Crossover Movie Poster: The Mistresses of Dr. Jekyll

 

Are you a fan of legendary Spanish genre filmmaker Jess Franco?

Then you'll love this film by him, which has ties to his Dr. Orloff series and his standalone film The Sadistic Baron von Klaus, as well as Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!

For more information, be sure to check out my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3 when Meteor House publishes it! All three volumes are AUTHORIZED companions to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2!

Crossover Movie Poster: The Mistresses of Dr. Jekyll

 

This film is directed by Jesús Franco as "Jess Franck," one of his many pseudonyms. In the village of Holfen, Dr. Conrad Jekyll creates a monster based on the research of his mentor, Dr. Orloff. Holfen is also the setting of The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus and other films by Franco. Dr. Conrad Jekyll is doubtless a descendant of Dr. Henry Jekyll. Dr. Orloff is the villain of The Awful Dr. Orloff and several other films by Franco.

This crossover is one of hundreds that will be included in my book Crossovers Expanded: A Secret Chronology of the World Volume 3! Like the first two volumes, this one is a fully official and AUTHORIZED companion to Win Scott Eckert's Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World Volumes 1 and 2 and will be published by Meteor House!

Crossover of the Week

2006

DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS TITLE

Ash Williams travels to France, searching for the Necronomicon. Ash reached out to several people in the paranormal community for leads on the book, including some Ghostbusters in New York and an elderly Frenchman called the Sâr Dubnotal. Inside the cabin where he believes the Necronomicon to be, he drives off a creature called Baal, ending its alliance with the vampire Countess Irina. Irina’s giant servant says the book Ash seeks is the Necronomicon Ex Mortis, while the book Irina holds is the First Necronomicon, written by the Mad Arab Abdul Alhazred. When Irina asks if he is “the one destined to fight the forces of darkness,” Ash responds, “The same…although I did hear something about a girl named Buffy who hangs out with the band Slayer, I think.”

Short story by Matthew Dennion in Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 11: Force Majeure, Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press, 2014; reprinted in French in Les Compagnons de l’Ombre (Tome 16), Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Rivière Blanche, 2015. Ash Williams and the Necronomicon Ex Mortis are from the Evil Dead film series. Although this story supposedly takes place in 1993, shortly after the third Evil Dead movie, Army of Darkness, this cannot be correct. In the CU, the films take place from 1982–1983, and Ash spent over twenty years in a mental institution after the events of the comic book miniseries Army of Darkness: Shop ‘til You Drop Dead, only to escape in 2005, as seen in Army of Darkness vs. Re-Animator. Furthermore, 1983 would be well before Buffy Summers (from the movie and TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer) discovered she was the latest in a long line of Slayers. Therefore, I have placed this story in 2006, a year after Ash escaped from Arkham Asylum in Massachusetts. The Ghostbusters in New York are from the movie Ghostbusters and its sequel, as well as the cartoon The Real Ghostbusters. The animated series Extreme Ghostbusters is set in the 1990s, and features a younger group of investigators who have taken up the mantle of the retired original Ghostbusters. Ash probably contacted the latter-day team. The Sâr Dubnotal is an occult investigator who appeared in a French pulp series. Baal is from Renée Dunan’s novel of the same name, which has been translated by Brian Stableford for Black Coat Press. Countess Irina Karlstein is from the film Female Vampire. In the movie, which was made and takes place in the 1970s, Countess Irina is mute. How she gained the ability to speak is unknown. The Necronomicon penned by Abdul Alhazred is from H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, of course.

Crossover Movie: Killer Barbys vs. Dracula

The punk rock group the Killer Barbies battle Count Dracula. Dr. Seward appears, as does the Count’s caretaker, Irina von Karstein. The Killer Barbies are a real punk group whose fictional counterparts previously appeared in director Jesús Franco’s film Killer Barbys (both films used a different spelling for the band’s name in the title, since Mattel would not let them use the name “Barbie.”) The Dracula seen in this film is likely a “soul-clone.” Dr. Seward is doubtless a relative of the doctor from Stoker’s Dracula. Irina von Karstein is played by Lina Romay, who played a vampire called Countess Irina Karlstein in Franco’s film Female Vampire. Either the two Irinas are the same person using different versions of her surname, or else the two are related. It is also possible that they are related to the similarly-named Karnstein family, whose members include another vampire, the title character of J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla.” It is worth noting that there is a blind metaphysician named Dr. Orloff in Female Vampire; this character is most likely a relative of the title character of Franco’s The Awful Dr. Orloff and its sequels.

Crossover Cover: The Vampire Almanac (Volume 1)

This anthology of vampire stories published by Black Coat Press consists of several reprinted tales and seven new stories. Frank J. Morlock's "Entretien with a Vampire," Rick Lai's "All Predators Great and Small," Frank J. Morlock's "The Adventure of the Beneficent Vampire," and Win Scott Eckert's "Les Lèvres Rouges" were included by Win in the first two volumes of Crossovers. I had already read Rick's "Vampire Renaissance," Michel Stéphan's "The Three Lives of Maddalena," Matthew Baugh's "Quest of the Vourdalaki," Brian Gallagher's "City of the Nosferatu," Frank Schildiner's "The Blood of Frankenstein," Christofer Nigro's "The Ultimate Prize" and "Requiem for a Regime," and David McDonald's "The Girl from Odessa" and "The Lesser of Two Evils" when they were originally published and written them up. Of the seven stories new to this collection, five have crossovers. In Matthew Dennion's "Hope for Forgiveness," the Scarlet Pimpernel attempts to provide safe passage out of France to a woman named Lenore (who, unbeknownst to him, is a vampire), but is prevented from doing so by Captain Kronos. The Scarlet Pimpernel is from Baroness Orczy’s novels. Lenore is the title character of a ballad by Gottfried August Bürger, first published in 1774. Captain Kronos is from the Hammer film Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter.  In Martin Gately's "The Moon Hag," a metaphysician named Professor Quercus encounters Elsa Karnstein and her daughter Carmilla aboard a ship, and ultimately becomes their servant. Elsa and Karmilla initially claim to be Madame and Malicarla Strenkin of the House of Dolingen. Carmilla is the title character of the classic vampire story by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. Carmilla’s mother Elsa and Professor Quercus also appear in Le Fanu’s story, though neither are referred to by name. The House of Dolingen is a reference to the vampire Countess Dolingen of Gratz from Bram Stoker’s story “Dracula’s Guest,” generally believed to be the deleted original first chapter of Dracula. In Matthew Dennion's "Predators and Prey," the Earthman Gullivar Jones reluctantly teams up with the vampires of Mars to rescue Princess Heru from the equally bloodthirsty Erloor. Gullivar Jones and Princess Heru are from Edwin L. Arnold’s novel Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation. This story takes place a few days after the end of Arnold’s novel. The vampires of Mars and the Erloor are from Gustave Le Rouge’s novel The Vampires of Mars, which has been translated by Brian Stableford for Black Coat Press. In Artikel Unbekannt's "Blood and Fire," a libertine falls prey to two female vampires, one of whom is named Carody. The womanizer’s foe Dr. Orlof was also bitten by the two women. The Countess Nadine Carody is from Jesús Franco’s film Vampyros Lesbos, while Dr. Orlof (also spelled Orloff) is from Franco’s film The Awful Dr. Orloff and its sequels. In Nathan Cabaniss' "Schrodinger's Blood," Edward Delmont comes to the Sâr Dubnotal seeking help. The occult detective reveals that he is being slowly drained of blood via superposition by Alinska, a vampire in the 19^th century who has a grudge against his family. Alinska is from Etienne-Léon de Lamothe-Langon’s novel The Virgin Vampire. Edward Delmont is descended from Edouard Delmont, Alinska’s fiancé who spurned her for another woman. The Sâr Dubnotal appeared in a 1909-1910 French pulp series by an anonymous author. He has apparently aged little, if at all, since the early 20^th century, as this story takes place in the present day.