***Serious 60’s ‘B’ Western chronicling Dracula’s visit to the Southwest*** The diabolic Count (John Carradine) travels to the Southwest in the late 1800s and masquerades as the uncle of a beautiful girl that the vampire wants to make his wife (Melinda Casey). But her beau, Billy the Kid (Chuck Courtney), gains increasing evidence of the true identity of her “uncle.” The mere title “Billy the Kid Versus Dracula” (1966) spurs giggles, which isn’t helped by the cheesy looking bat in the opening scene, not to mention the hokey credits. If you can get past these drawbacks, the movie’s well done for a ‘B’ Western: It has an interesting story & characters and a quality cast that takes the material seriously. The concept isn’t that laughable when you consider that Bram Stoker’s book debuted in 1897 and the fact that vampires are immortal unless destroyed. Since Dracula visited England in the novel, far from his native Transylvania, why not the American Southwest at some point? It also helps to understand both Dracula and Billy the Kid as cultural archetypes, mythical figures that can manifest in an infinite number of interpretations and reinterpretations. Just as there are many ways to play Robin Hood or James Bond, so there are myriad ways to depict Billy the Kid or Dracula. They can be whatever the creators want them to be. Someone pointed out the seeming contradiction of…

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