Zoltan… Hound of Dracula Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Dracula's Dog" or "Zoltan, Hound of Dracula" or "Zoltan" or "Hound of Dracula")

Directed by Albert Band
USA | Italy 1977

There’s More to the Legend Than Meets the Throat!

When the Russian army unearths the vault of Dracula, they accidentally unleash his undead human slave (Reggie Nadler, Mark of the Devil) and the Count’s vampire hellhound Zoltan. But these friends need a new master and head for Los Angeles to find Dracula’s last living descendant, family man Michael Drake (Michael Pataki, Grave of the Vampire). With the help of an international vampire hunter, Inspector Bronco (José Ferrer, The Sentinel), can Drake destroy Zoltan and his pack of blood-crazed devil-dogs—before “man’s best friend” fetches the final soul of the damned? Also known as Dracula’s Dog, this ferociously fun horror film was directed by Albert Band (I Bury the Living, Ghoulies II) and features makeup effects by Academy Award-winner Stan Winston (Parasite, Aliens).

***

When soldiers foolishly remove a stake from a mysterious Transylvanian grave, they release a vampire dog belonging to the Dracula clan. Also freed is Veidt-Smit (Reggie Nalder), an old servant of the Count himself, not quite a vampire, but immortal all the same: he can work in the daylight. Together, the blood-sucking dog and he go to the U.S. in search of Michael Drake (Michael Pataki), who is the last of the Dracula family line and who has no notion that there is anything strange in his family tree. Meanwhile, they are being followed by a Transylvanian vampire-hunter, Inspector Branco (Jose Ferrer).

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 8th, 1977

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Also available on DVD from Kino: Coming to 4K UHD from Kino in September 2024:
Distribution	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:27:35.667
Video	1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 28,016,264,752 bytes Feature: 25,387,020,288 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.92 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1554 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1554 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 28,016,264,752 bytes Feature: 25,387,020,288 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.92 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio Commentary by Film Historians Lee Gambino and John Harrison • Radio Spot (0:30) • Reversible Dracula's Dog Art • Theatrical Trailer (3:21) Blu-ray Release Date: October 22nd, 2019 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 9

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (October 2019): Kino have transferred Albert Band's Zoltan... Hound of Dracula to Blu-ray. It is described as being from a "Brand New 4K Master" and it looks quite good in 1080P. It is on a dual;-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate and looks impressive with solid detail and some pleasing texture.

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (16-bit) in the original English language. Unfortunately, it wasn't holding the higher-end of the film's audio up very well and this was notable in the, occasionally screetchy, score by composer Andrew Belling (The Killing Kind, Fairy Tales) where there was prevalent hiss and cracking in spots. It only seemed to be at the start of the score and then corrected making me feel it was part of the master used. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

We get another informative and fun audio commentary from Lee Gambino - joined by John Harrison and they both add an air of appreciation for Zoltan - some of the lesser noticed subtleties and how effective it is as a vampiric horror, the animals (Lee's specialty as he is author of Massacred By Mother Nature: Exploring the Natural Horror Film and Nope, Nothing Wrong Here: The Making of Cujo), the cinematography, make-up and much, much, more. There are also a radio spot, a theatrical trailer and the package has a reversible Dracula's Dog art cover (see below.)

One of the better of the Albert Brand helmed horrors. Zoltan... Hound of Dracula has Ferrer to add some class and it's a decent Dracula-based premise. I kinda enjoyed it and the camping sequences reminded me of Peter Fonda film, Race with the Devil. I, strangely, found this unusually compelling and it's a Blu-ray that I will be keeping - as a form of backhanded recommendation. This is better than you might anticipate from the title.

Gary Tooze