Mama Dracula (1980)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I was shocked to realize that the lead was Louise Fletcher. She must have been strapped for cash. Anyways: It was OK watching on a local weekend, hosted horror flick show. Primarily because of the outrageous filler between scenes. Definitely a movie you can chat online while it's playing. I always wonder what was going on on the movie shoots to films like this. I hope Lousise was having fun. It was 1980 and the free love, hippie, etc stuff was still happening. Very silly movie not to be gone into expecting a Hammer film. And whatever happened to those twins? This was their film debut. There is a lot of nudity but that was just par for the course in B or C films of the 70's & 80's. Nothing graphic. Just a lot of kidding around. Also, nothing scary or gross. Just lots of European slap stick. I wouldn't rent this video if I had to pay for it but like I said, check it out on free TV where you can change the channel if there is entertaining add on's like on a hosted horror show.

Obviously I had nothing to do with this production, and actually it was released before I was even born, but still I somewhat feel the necessity to apologize to all the poor people who – like myself – struggled their way through this film and literally hated every single minute of it. Why? Because I'm from Belgium and apparently so is this miserable excuse for a horror movie! There aren't too many horror films being made in Belgium, but judging by the quality of "Mama Dracula", that's maybe a good thing. This is supposed to be a horror comedy, but we all know what the main problem with these flicks is… They're not scary and they're definitely not funny! Some of the basic ideas in the script definitely show potential (like the spin on the Countess Bathory legend), but the film is unendurably tedious, imbecilic and embarrassing. It's a complete mystery how Louise Fletcher ended up in such an inferior Belgian film production, barely five years after winning an Oscar for one of the greatest motion pictures ever made, but luckily enough she stills keeps her dignity. Fletcher plays the title role, but perhaps they couldn't pay her enough, as her role definitely isn't the leading part. She's a posh vampire who requires bathing in the blood of young virgins in order to maintain her beauty. The problem nowadays, however, is that virgins are becoming quite rare in this indecent day and age. She therefore orders to kidnap the young scientist Dr. Van Bloed, as he's on the verge of achieving a breakthrough with his synthetic blood formula. The jokes – if you can even refer to them like that – solely revolve on a handful of totally insufferable characters. The horrible vampire twin brothers are the absolute worst, closely followed by a police inspector who yells out "sabotage" all the time, and the young dorky scientist. "Mama Dracula" is hectic and irritating, with a plot that continuously jumps back and forth between semi-processed plot ideas and lame gags. The twins own (or perhaps just work) in a fashion store where they kidnap young girls from the cubicles. These sequences aren't very important, but I want to mention them nevertheless because at least they featured some nudity. Horrible movie, avoid at all costs … and once more my most sincere apologies in case you already had the displeasure of seeing it.

Unless the comic idea of heavy mid-European accents (mostly pronouncing the letter "v" as "w" and vice versa - "wampire" instead of "vampire", "vant" instead of "want", etc.) strikes you as hilarious, avoid this utterly awful "comedy" - it's the best idea that it has to offer! The script sucks harder than any vampire ever could. It's hard to decide who's more annoying - the nerdy scientist or the vampire brothers? (the brothers probably win). Maria Schneider is also in this, and it's easy to see why she's been described elsewhere as a "non-actress" - she doesn't even try to act. At least Louise Fletcher manages to keep her dignity (the makeup artists have done a marvelous job on her). A few beautifully natural breasts get bared, but I still cannot give this anything higher than 0.5 out of 4 stars.

I give this movie a ten, simply because I love discovering odd, interesting little films like this that I could have went my whole life without seeing, but luckily stumbled upon it.This movie is odd and campy. Don't view it if you're looking for a movie that will change your life. Because it won't. What a lot of reviewers have said is true. It is disjointed, and sometimes you can get lost because of the plot. However, the quirkiness kept me there until the end. A particular highlight is the performance of the Wajnberg brothers, Alexander and Marc-Henry, twins playing the vampire sons of "Countess Dracula". But despite it's problems, this movie does have a very strange charm to it. I don't recommend this movie for serious viewing, even as comedy (which is what it is). I recommend viewing this film with others that enjoy camp. The more people you watch the movie with, the better it becomes.