The French Tender Dracula (also known as The Big Scare or La grande trouille in its native language) has long been an elusive film in the Peter Cushing canon. It has languished with poor tape quality in America for a while, but Severin has released a Blu-ray offering to help quell the fans looking to finally experience Cushing’s role as a pseudo-vampire Dracula in a movie that is something like a cross between a Hammer film and Young Frankenstein, but with even more inaccessibility. Directed by Pierre Grunstein, the film stars Cushing as aged horror veteran MacGregor who wants to retire from making those types of movies and shows in favor of romance, a sentiment that his producer doesn’t share. To try to coerce him into coming back, scriptwriters Alfred (Bernard Menez) and Boris (Stephane Shandor) travel to his Dracula-esque castle with escorts (?) Marie (Miou-Miou) and Madeleine (Nathalie Courval), but they experience a lot of weird happenings and eventually, an orgy.
Grunstein’s film is full of familiar Hammer references, and it has a great atmosphere to it thanks to its abandoned castle theatrics and airy Gothic style. Its setting is one of the best things about the movie, offering visual eye candy (in addition to the two female leads appearing naked through much of the film) throughout that rivals some of the best, more serious vampire movies of the time.
However, Tender Dracula‘s zany plot leads to some truly out-there schemes throughout the movie, and ultimately the viewer’s enjoyment stems from whether these hit or not. Occasionally, some of the Mel Brooks-esque dialogues work rather well, like a repeated misunderstanding of MacGregor’s name; others, though, like a recurring song by Miou-Miou and Courval, tend to come out of left field and add very little to the overall proceedings.
Grunstein’s meaning is somewhat elusive towards the end of Tender Dracula, too, making it a frustrating experience that can often feel like a waste of time. It’s no surprise why Cushing would have found this role endearing; the vampire character tiring of his horror performances and attempting to make a transition could certainly model his personal life, turning to romance and love instead of the perverse. But overall, the constant wacky antics and orgiastic finale seem to muddle whatever themes Grunstein was really going for.
Tender Dracula is an odd beast, and it unfortunately does wear out its welcome the longer and less comprehensible it gets. While certain elements can be humorous and it doesn’t hurt to have its pale beauties nude most of the time, there’s most likely little here that appeals to most fans of Cushing’s body of work besides seeing him cut loose a little. Unfortunately, the film loses a lot of steam in its latter half, but it’s no doubt a curious oddity that some cult film fans will want to experience at least once.
Blu-ray
Tender Dracula has been released in the Cushing Curiosities boxset from Severin Films.
As mentioned previously, Tender Dracula has been difficult to find stateside and Severin Films has granted it a new 2K scan from the negative authorized by director Grunstein as part of the Cushing Curiosities boxset. Thankfully, the film looks excellent with its new transfer, benefiting from the minimal grain scale to produce solid textural details that emphasize the set design. Skin tones are well-maintained while still showcasing the milky paleness of its female leads. Black levels are also very good with delineation. Blood is viscerally red as expected. This is probably the best Tender Dracula has looked and will surely make fans and new appreciators happy.
For audio, Severin has included both a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono English and French soundtrack. English is the primary language here due to Peter Cushing’s English performance, and for the most part both tracks sound good despite some noticeable areas of overdubbing not aligning with video. English subtitles are also included, one for the English track and one for the translated French.
For extras, Severin has collected a few new items for this release. The first is an audio commentary with Jonathan Rigby and Kevin Lyons, who again provide an excellent critical breakdown of this movie discussing its actors, production, context, and everything else that helps to give a more enjoyable experience to watching the movie that might be missing without. Director Pierre Grunstein is also interviewed in a 15 minute featurette who discusses working with some of his favorite actors, the production itself and of course the beautiful settings and backdrops of the film. Actor Bernard Menez also provides a 20 minute interview, speaking about his work in the film, his inability to understand it but his appreciation of it regardless, and a number of other memories. Finally, an HD trailer is also included.
Extra Features
- NEW 2K scan from the original Paris negative and authorized by the director
- NEW Audio Commentary With Jonathan Rigby, Author Of English Gothic, And Horror Historian Kevin Lyons
- NEW Love Me Tender, Dracula – Interview With Director Pierre Grunstein (1080p; 15:44)
- NEW Menez of Speaking – Interview With Actor Bernard Menez (1080p; 21:10)
- Trailer (1080p; 2:37)
Verdict
Tender Dracula is now available with a quality transfer from Severin Films so Cushing fans can judge for themselves how they feel about this strange French horror-comedy. While the overall film lacks a solid direction, Severin’s transfer and extra features add additional context to for those looking to finally experience this forgotten pseudo-vampire flick.
