Zoltan, Hound Of Dracula

This entry in Hammer's long-running vampire series is certainly a scraping from the bottom of the dog-dish. We begin in Europe where a tomb is discovered which proves to contain the undead corpse of one of Dracula's servants and, er..., his equally undead dog. Revived, the pair set about tracking down their rightful master, the last of the Dracula line. Unfortunately, the latter turns out to be a very ordinary American family man who bears no trace of his vampiric lineage, least of all a desire to drink blood. It then falls to Zoltan (an admittedly well-trained mutt with a coating of silver paint) and his master (played by the splendidly cadaverous Reggie Nalder, who probably looked undead even on his days off) to try and re-infect the bloodline with vampirism, while pursued by a vampire-savvy detective played by the avuncular Jose Ferrer. It turns out that the best chance to do this is on a family camping trip where Zoltan gets to bite a bunch of other dogs, too. Although Stephen King's Cujo later proved that you really can do scary doggie movies, this attempt to extend the vampire franchise is one for completists only. --Roger Thomas