Batman Fought Dracula In Two Movies You’ll Probably Never See

Who’s your favorite Batman villain? Most will say the Joker, some might say Catwoman or Bane, but there’s options galore. Did you know, though, that within Batman’s expansive rogues gallery also lies the original Bat-man? Yes, Count Dracula has appeared in three Batman movies — but you can only watch one of them.

This isn’t as out-there a pairing as it looks. Batman mostly fights other freaks in costumes — from clowns to cats, to scarecrows, to rejected quiz show hosts — but some of the Dark Knight’s nemeses are downright supernatural. Take Ra’s al Ghul, the Demon’s Head, who has stayed young and fit for 700 years with the help of the magical Lazarus Pit, a functional Fountain of Youth.

A handful of Batman comics — Peter Milligan’s “Dark Knight, Dark City,” Grant Morrison’s “Batman” epic, and Ram V’s “Detective Comics” — have presented Gotham City as a poisoned chalice, literally haunted by the bat demon Barbatos. Barbatos is a foe Batman can only battle by stemming the darkness in himself and inspiring hope throughout Gotham.

DC Comics

In the spooky story “Sanctum” (published in “Legends of the Dark Knight” #54), Batman falls through a grave and meets some of Gotham’s ghosts. Writer/artist Mike Mignola considers “Sanctum” pivotal to his later creation of Hellboy, and in 2000 he returned to put Batman in a story right out of Lovecraft: “The Doom That Came To Gotham.” Some of Batman’s inhuman foes include vampires, too. “Batman: Caped Crusader’ featured an episode where the villain was the teenage vampiress Nocturna. As for the Lord of Vampires himself, he and the Dark Knight met in 1992 comic “Batman and Dracula: Red Rain” by Doug Moench and Kelley Jones.

Decades before that comic, though, two very different filmmakers set Dracula against the Batman: Andy Warhol and Filipino director Leody M. Diaz.

The 1960s was a high point of Bat-mania, thanks to the “Batman” television series starring Adam West and Burt Ward. That hype propelled “Batman” to the movies, and Warner Bros. even floated a Batman and Godzilla crossover movie. Somehow, Warner Bros. did not think to pair Batman up with Dracula, a much more natural fit, so fans had to fill in.

Andy Warhol, one of the 1960s’ defining pop artists, was reportedly a fan of Batman. This isn’t surprising; 60s superhero comics perfectly fit into the pop art aesthetic, especially the sometimes surreal tales of Batman and Superman. In 1964, Warhol screened his film “Batman Dracula,” a silent black-and-white film about the two title characters (both played by actor Jack Smith) chasing and clashing with each other. Since it was unauthorized by DC Comics, “Batman Dracula” was never widely released, but fragments of the movie have made it onto the internet.

No such luck for the other Batman/Dracula movie, which is considered outright lost (at least for now). “Batman Fights Dracula” was a 1967 film released and distributed in the Philippines. Batman’s (Jing Abalos) foe Dr. Zorba (Ramon d’Salva) resurrects Count Dracula (Dante Rivero) to vanquish his foe. Instead, Batman’s commitment to justice wins over Dracula. Like Warhol’s movie, this film was an unauthorized adaptation and no footage is known to have survived. However, some stills and posters from “Batman Fights Dracula” have been recovered.

Two completely independent filmmakers stumbling onto the same idea, only three years apart, is a testament to a strong premise. So, in 2005, DC finally greenlit an official Batman vs. Dracula movie.

“The Batman vs. Dracula” is set within the concurrent Batman cartoon, 2004’s “The Batman.” The movie premiered between the cartoon’s second and third seasons, using the same character designs and voice cast, plus guest stars Peter Stormare as the Count and Tara Strong as Vicki Vale. In some ways “The Batman vs. Dracula” is an extended episode, but it is structured as a standalone feature. You only need knowledge of Batman, not “The Batman,” to enjoy it. It’s also much more violent than the cartoon itself, with onscreen blood and horror movie imagery. (You can’t do Dracula justice at TV-Y7.)

The movie’s set-up is this: After Dracula was vanquished back in Transylvania decades prior, his slayers shipped his body across the sea to Gotham. Dracula lay dormant for years, until Penguin (chasing a buried treasure map) stumbles upon his tomb and accidentally revives him. The revived Dracula hypnotizes Penguin into his servant, a la Renfield in the original novel, and pursues Vicki the same way he once did Mina Harker. (Dracula later turns the Joker into a vampire, so I guess that makes him Lucy?)

With the real Van Helsing presumably long dead, Batman must step up to defeat Gotham’s new menace. The movie contrasts Batman and Dracula, with the vampire lord himself seeing Batman as his self-appointed heir. “Don’t flatter yourself,” Batman responds, but Dracula counters, “We cast kindred shadows.” Even their character designs mirror each other. Dracula’s cape falls around his shoulders and conceals him, but when he extends his arms the cape takes on the appearance of wings, the same way Batman’s cape does. The two both dress in black, but Dracula’s cape has red highlights, contrasting the blue tones of Batman’s costume. Unlike Batman, though, Dracula can literally fly, disappear into shadows, and become a bat. To defeat him, Bruce Wayne might have to step out of the darkness.

It’s not the greatest Batman movie, obviously, but “The Batman vs. Dracula” lives up to its title as a romp that’s both action-packed and plenty spooky.

“The Batman vs. Dracula” is available to purchase and rent on numerous digital platforms, including Prime Video.