An Al Adamson film is kind of like a Ray Dennis Steckler film in that it won't make a lot of sense, will have questionable acting, and will leave you wondering what the hell he was thinking. The main focus of the film is a professor whose mind has been taken over by a reincarnation of Svengali. He is part of a devil cult run by John Carradine and they need to sacrifice some women to keep their powers or some such nonsense. Dracula is a psychiatrist who runs with the rich crowd that hangs out with Carradine, and also participated in the devil cult even though he didn't believe in it and was their nemesis.
There is also a subplot about a girl whose mom was killed by Dracula. The girl claimed to know her mom had died violently even though she was found with a smile on her face. I'm not sure how old the girl and mom were supposed to be because they appeared to be played by the same person. It was really disconcerting. Also when the mom vampire ghoul appeared she spoke in the same type of raspy voice kids use when they are trying to be scary. In other words, she was not scary at all.
The best part was the end of the film when Dracula drained the devil cults sacrifice of blood, Carradine figured out there was a traitor in their midst, and Dracula's mind control proved more powerful than Svengali's or Carradines. He had gone to the sacrifice with the girl whose mom had died to show her something, but I'm still confused as to what point he was trying to make.
Drac and the girl get into the car. All of a sudden the girl says she doesn't want to live in the same state her mom was living and pulls a detonator out of her purse. Their car explodes in a huge ball of fire, and the words "The End" appear on the screen. Seriously? Can you really blow up Dracula? Because if that is a legitimate way to dispatch of vampires, then Van Helsing has been missing out. Another strange Adamson film, but I give him points for going where no Dracula film has gone before.
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