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Thursday, October 28, 2021

Halloween: Our Hero, Dracula

Halloween The Flashback 

 
         So, I did this special before in 2016, but that post is kind of a mess, and instead of just fixing the pictures and stuff on it, I thought, I'd just do the whole thing over again. That's this post. 



          This special has two names , it was originally called "The Halloween that Almost Wasn't" when it premiered on ABC  on October 28,1979.  When it got released to VHS it was retitled, "The Night Dracula Saved the World" which I think is the cooler title.   This special starts Judd Hirsch,  who you may know from such TV shows as Taxi  and Dear, John. 
I wish there was a spinoff series with Dracula and Igor



             The special starts with  Igor and Dracula (when did they get together?)  watching TV when a convenient news report comes on and it's about Count Dracula having a conference that they think he's going to cancel Halloween. Dracula who is watching this is confused since he's not planning to that. Meanwhile in Transylvania, a family is also watching the same news report. It's funny they are a normal human family in Transylvania.  The special wants to give Halloween traditions. Apparently, people think Count Dracula has the power  to just end holidays. (I wish) 
Living in Transylvania is good it has low taxes and good schools 



            Dracula is confused, and the news is just spreading rumors (so normal then)  and Dracula decides he has to fix this.  Now Dracula gets the monsters to join him like the Wolfman (he was a good radio DJ), Frankenstein's monster (Copyright safe version so Universal couldn't sue, ha ha ),   Zabaar the Zombie, (didn't know Zombies had a king, that's random) , a mummy called "The Mummy". (When you are dead you lose your name) and a witch.  

            
She's not happy because she has no name 

     
More after the  jump 
      Igor is played by Henry Gibson , whom you might know as the grandfather leprechaun on "The Luck of the Irish" , I go with that reference and someone will still be confused.  Mariette Hartley plays the witch, you might know her from the 1987 short lived CBS The Morning Program. (what?)   She's annoyed that she's been woken up in the middle of the night. ( I thought witches were night walkers?)   

        Dracula tells the monsters that they are guilty for not being scary anymore. ( I blame stronger horror movies)  The witch says she wants to quit and apparently this means Halloween will end. She wants to quit because she's tired and doesn't want to be a witch, and doesn't like that Dracula is the king of Halloween.(I thought that was Jack Skellington)  She has a list of demands, like she wants to replace Dracula's face on the marketing stuff, she wants Dracula to be sweeter to the monsters, and co-leadership.
This is just document 1 



          This special is kind of silly and has some cheesy funny moments. Like a "Scooby-Doo" running through doors in a hall scene. Dracula turns into a bat to talk to the witch on her broom, but he has to worry about his one weakness: the sun, so never mind. 
   
     Back to the family, who apparently takes them like 2 days to get their kids dressed up for Halloween, they are watching the news again, which reports the plot back to us the viewer. It's weird that the witch with no name has so much power to just end a holiday.  
First Halloween, then Christmas 



    Dracula has new plan: to go the witch and hypnotize her.  (That's a plan)  The witch stops this by having Dracula fight the 3 musketeers.  This special is just weird fun, it's not taking itself seriously and doesn't want you to either, and it's a funny ride really.  So the witch with no name gets away and she then over hears a plan Igor has for Dracula, this isn't going to end well. 

       She starts hitting the bat he turned into and chases him away.  It's also a very slapstick special and very much enjoying it's weirdness. Dracula decides that he has to put Halloween being around above all else, so he decides to agree her terms. (Which also includes disco dancing, because 70's) She decides to change her mind because she doesn't want to be a witch anymore because, witches don't get love. 

       Hey the two kids from earlier, I guess since they've been told the plot through the news and decided to show up and tell the witch that's she awesome and that they really want Halloween to continue.  The girl is dressed like a witch and this makes the Witch feel something. This makes her change her mind. Dracula also has to keep the conditions  like the disco dancing. Anyway she flies past the moon before midnight and Halloween is saved. (That's how the original title works) 
To be fair, it should have been renamed "How Two Kids saved Halloween"


           
    Because it's 1979, we get a dance party with disco and that's one way to end this special. 



  It's a goofy special, but pretty fun, that's sometimes all you really need. Fun seeing classic monsters be slightly less monstrous and just be a fun little silly special.  The special has some fun slapstick and great faces. There's not much to the plot, but I think it works, just needed to soften a witch's hard and ending with Disco is just random and funny.  Do check it out. 

    That's it for now, tune in next time, when Halloween is canceled after Santa sues. 



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