Halloween is just a little over two weeks away and Real Gone is getting into the spirit with a pair of releases out now directly from the label and next Friday, October 22, from Amazon:  first-time vinyl reissues of the soundtracks to 1969's Mad Doctor of Blood Island and 1971's Dracula vs. Frankenstein.  Real Gone has teamed for the release of these two titles with Sam Sherman, former head of publicity for Hemisphere Pictures and founder of Independent International Pictures Corp., the two companies which distributed the films.

Mad Doctor of Blood Island is a 1969 Filipino film co-directed by Eddie Romero and Gerardo de Leon starring John Ashley, Eddie Garcia, and Ronald Remy.  It was the third of the four "Blood Island" films produced by Romero and Kane W. Lynn.  The plot revolves around a mad scientist creating plant/human mutants out of the blood of the local population.  The score was composed by Tito Arevalo, a Filipino actor and musician.  His acting career stretched back to the 1930s and his first working scoring films was for 1946's Ikaw Na!.  Arevalo's score for Mad Doctor includes a full orchestra and is an early example of "horror exotica."  The score was so effective that it was used in two later films.  Arevalo would score over 60 movies before passing away in 2000.

This is the first appearance on vinyl for the score.  (It was released on a limited CD back in 2007.)  Real Gone's new reissue includes a note from Sam Sherman and rare publicity stills from his archives.  In addition to presenting the score, the album also features a radio spot and the "Oath of Green Blood Intro" to the film, which advised audiences to drink the green "blood" potion that was distributed as a gimmick before screenings of the movie.  The package also includes an LP insert with the cover illustration and comes on green "Chlorophyll Blood" vinyl, limited to 1,000 copies.

1971's Dracula vs. Frankenstein was directed by Al Adamson.  The flick concerned Dracula hoping to acquire a serum developed by a descendant of the novel's original Dr. Frankenstein which he believes will make him immune to sunlight.  Dr. Durea, the descendant, is portrayed by J. Carrol Naish (an Oscar nominee for Sahara) and Dracula is played by Zandor Vorkov.  The film is probably most notable, though, for who plays Durea's assistant: Lon Cheney, Jr. in his final film role.  (This was his final film to be released.  It had sat on the shelf for two years and he actually performed in another film for Adamson later in 1969, but it was released earlier.)  Cheney, Jr. is most known for his roles in the classic Universal monster films in the 1940s where he famously played the Wolf-Man and the Mummy.  Ironically, he also portrayed Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster for Universal - the only actor to perform all four roles for the studio.

The score to Dracula vs. Frankenstein was composed by William Lava.  He was Sam Sherman's favorite composer and had a career stretching back to the 1930s.  He composed the themes to Gunsmoke and F Troop and worked on many of the late-period Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons in the 1960s.  His work for those was known to be more atonal than his predecessors and that style follows through to his score for Dracula vs. Frankenstein.  This was also Lava's final film as he passed away the same year.

Real Gone's vinyl reissue marks the score's debut on that format after premiering on CD in a limited pressing in 2008.  This edition retains one of the radio spots from the CD but drops several and also doesn't include the commentary from Sam Sherman.  The package does, however, boast a note from Sherman and photos from his archives.  The package also includes an LP-sized insert of the cover illustration and comes on pumpkin orange vinyl, limited to 1,000 copies.

Both titles also feature autographed poster inserts if you order now through Real Gone's website.  Mad Doctor of Blood Island's poster is signed by Sam Sherman and Dracula vs. Frankenstein features a poster signed by the star of the film, Zandor Vorkov.  Each autograph is limited to 200 copies.

If you would like to get in the Halloween mood with these two titles out now from Real Gone Music (and next Friday at Amazon), we've got the ordering links and full track listings below.

Tito Arevalo, Mad Doctor of Blood Island Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Limited Green "Chlorophyll Blood" Vinyl Edition) (Originally released on International Independent Pictures Corp. CD TWP-202W58ST-01, 2007 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side 1

1. Pre-Title
2. Title Music
3. Dance, Part 1
4. Cue 7
5. Cue 8
6. Cue 9
7. Cue 10
8. Cue 11
9. Distant Drums
10. Cue 12
11. Dance, Part 2
12. Cue 13
13. Cue 14
14. Cue 15
15. Cue 16
16. Cue 17
17. Cue 19
18. Cue 20

Side 2

1. Cue 21
2. Cue 22
3. Cue 23
4. Cue 24
5. Cue 25
6. Cue 26 (Edited)
7. Cue 27
8. Cue 28
9. Cue 29
10. Cue 30
11. Cue 31
12. Finale
13. Dance Part 1 (Take 2)
14. Radio Spot
15. Oath of Green Blood Intro

William Lava, Dracula Vs. Frankenstein Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Limited Orange "Pumpkin" Vinyl Edition) (Originally released on International Independent Pictures Corp. CD TWP-202W58ST-02, 2008 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side 1

1. Main Title
2. Dramatic Horror
3. Battle of the Creatures
4. Walking Demon
5. Prologue
6. Main Title
7. Cue 4
8. Cue 5

Side 2

1. Cue 6
2. Cue 8
3. Cue 9
4. Cue 10
5. Cue 14
6. Cue 20
7. Cue 21 (Jazz Chase--Not Used in Film)
8. Cue 22
9. Prologue (Take 2)
10. Main Title (Take 1)
11. Cue 8 (Take 10) and Pickups
12. Cue 9 (Take 14--Start and Stops)
13. Cue 17 (Take 19--Shock Sting)
14. Cue 21 (Take 21--Jazz Chase)
15. Dracula Vs. Frankenstein Radio Spot​