''Tender Dracula, or Confessions of a Blood Drinker'' () is a 1974 French

horror comedy Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

film directed by

Pierre Grunstein Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

. The film stars

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage and radio roles. He achieved recognition f ...

Alida Valli Baroness Alida Maria Laura Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg (31 May 1921 – 22 April 2006), better known by her stage name Alida Valli, or simply Valli, was an Italian actress who appeared in more than 100 films in a 70-year career, span ...

, Bernard Ménez and

Miou-Miou Sylvette Herry (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Miou-Miou (), is a French actress. A ten-time César Award nominee, she won the César Award for Best Actress for the 1979 film ''Memoirs of a French Whore''. Her other films inclu ...

Plot

The story involves two scriptwriters and two girls who are ordered by their director to visit the castle home of a horror actor (

) and to talk him out of his intention to change from horror films to romantic ones. The longer they stay in the castle, the more likely it seems that the actor is an actual vampire.Browning, 2011. p.174

Cast

- MacGregor *

- Heloise *

Bernard Menez Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern ...

- Alfred *

- Marie *Nathalie Courval - Madeline *Stephane Shandor - Boris *

Julien Guiomar Julien Guiomar (3 May 1928 in Morlaix, Finistère, Brittany – 22 November 2010 in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine), was a French film actor. The actor had retired to the Dordogne at Monpazier. The person who incarnated Colonel Vincent in " ...

- Producer

Production

The film was shot between February 11, 1974, and March 29, 1974.
Two years later Menez would appear opposite Cushing's longtime

Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

''Dracula'' film series nemesis

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a career spanning more than sixty years, Lee became known as an actor with a deep and commanding voice who often portrayed villains in horr ...

in 1976's ''

Dracula and Son ''Dracula and Son'' () is a 1976 French comedy horror film directed and written by Édouard Molinaro. The film is about a vampire father and son. Christopher Lee reprises his role as Count Dracula from the Hammer Films ''Dracula'' film series (in ...

''.

Release

The film was released in France in 1974. The film was released in France with the alternative title ''La Grande Trouille''. It was released in the United States with the titles ''Tender Dracula, or Confessions of a Blood Drinker'' and ''The Big Scare''. It was released in the United States in January 1975.Hallenbeck, 2009. p. 218

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* 1974 comedy horror films 1970s French-language films French comedy horror films French vampire films Dracula films 1974 films Vampire comedy films Films set in castles 1970s French films Films about actors 1974 comedy-drama films {{1970s-France-film-stub