(Click on some of the images below to go to their respective sites)
It was the fight of the century between two of pop culture’s most recognized figures, Batman and Dracula. The dark “Caped Crusader” and the iconic bloodthirsty vampire evidently had something of a fierce rivalry during the 20th century, and in the Philippines of all places. I’m talking of course about the legendary 1967 film Batman Fights Dracula. Officially released on June 3, 1967 in the Philippines, the film is a comedy parody that stars the titular characters Batman and Dracula.
The theatrical release poster for Batman Fights Dracula.
Currently lost to time, the film centers on an evil mad scientist named Dr. Zorba working with his loyal followers to resurrect the wicked vampire, Count Dracula (or more precisely Filipino Dracula). Zorba and his followers manage to successfully restore the notorious vampire to life. The new Dracula is even stronger than before and is now invincible to traditional ways of eradicating him such as Christian crosses.
The now super-vampire Dracula proceeds to sneak into the Batcave and attack Filipino Batman. After a brutal fight with Dracula, Batman is left unconscious and badly injured, but is subsequently treated by his loyal butler Turko (the Filipino parody of Alfred Pennyworth). After healing Batman, Turko calls on the Caped Crusader’s girlfriend, the gorgeous Marita, and his sidekick Ruben (the Filipino version of Robin) to help Batman track down and defeat Dracula.
After tracking Zorba to his underground fortress, Ruben and Marita manage to kill the mad scientist by somehow turning Dracula against Zorba. The film then ends with a still recovering Batman investigating a caged Dracula in the Batcave, and then lecturing the vampire about justice.
Batman Fights Dracula isn’t just a funny and dramatic fight between two legendary icons in pop culture, the film is considered one of the most wanted lost Asian films in the world. The film has unfortunately been lost to time and is considered a valuable piece of lost media. Despite that, several online websites and blogs have shared some further background information and images about the now missing film. The Filipino blog Pelikula, ATBP notably produced many new photographs and information on the film on a blog post from July 26, 2015.
Below are some images from Batman Fights Dracula that Pelikula, ATBP posted to their blog post.
Some of the crucial information we do know about Batman Fights Dracula is that it was directed by Lady M. Diaz and scripted by Bert R. Mendoza. The film was also produced by the Philippine film company Lea Productions, which was one of the major film companies in the Philippines of the 1960s to the 1970s, until it became defunct in 1994. According to Pelikula, ATBP, the film was shown in the historical Dalisay theater in Manila, Philippines.
The interesting thing about Batman Fights Dracula is not just that this film used to exist, but that it’s actually not the only Filipino parody film of that time, or even one that starred Batman. James Batman was a 1966 Filipino parody film starring Batman and James Bond. The Filipino “King of Comedy” Rodolfo Vera Quizon Sr., better known professionally as Dolphy, starred as both Batman and James Bond, with Filipino actor Hernando Alano (also known professionally as Boy Alano) playing the role of Robin. Below is the full version of the movie on YouTube.
Another Filipino Batman comedy-action film is the 1965 film Alyas Batman at Robin (Alias Batman and Robin), which was also unauthorized and not produced by DC. Interestingly, there seems to be less information online on this film than Batman Fights Dracula. Because of the limited amount of information that I could find of Alyas Batman at Robin on the internet, and the lack of any photos or footage of this film, I can safely state that Alyas Batman at Robin should also be considered a lost film and even more obscure than Batman Fights Dracula. Alyas Batman at Robin is so obscure in fact that I can’t even find a synopsis of the film’s plot online. The only notable things about this film so far are the cast information on Wikipedia and that it was produced by D’lanor Productions, a film company produced by famous actor and cultural icon Fernando Poe Jr.
This is not to be confused by the similarly-named 1991 Filipino musical-comedy superhero parody film Alyas Batman en Robin (Alias Batman and Robin). A full version of the film is currently on Archive.org. Who knew Batman was so popular in the Philippines?
https://archive.org/details/alyasbatmanenrobin
Below is LSuperSonicQ’s YouTube video on Batman Fights Dracula.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_Fights_Dracula
https://pelikulaatbp.blogspot.com/2015/07/batman-fights-dracula-lea.html
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