DVD Review: Dracula’s Drive In Presents Atom Age Vampire

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I’ve seen a lot of horror hosted shows over the decades from Elvira to Mystery Science Theater to Svengoolie to Joe Bob Briggs and even Dr. Gangrene. I enjoyed having someone guiding me through the classics. Dracula’s Drive In replaces the human host dressed up with CGI hosts of famous monsters ready to watch along with us. The show takes us into a cemetery after dark where Dracula (BC Fourteen) and Big Foot (voiced by Lester Day) sit on an old red leather sofa and watch a movie on an outdoor screen above a few graves. The selection for this evening (on the DVD) is Atom Age Vampire.

Susanne Loret has a bad break up with a guy and ends up speeding her car right into a wreck. She wakes up in the hospital with her head wrapped in a bandage like a mummy. Her face has been messed up. She won’t be dancing at her club anytime soon. A research doctor (Django Shots First‘s Alberto Lupo) comes up with a revolutionary serum that makes her skin youthful once more. Trouble is she keeps needing more of the stuff and the doctor has to do something horrifying to get the secret ingredient. Atom Age Vampire came out in Italy in 1960. The original title was Seddok, l’erede di Satana (Seddok, the Heir of Satan). There is no real vampire although there is a monster who is grabbing women around the city. The atom age element comes from the serum being exposed to radiation during the cooking process.

The producer is listed as Mario Fava and some people think this is a typo of Italian horror Mario Bava’s name. Turns out that it’s the alias of Elio Ippolito Mellino. This is strange since he uses his real name in the credits as Production Manager. I remember Atom Age Vampire since it ran on WLVI Boston’s famous Creature Double Feature. That show didn’t have an on-screen host.

What about the on-screen hosting duties of Dracula and Bigfoot? The show appears to be made for streaming so there’s not defined commercial break moments. The picture flips between the actual film to shots of Dracula and Big Foot sitting on the sofa and talking back and forth to each other. There’s also the shot behind the sofa showing the creepy screen. They don’t riff too much and try to stay in character. They don’t stomp too much over the dialogue in the film. There’s a great Eric Roberts joke. Dracula jokes about running a screenwriting class at USC’s night school. He has a problem with students vanishing from the roll. The duo sweetens up a rather dry Italian movie. They do note how much smoking takes place in the film. This includes a scene in a movie theater with the extras all puffing away as the monster strikes.

I’m curious how Dracula’s Drive In all came together. I can’t find too much background information. BC Fourteen also acted as editor. He’s worked quite a bit in low budge horror including the holiday favorite Bigfoot vs. Krampus. There are five people listed as animators which seems about right since they didn’t come up with too many shots. It makes me think about the footage they used when Beavis and Butthead watched music videos between their adventures on the show. I’m not sure if this will become a TV series, but there are more episodes on the way. Next month, they’ll be releasing Dracula’s Drive In Presents Attack From Space and Big Foot Movie Night: Curse of Bigfoot. I’m curious how things develop in the cemetery between these movie watching pals.

Image

The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The CGI looks fine. The pile of film cans and lit torches by the sofa ads to the hosts’ space. Atom Age Vampire is a public domain film and the source video looks fine. The Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0. They mix is good to hear the riffs and the actual audio

No bonus features.

WowNow presents Dracula’s Drive In Presents Atomic Age Vampire. Directed by Pippa Seymour. Starring the voices of BC Fourteen and Lester Day. Running Time: 89 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: January 21, 2025.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.