There were surprisingly few horror-western hybrids during the heyday of the horse opera, although there were so many oat burners that a few with monsters did get made. The ones I've seen tend to be really good, too, so I've always lamented the fact that they didn't make more of them. In the mid 60's, an iconic drive-in double feature presented the true zenith of this subgenre in JESSE JAMES MEETS FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER and BILLY THE KID VS DRACULA. I've never understood it, but BILLY THE KID VS DRACULA is seemingly always written off as a terrible movie. Having screened it again just recently, I still don't know why. The film is a dandy mixture of straight horror and western drama. Billy has found a new life of honest work and the love of a good woman, but his past still dogs him. When a vampire turns up in town, Billy is the only one who can stop him! Needless to say, there are certain historical inaccuracies concerning Billy, but I've always liked the idea that the film is set after his faked death (as we saw in THE OUTLAW), after Billy turned over a new leaf and tried to put his old life behind him. John Carradine returns to the role of the vampire king, although the name of Dracula is never actually spoken in the film itself. The real shame is that, while the co-feature can at least boast a nice DVD release, this one is almost impossible to come by. Despite some semi-regular television play in the last few decades, a good official release has never come to VHS or DVD. The TV prints, meanwhile, tend to be processed too dark. I'm hoping the film gets it's long-deserved pristine release to home video very soon. We can only use more delights like this. For more vampire-western thrills, see CURSE OF THE UNDEAD.
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