The Fearless Vampire Killers
This has been attempted before, with better results. The best example is Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, which manage to very funny and a little scary. Young Frankenstein is the best horror comedy of all time, although I will grant that is not at all scary. But The Fearless Vampire Killers is neither funny nor scary.
The story is set in Transylvania. A professor (Jack MacGowran), called "the Nut" by his colleagues, is tracking down a certain vampire. He is assisted by a dim-witted fellow played by Polanski himself. This is mistake number one, because I've never heard nor read that Polanski is an accomplished physical comedian. Why he cast himself here, and showed off how painfully unfunny he is, is a mystery.
The two end up in a small village where garlic is strung everywhere. Their innkeeper is a lech who pines for the maid (Fiona Lewis), while has a daughter, a stunning redhead (Sharon Tate), who Polanski takes a shine to (of course, they would wed in real life). A Count, played with Christopher Lee sophistication by Ferdy Mayne, is in reality a vampire and makes off with Tate. Our two bumbling heroes attempt to rescue her by sneaking into the Count's castle.
I'm not sure what inspired Polanski here, other than to make a comic version of Dracula. Dracula is not called Dracula, but he might as well be. He has a hunchback henchman, but he also has a son, a fey blonde called Herbert. The climax of the film has the Count's many acolytes in a ball, which is somewhat interesting, but it doesn't make up for the sloppiness of the earlier portions.
The one thing I liked about the film is the score by Krzysztof Komeda, who would later do the score for Polanski's Rosemary's Baby. Komeda is the only one involved here who really got the point.
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