As well as producing Son of Dracula, Starr appears as Merlin the Magician, who follows the birth and rise of young Count Downe, played by Nilsson. Starr and he were longtime friends, and the ex-Beatle had recently played drums on Nilsson's 1972 album Son of Schmilsson, which had spoofed horror movie motifs. A few months after those sessions, in August 1972, Starr decided to make a rock and roll Dracula movie (originally titled Count Downe),Keith Badham, The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up 1970–2001, Omnibus Press (London, 2002), p. 79. and invited Nilsson to come on board. At first, Nilsson thought the whole idea must have come from his recent album; as it turned out, Starr had not followed its release, and until then-wife Maureen brought him a copy, he did not even know that Son of Schmilsson had already used a similar theme.
