Zoltan: Hound Of Dracula. 1977.
Communist soldiers in Transylvania release the pet that belonged to Count Dracula which releases his original owner and servant Veidt Smith, who both travel to America to find the Count's last descendant Michael Drake.
I only ever saw this once back in the 90s when Channel 4 showed nearly every Dracula film made from 1922 Nosferatu to Dracula 1979...I think or that I remember and this one seems to be forgotten. By all means this is no master piece, interesting back story on how the dog became a vampire and started infecting other dogs around it.
Michael Pataki plays the family man who knows very little of his family's past until Inspector Branco played by Jose Ferrer turns up and tells him who he really is and what he must do. Reggie Nalder turns up not as a vampire but original owner of the dog and guardian of the hound of hell. The dialogue is not written perfectly, but there is some good tense moments and can tell when it looks like puppets are being used.
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