| Assignment: Terror | |
|---|---|
 Spanish theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Hugo Fregonese Tulio Demicheli[1] |
| Written by | Jacinto Molina |
| Produced by | Jaime Prades |
| Starring | Paul Naschy Michael Rennie Karin Dor Craig Hill Patty Shepard Angel del Pozo Manuel de Blas |
| Cinematography | Godofredo Pacheco |
| Edited by | Emilio Rodríguez |
| Music by | Rafael Fitó Franco Salina |
Production companies | Eichberg-Film International Jaguar Cinematografica Producciones Jaime Prades |
| Distributed by | Castilla Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes (Spain) |
| Countries | Spain West Germany Italy |
| Language | Spanish |
| Budget | $1 million[2] |
Los Monstruos del Terror (translation:The Monsters of Terror), also known asDracula vs. Frankenstein andAssignment: Terror, is a 1970 Spanish-West German-Italianhorror andSci-Fi film co-directed byTulio Demicheli andHugo Fregonese. (Fregonese quit midway through the production so the film was completed by Demicheli). Eberhard Meichsner was also credited as a director only in the British promotional material, but by all accounts he was not actually involved.[3]
The film tells ofaliens who reviveFrankenstein's Monster andCount Dracula, among other archetypal monsters. It is the third in a series of 12 films that Paul Naschy wrote and starred in featuring thewerewolf Waldemar Daninsky, a role that was always played by Naschy. It starsPaul Naschy,Michael Rennie (his last film),Craig Hill andKarin Dor.Maria Perschy was supposed to play Maleva Kerstein, but Karin Dor wound up getting the part.[citation needed]
It was filmed in early Spring, 1969. The film was first released theatrically in Germany (asDracula jagt [hunts] Frankenstein) on February 24, 1970, and in Spain (asThe Monsters of Terror) on August 28, 1971. The film was also shown in France and in the U.K. asDracula vs Frankenstein. In Belgium, it was shown asDracula and the Wolf Man vs Frankenstein. In Mexico, it was released asOperation Terror, and in Denmark it was known asFrankenstein Og Blodsugerne/Frankenstein vs The Bloodsucker. In the 1980s, the film was released on home video in France asReincarnator. (Most of the film's variant titles did not even mention Naschy's Wolfman character.).[4]
The film sold directly to late-night television in the U.S. in 1973, retitledAssignment Terror (since the titleDracula vs Frankenstein had already been used for the 1971Al AdamsonAmerican film).[5] In the U.K., the film played on a double bill with Peter Walker's 1970 horror filmDie Screaming Marianne.[citation needed] Coincidentally,another Spanish film, released in 1972, also used the titleDracula vs Frankenstein.[6]
Los Monstruos del Terror was originally going to be calledEl Hombre que Vino de Ummo (translation:The Man Who Came from Ummo), referring to Michael Rennie's space-man character, but the title was changed toThe Monsters of Terror.[7]
It was followed in the series by the 1970 filmThe Fury of the Wolfman.[citation needed]
Aliens, occupying the bodies of deceased Earth scientists, revive avampire, a werewolf, a femalemummy, andFrankenstein's monster with a plan to use them to take over the human race by using their own primitive superstitions against them. (AGolem was supposed to be one of the monsters in this film, but unfortunately the budgetary problems the filmmakers encountered wouldn't permit it.)[citation needed] The aliens want to discover why these monsters are so frightening to Earthlings. For reference, the aliens use a book entitledThe Anthology of the Monsters by a Professor Ulrich von Farancksalan, who was also the creator of the Frankenstein monster in this film.
Thewerewolf Waldemar Daninsky saves the world by destroying the other three monsters in hand-to-hand combat and ultimately blowing up the aliens' underground base; however, he is shot to death in the film's finale by a woman who loves him enough to end his torment.
Lead actor Paul Naschy also wrote the screenplay at the request of producer Prades, who was impressed by the box office success of Naschy'sLa Marca del Hombre Lobo that year and wanted to film a sequel. The original shooting title wasThe Man Who Came from Ummo, but the producer changed it toThe Monsters of Terror. Direction was split between two Argentine-born filmmakers,Hugo Fregonese andTulio Demicheli. Naschy said Fregonese quit the project two-thirds of the way through, and Demichelli stepped in to finish the film. Only Demichelli was actually credited on the prints. Naschy claimed that Hollywood actorRobert Taylor volunteered to play the lead alien in the film, but the producer hired Michael Rennie instead.[citation needed]
Naschy also said the makeup man on the film, Rafael Ferrer, was the most incompetent man he ever worked with. (The makeup on Frankenstein in this film was so similar to the 1930s Universal make-up that it could easily have caused a lawsuit. Hence Naschy changed the name of the Monster in this film to "Farancksalan", but it fooled very few people.)[8]
Naschy was told the film would have a lavish budget, which inspired him to let his imagination run wild while writing the screenplay. The film was shot in Egypt, Germany, Italy and Spain.[2] Filming was interrupted several times because of Prades' financial difficulties, and thus the script was not filmed as it was written. Whole segments of the script involvingflying saucers and theGolem were never carried out as the result of sorely lacking funds.[citation needed]
An English language one-sheet poster exists for this film bearing the titleAssignment Terror, but it is unknown why they created it because AIP only distributed the film direct to television in the U.S. in 1973. It was later released on VHS asDracula vs. Frankenstein in a splicy, full screen panned-and-scanned print.[citation needed]
The film is available today on a DVD from Reel Vault under the titleAssignment Terror, as well as on a German Blu-Ray under the titleAssignment Terror (Dracula Jagt Frankenstein)[9]
The film was broadcast onTele 5 as part of the programme formatSchleFaZ in season 2.[citation needed]
