by Ted Davis
English Title: Dracula and Son
Directed by: Edouard Molinaro
This review contains an Implied Kitty Carnage Warning!
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Conceived in the late 18th century, clumsy and unprepossessing Ferdinand (Bernard Menez) has always been something of a disappointment to his dad, the imposing and powerful Count Dracula (Christopher Lee). His miserable attempts to succeed as a vampire reach a crisis when father and son are confronted by the dizzying realities and indignities of the late 20th century, and both of them respond to the challenges with totally different strategies and results.
Cat Burglars (Scene Stealers): Unwilling to subdue a human victim and desperate for nourishment, Ferdinand is attracted by the meow of a brown tabby street cat.
As Ferdinand bares his fangs and poises for the attack, the brave cat mounts an impressive display of snarling and spitting and back-arching. The outcome? The next scene shows that Ferdinand has failed once again, as expected, and is nursing a scratch wound on his face.
After a significant separation, father and son are reunited in an airport terminal; Dracula in triumph having reinvented himself as a charismatic horror movie star and Ferdinand in a state of exhaustion, barely eking out a wretched hand-to-mouth existence. Dracula’s arrival is a media event, and he is greeted by his co-stars, which include a fluffy white cat carried on the shoulder by an over-the-hill actress named Suzanna Podesti (Anna Prucnal).
The docile and trusting cat is next seen on the set of Dracula’s current movie in production (Les Amours du Vampire), comfortably sitting on Suzanna’s chair.
Implied Kitty Carnage Warning! Ferdinand stares at the cat with intense and avid hunger and it is later apparent when he is shown rubbing his swollen stomach in satisfaction that his attack on the unfortunate animal was successful.
Final Mewsings: It’s a pretty lowdown pathetic vampire who would slake his blood thirst with a cat.
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