Dracula Meets Frankenstein: 5 Most Unexpected Horror Crossovers
They're so different, but equally terrifying.
Sometimes, to make an already popular franchise even more successful, filmmakers resort to a trick known as crossover, which is the combination of two or more recognizable brands.
Perhaps the most famous one is Alien vs. Predator. However, this is far from the first and only movie crossover with the participation of various bright representatives of the horror genre.
1. Sadako vs. Kayako
Sadako vs. Kayako mixes two of the most famous Japanese horror films – The Grudge and The Ring, which by 2016 had received a dozen sequels, prequels and spin-offs.
As a result, Sadako vs. Kayako became the twelfth movie in the franchise and the first to reunite Sayako, killed by her father, and Kayako, brutally tortured by her own husband.
The confusing resemblance of the two ghosts – a pale face and long black hair – is shown with a good sense of humor in the movie.
2. Freddy vs. Jason
Freddy Krueger's glove was shown at the end of Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, released in 1993. At the time, no one knew that this little detail would lead to a confrontation between two famous maniacs on the big screen ten years later.
Many fans were waiting for this meeting: the villains, so colorful and different in their methods, promised something truly epochal. Fortunately, director Ronny Yu found a way to combine A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th without compromising both franchises.
3. Alien vs. Predator
As with Freddy vs. Jason, the creators of Alien vs. Predator created tension between fans of the two iconic franchises by teasing the possibility of a showdown that would end the many debates over which monster is cooler – Alien or Predator?
Alien vs. Predator could not become a classic of the genre, but the movie fulfilled its main goal – it made two almost forgotten monsters of the cinema popular again.
4. Dracula vs. Frankenstein
Dracula vs. Frankenstein follows a descendant of Dr. Frankenstein, Professor Durea, who is working on a blood serum for his mute assistant, Groton. Soon, Count Dracula himself learns of the cure: the vampire believes it will free him forever from his intolerance to sunlight.
The movie is an extraordinary guilty pleasure in every aspect. Dracula vs. Frankenstein resembles not a horror film, but an unsuccessful parody, but that’s why it’s so good.
5. Lake Placid vs. Anaconda
In 2015, two years after the success of Freddy vs. Jason, SyFy decided to bring two of its monsters – the giant snake from Anaconda and the crocodile from Lake Placid – to the screen in an effort to revive audience interest in the nearly dead franchises.
Lake Placid vs. Anaconda adds a special twist – there’s a sudden cameo of horror icon Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger.