The Great Love
Re-released in the late 1970s under a new title, "Cemetery Girls," on a double feature with Brides of Blood (1968), then re-titled "Grave Desires".,A character gets an ax embedded in his skull, then proceeds to fall down the castle's stairs. As the scene is repeated in slow motion five times, it is obvious that there is no wound in, and no blood on, the character's head. At the bottom of the stairs, a close-up of the face shows blood, but the wound does not match the place on the head where the character was struck.,There are two versions of this film; the international version which has scenes with the actresses naked, and the Spanish version which has the same scenes, only with the actresses clothed or semi-naked. The U.S. DVD contains the international version.,Edited into FrightMare Theater: Count Dracula's Great Love (2018),Paul Naschy authored the story and co-wrote the screenplay for this decent vehicle for himself. He plays Dr. Wendell Marlow, who offers sanctuary to five travelers on their way through the Carpathian mountains. They consist of four gorgeous babes and the studly male Imre (Victor Alcazar); Imre is certainly in enviable company. Of course, there are no prizes for guessing who Marlow REALLY is. He falls in love with one of the woman, and she will ultimately have to make a decision: "live" forever as his bride, or turn him down and live as a mortal.

Only the amusing ending lifts this above average for this genre. It does have a fair bit to offer Euro horror lovers, like the expected sex (some of the ladies bare their breasts), the violence (the camera really loves zooming in on the red stuff), and the sadism (virgin girls are whipped so their torturers can lick up their blood). And, of course, it's a Naschy film, so you can't really go wrong. The thing is, the film just doesn't have that great a story. Other than that ending, there's nothing nuanced or particularly interesting about it.

At least viewers can soak up that atmosphere common to so much Euro horror. Naschy, as usual, has a compelling presence, and it's nice that he was an actor who embraced being a genre star. The other performances aren't as effective, but it's doubtful that people are going to care too much, since it's such an attractive cast.

The opening credits are priceless, though. They play over a scene of a murder victim tumbling down some stairs. This sequence is reversed and then played again numerous times.

Not prime Naschy, but if you're a completist of his works, you'll still want to see it.

Six out of 10.,