Zoltan, Hound of Dracula (film)
| Dracula's Dog aka: Zoltan...Hound of Dracula |
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DVD cover
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| Directed by | Albert Band |
| Produced by | Philip Collins |
| Written by | Frank Ray Perilli |
| Based on |
Hounds of Dracula by Ken Johnson |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Andrew Belling |
| Cinematography | Bruce Logan |
| Edited by | Harry Keramidas |
| Distributed by | Crown International Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Dracula's Dog (released in the U.K. as Zoltan...Hound of Dracula) is a 1978 American horror film starring Michael Pataki and José Ferrer, released by Crown International Pictures. It revolves around a dog with the spirit of the vampire Dracula within it. The film was based on the novel Hounds of Dracula (1977) by Ken Johnson, which was retitled Dracula's Dog upon the film's release. In the U.K., the book was titled Dracula's Dog only.
A Russian road crew accidentally blasts open a subterranean crypt, and the captain of the road crew, fearing looters and criminals, stations a guard near the site. Late in the night, an earthquake shakes loose one of the coffins, which slides down and lands at the feet of the confused guard. Curious as to what has fallen before him, the guard opens the coffin and discovers the body of a dog, impaled by a stake. He removes the stake, which revives the vampiric hound Zoltan.
After slaying the guard, Zoltan opens another coffin shaken loose from the crypt, this one holding the body of an innkeeper, Veidt Smit (Reggie Nalder), who once owned the crypt. Zoltan removes the stake from the innkeeper's chest, reanimating the innkeeper. The movie cuts to a flashback of a village in Russia 300 years prior.
The dog of an innkeeper saves a woman from being bitten by a bat, Count Igor Dracula in disguise. Furious over losing his meal to a dog, Dracula bites the woman's savior, turning the dog into a vampire. Now a vampire, the dog turns on its owner, turning the innkeeper into a vampire as well.
Back in the present, it appears that Dracula has only one surviving descendant, Michael Drake, a mild-mannered psychiatrist, played by Michael Pataki, who decides to take his wife and children (who are, technically, also Dracula's descendants) on a vacation in his Winnebago, hoping to spend some quality time with his family out in the national forest.
Still loyal to the Dracula family, the two vampires travel to the United States, shipping themselves via boat to California. Eventually, Zoltan and company find themselves in the same forest as Michael and his family.
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Wikipedia