By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.
Zoltan: Hound of Dracula (also known as Dracula’s Dog) seemed like a good idea at the time. Back when I was a kid, BBC2 used to run a double bill of horror movies every Saturday night.
One of them was Zoltan; Hound of Dracula.
I’m not a great lover of dogs despite being married to a dog lover. That stems from being attacked as a kid by two dogs, one of which was a Jack Russell. To this day, I remember every detail of that attack and it freaks me out. Of course, movies and television shows like Lassie and The Littlest Hobo are great because the dogs are so light and fluffy, ready to defend you against all evils. Sadly, Zoltan is ready to rip your throat out or turn you into a vampire when it suits. As a Doberman Pinscher, Zoltan’s rep in my head as a vicious dog was already cemented. This is why I can’t look at Rottweilers because of their role in the Omen. Don’t even get me started on the ones from Resident Evil.
The role of dogs guarding the gates of hell goes way back and has been referenced in the likes of Salem’s Lot. However, Zoltan is ready to open those gates at a moment’s notice. In the 1977 movie, Zoltan is a normal family dog owned by innkeeper Viedt Smit. Zoltan prevents Dracula from killing a woman. Furious, Dracula turns into a bat biting Zoltan. They then turn Smit into a fractional lamia, not vampire but a guardian for the vampires who can operate in daylight. Played by Reggie Nalder, Smit is the scariest part of this movie. His distinct features in close up and with subdued lighting make him vampire like and has a telepathic link with which to command Zoltan. I thought I knew his face from somewhere and Reggie had been an Andorain in the classic Star Trek episode Journey to Babel.
When the Romanian army accidentally uncover the tomb of the Dracula family, Zoltan is unleashed along with Smit thanks to a handy earthquake. The army destroys all the other coffins forcing Smit to travel to America to find the last of the Dracula line. Their mission is to convert him into the new Dracula.
He is a psychiatrist and named Michael Drake (Michael Pataki). Married with a family he has no idea of his vampiric lineage but Zoltan must turn him so he can have a new master and restore the reign of Dracula. Romanian Inspector Branco races to find them (Jose Ferrer) before Dracula is reborn. The problem is Drake has taken his family on vacation to the middle of nowhere along with his two German Shepherd dogs, Samson and Annie and their puppies.
Zoltan is a brave effort to feed on the audience’s fear of dogs as the vampiric Zoltan is quite scary at times and laughable at others for example when his face is pasty white. He has the ability to hypnotise others into allowing him to bite them on the neck, turning them to his cause. In order to get to the Drake family, Zoltan must take out the children and Alsatians protecting them. He converts two hunter’s dog Buster to be a cohort. Buster breaks into the Drake’s RV and almost gets Drake. However Drake wears a silver crucifix round his neck which protects him and scares Zoltan off.
Now everyone hates to see animals hurt so the scene where Zoltan kills one of the puppies and drains it of blood is oddly uncomfortable. Puppies are cuddly and nice but to see one hanging from Zoltan’s mouth is disturbing. Seeing him systematically turn other dogs including Samson and Annie makes for a terrifying sight. Wild dogs are scary as it is but to see a Doberman and two German Shepherds attacking as a pack is enough to put me off for life. In the scene where Zoltan attacks Drake’s daughter brought back bad memories for me but the level of human stupidity from the Drake kids is astounding and it is a wonder they survive at all.
In the scene where Branco and Drake are trapped in a cabin, Zoltan and the others ferociously tear at the roof and doors to get inside. While Zoltan’s two big fangs can at times be funny, you would not want them sinking into your flesh. We all recall how Cujo terrified us when the rabid dog tried to tear the car apart to get in to kill the humans so any movie where dogs attack unnerves me as it is. His attack on a hapless camper is ferocious and his ripping at his leg gouging it apart is the stuff of nightmares.
Zoltan has an unstable relationship with Smit and often disobeys him. At the derelict house, Zoltan has Drake at his mercy and is ready to bite him when the sun begins to rise. Smith orders the dog to bite as he still has time but Zoltan panics and races back to the safety of his coffin.
While this movie is before the release of Salem’s Lot, there is a sound effect when Zoltan growls in vampire form very reminiscent of that of Barlow. Dracula’s Dog is a brave attempt at doing something different with the vampire legend but sadly fails. However, I for one still have the initial reaction I had as a kid hiding behind the cushion on a dark Saturday night.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 