Son of Dracula (1974 film)
| Son of Dracula | |
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1974 Movie Poster
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| Directed by | Freddie Francis |
| Produced by |
Jerry Gross Ringo Starr Tim Van Rellim |
| Written by | Jennifer Jayne |
| Starring |
Harry Nilsson Ringo Starr Freddie Jones Suzanna Leigh Dennis Price |
| Music by | Paul Buckmaster |
| Cinematography | Anthony B. Richmond |
| Distributed by | Cinemation Industries (US), Apple Films |
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Release date
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19 April 1974 (U.S.) |
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Running time
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90 mins |
| Language | English |
| Son of Dracula | ||||
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| Soundtrack album by Harry Nilsson | ||||
| Released | 1 April 1974 (US) 24 May 1974 (UK) |
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| Recorded | 1971−72; September 1972 Trident Studios, London |
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| Genre | Pop music | |||
| Length | 40:00 | |||
| Label | Rapple (RCA/Apple) | |||
| Producer | Harry Nilsson, Ringo Starr, Richard Perry | |||
| Harry Nilsson chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Son of Dracula | ||||
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| Soundtrack | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| The Essential Rock Discography | 4/10 |
Son of Dracula is a British musical comedy film, starring Harry Nilsson and Ringo Starr, produced by Starr and released in 1974 by Apple Films. It is also the title of a Harry Nilsson album released in conjunction with the movie.
Son of Dracula was made during a period when Starr, in between occasional single releases and session work, was concentrating on film-making and acting. Two movies in which he had starred, 200 Motels and Blindman, had been released at the end of 1971, and before starting on this one, he had just finished work on his directorial debut, the T. Rex documentary Born to Boogie.
As well as producing Son of Dracula, Starr would appear as Merlin the Magician, who follows the birth and rise of young Count Downe, played by Nilsson. Starr and he were longtime friends, and the ex-Beatle had recently played drums on Nilsson's 1972 album Son of Schmilsson, which had spoofed horror movie motifs. A few months after those sessions, in August 1972, Starr decided to make a rock and roll Dracula movie (originally titled Count Downe), and invited Nilsson to come on board. At first, Nilsson thought the whole idea must've come from his recent album; as it turned out, Starr had not followed its release, and until then-wife Maureen brought him a copy, he didn't even know that Son of Schmilsson had already used a similar theme.
After the killing of his father (Count Dracula, the King of the Netherworld), by a mysterious assassin, Count Downe (Harry Nilsson) is summoned from his travels abroad by family advisor Merlin (Ringo Starr) in order to prepare him to take over the throne. Baron Frankenstein (Freddie Jones) is also on hand to help in any way he can. Problem is, Downe wants no part of this responsibility, and instead wishes to become human and mortal − especially after meeting a girl named Amber (Suzanna Leigh), with whom he falls in love. He approaches old family nemesis Dr Van Helsing (Dennis Price), who agrees to enable the Count's transformation, much to the dismay of the residents of the Netherworld.
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Wikipedia