THEATER : STAGE REVIEW: ‘DRACULA’ and ‘FRANKENSTEIN’ : Taking Monsters Seriously : The tale of the vampire is the more entertaining of the two productions being offered by Dancing Dog Theatre Company.

On the horror scale, “Dracula” outpoints “Frankenstein” in the repertory fright stakes at the Whitefire Theatre.

The Dancing Dog Theatre Company isn’t staging these tales as a competi tion, but since the company’s “Dracula” is much more entertaining than its “Frankenstein,” comparisons are in order.

Both productions, which play on alternate nights, are intelligently linked by their dark, physical design (they use the same bleak, brooding set by Robert W. Zentis,) and by their similar tone. Since most audiences know these stories through myriad movie versions (the latest, Francis Coppola’s “Dracula,” opens today), the straightforward, drop-dead serious approach, as opposed to campy or satiric, was a wise decision.

Otherwise, different casts and different directors create substantially different evenings. As horror literature, of course, Bram Stoker’s fangy count has withstood the test of time far more successfully than Mary Shelley’s robot-like monster.

But given those distinctions, the shows at the Whitefire exaggerate them further. “Dracula” is erotic where “Frankenstein” is almost bloodless. “Dracula” is slashed with veins of humor where “Frankenstein” is humorless. “Dracula” races along where “Frankenstein” is talky, musty and too stylized. “Dracula” draws on five locations (tombs, burial vaults, bedrooms). “Frankenstein” sticks to Victor Frankenstein’s gloomy study.

Budgetary restraints aside, “Frankenstein” owes any audience a peek inside Frankenstein’s infamous laboratory with its bubbly vats and surgical slab. But you won’t find that here. In this production, directed by Tom Busk from an adaptation by Tim Kelly, a severed hand of a prop is the single gory touch.

Everything else is largely mood and relentless dialogue, albeit forcefully delivered by the obsessed Brian Van Dusen as the frazzled creator. He not only has his elusive, out-of-control invention to worry about, but also a disconsolate bride (Kristine Kraus) and a prying mother who succumbs in the monster’s arms in the show’s best scene.

That scene is powered by the excellent Judith Ann Levitt, adorned in a beautiful black lace period gown from the rich costume design of Ellen Rome Shanahan.

The Creature, as it’s called here, is strongly re-created by the hulking Gary Lee Garton, an unusually sensitive and verbal demon who manages to be convincing without an inordinate amount of makeup or costume effects.

But the star of the dual presentations is Terence Marinan, who plays Dracula in addition to directing the show, based on an adaptation he wrote with Van Dusen and Jerry Winsett (an overripe “Dracula” supporting actor).

Under Robert Lowry’s mood-enhancing lighting, the worldly Marinan--who may be the first curly blond Dracula in history-- sinks his teeth into wan, pretty Lucy (Beth Kennedy). And Kennedy, so bland before this that she blended into the furniture, responds with a fervor that rockets the play into genuine eroticism.

The production also has a terrific Abraham Van Helsing, a skeptical guest at the castle played with vocal authority by Robert Grossman, and a leering vampire countess who’s no slouch herself, performed by Robin Christiaens.

Where and When What: “Dracula” and “Frankenstein.” Location: Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Hours: “Dracula” runs at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and Nov. 19. 20, 28 and 29. “Frankenstein” runs at 8 tonight, Nov. 21, 22, 26 and 27. Price: $10 to $13; $21 for both plays. Call: (213) 739-3910.