mine to play into a get rich quick scheme along with the bride. Maybe even the silver and its properties having slipped Dracula’s mind might bite him in his undead backside. Nope. It is just for a location for the climax that is mildly spooky but only if they turned the lights off.
Dr. Henrietta Hull (Olive Carey) and Sheriff Griffin (Roy Barcroft) play an outsized role in the climax in comparison to Eva and Franz Oster (Virginia Christine and Walter Janovitz respectively) who impart useful info to Billy. Then again the whole movie is a mess but one that makes you look much like the aftermath of an auto accident.
Billy the Kid Versus Dracula is a bad idea executed poorly. Yet there’s something there for the connoisseur of bad movies. This is schlock but enjoyable schlock.
