Billy The Kid
Versus Dracula

The Movie

Dracula travels to the Old West, and while killing a few pioneers, happens across a locket with a beautiful blonde ... intent on making this beautiful ranch owner his next victim, Dracula adopts the identity of her (now dead) uncle. Her fiance, outlaw Billy the Kid, realises she is in danger and rushes to save her.

Cast:
John Carradine as Count Dracula
Chuck Courtney as William 'Billy the Kid' Bonney
Melinda Plowman as Elizabeth (Betty) Bentley
Virginia Christine as Eva Oster
Walter Janovitz as Franz Oster
Bing Russell as Dan 'Red' Thorpe
Olive Carey as Dr. Henrietta Hull
Roy Barcroft as Sheriff Griffin
Hannie Landman as Lisa Oster
Richard Reeves as Pete (saloonkeeper)
Marjorie Bennett as Mary Ann Bentley
William Forrest as James Underhill
George Cisar as Joe Flake

Review

A time-honored plot; Dracula sets his sights, the next victim screams a fair bit, and the noble boyfriend comes to the rescue. So far, so predictable.

But this "B" movie breaks out from the pack in several ways; the director, William "One Shot" Beaudine, keeps a cracking pace, so script weaknesses really don't have time to drag the story down. The cast, fresh from obscurity and coffee commercials, are not the world's greatest, but all were committed to the movie, and that's impressive.

The one 'big name', John Carradine, hams it up for all he was worth, but really was miscast; he's too nervy and agitated to make the coolest villain of them all.

A couple of plot twists are worth a mention; Billy, like most men, is pretty slow to catch on to his girl in trouble, and the plot uses a Swedish-German immigrant, whose daughter was an earlier victim, to supply the European knowledge and advice on anti-vampire stuff; oddly, Dracula allows her into the house to protect the planned victim. Hey-ho!

Billy The Kid was obviously an afterthought; the plan was to set Dracula in the old west, and so it was - but the marketing lads must have decided to pep it up with the legend, as there's no reason for the character to be Billy any more than Wyatt Earp or Colonel Custer, for that matter.

If you ever wondered what a gunslinger was, watch this movie; you'll learn something!