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Filmed in the summer of 1970.

At the beginning of 1970, Paramount, in line with other major American studios, decided to close down its European production side and consolidate its ailing fortunes in Hollywood. This resulted in Armstrong’s film, The Kinky Death-Wish Of Vernon Slim, being put on hold, alongside those of many other British film-makers.

Keen to get her client working again, Dina Lom, Armstrong’s agent at Lom Associates, therefore quickly seized upon an opportunity to involve Armstrong in a project she was helping to package for a business acquaintance, the German actor and producer, Adrian Hoven.

This was a film Hoven had written for himself to star in and direct. Having raised partial finance for the project, he needed the balance and distribution. The major German distributor, Gloria Film had expressed interest but only if the film was made for the English-speaking market with an appropriately marketable star and director. They agreed to the package of Dina Lom’s ex-husband, Herbert Lom as the star and current “hot property”, Michael Armstrong as director.

The first problem arose when Armstrong read the script Hoven had written. Entitled, The Witch-Hunt Of Dr Dracula, it was, to quote Armstrong, "As if he’d seen Witchfinder General on Monday, Dracula on Tuesday and stuck the two together with a non-stop confection of hard-core porn, sexual sadism straight out of de Sade and what read to me like a Nuremberg rally speech at the end!"

Armstrong turned the movie down.

"Frankly, I was bewildered why Dina [his agent] had even considered it for me," he says, "Then when I spoke to her about it, I found out she hadn’t actually read it and neither had Herbert [Lom]."

Following a further discussion with Hoven, it was agreed that Armstrong could re-write the screenplay as he saw fit. With that proviso, Armstrong agreed to do the film.

History - Screenplay

Copyright © 2005 Michael Armstrong