Review of Count Dracula's Great Love

With Paul Naschy's passing, I've decided to bust out his features I own but have never watched. This is sort of a semi-sequel to Dracula as the main characters mention the likes of Jonathan Harker and Mina. Dracula (Naschy) moves into an old sanitarium and adopts the geeky name Dr. Wendell Marlow. Dinner arrives at his door in the form of 4 hot young ladies and their male companion when their carriage loses a wheel. This will work out great for ol' Drac because he needs a virgin to resurrect his dead daughter. Pretty atmospheric, this sees Naschy giving another unique turn as a classic monster. Director Javier Aquirre knows how to build the mood with nice slo-mo and smoky passageways in a huge country estate locale (watch for anachronistic water pipes in their pool). Aquirre teamed up with Naschy again a few years later for HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE, one of my favorites. What surprised me the most about this film was the ending, something I don't think has ever been done in a Dracula film before or since. See, Dracula is truly in love and, rather than resurrect his daughter, he commits suicide by driving a stake into his own heart. Now that is truly a tragic romance angle that you won't see in TWILIGHT.