Well, well, well, well well, we are so close to the end of the triple figures and some of you may be surprised to see that title and even more so with the last in the 100’s. It is also the lowest 82% scored movie but this one won’t trouble the Tri-Critic Challenge as IMDb didn’t like this movie as much as me and gave it a 7.9 out of 10 but Rotten Tomatoes are much more encouraging with a score of 89% for this classic horror movie. Released in, you know what just read the title. Directed by Terence Fisher this was called Dracula all around the world but the American market decided to change the title to ‘The Horror Of Dracula’ which may of sold more tickets over there but doesn’t really change that much. You know what I am going to discuss the sequel here as well as there are elements in that movie I believe is relevant. Produced on a budget of around $720,000 it went on to make $3.5m from the worldwide box-office. A classic from Hammer Horror this introduced some familiar names to the world of Dracula now as it starred Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling and of course Christopher Lee. This was the first Dracula movie from Hammer starring Lee which then became his role and one that many people will always associate him with. Onto the plot and I’ll explain why I referenced the sequel.
Jonathon Harker travels to Count Dracula in Klausenburg to take up a post as librarian. When he is there he is confronted by a woman claiming to be kept prisoner there and begs for his help. Dracula arrives and takes Johnathon to his room. Once in his room Jonathon reveals that he is a Vampire Hunter and he has come to kill Dracula. Later Harker again is met by the desperate woman but she reveals herself as a vampire and bites his neck, just as Dracula arrives and pulls him away. Jon passes out. He awakens in his room in daylight. He goes to the crypt where he kills her in the Vampire killing way but finds Dracula’s coffin empty. Dracula appears at the door and locks him in. Dr Van Helsing arrives in Klausenburg searching for Harker and an inn keeper gives him Harker’s journal that Harker had managed to hide outside of the castle walls before being captured. He finds Harker as a vampire and kills him before returning to Karlstadt where he tells Arthur Holmwood and his wife Mina who are brother and sister-in-law to Lucy who has become ill. Nightfall sees Lucy get up and offer her neck to the night. This allows Dracula to come and fill his boots. Van Helsing and Arthur team up and head back to do battle with the Vampire and this is a huge spoiler as I am sure you can work out the rest for yourself.
OK the sequel was called Dracula – Prince of Darkness where Dracula arrives back from the dead - dead. There are certain points in that movie where he appears as more of the Vampire that is Dracula than in the first movie. This movie is seen and reported as the closest movie to the book and the short answer to that is rubbish!! As it is nothing like the book. Well, there are certain elements but this is not the movie to watch if you are looking for a page by page accurate following of the story. I have to admit to being a bit disappointed when told this was the closest to the book out there and then discovered that this doesn’t do what they said it does on the tin. In the sequel (which technically was the third movie in the story) there is a scene where Dracula bursts into a room with blooded fangs, blood shot eyes and blood dripping down teeth and gums and lips which is really the image of the real beast that Dracula was. Evil but in human form. For me this was the first time Dracula was on screen as the beast side of things. He had been there before with the creepy, mesmerising eyes and flapping around as a bat, but Christopher Lee got the wild side of the character which deserves the respect of all Drac fans. OK he played that character ten times but never really appeared in a film that was really that close to the actual Bram Stoker story which is a shame but not much you can do about it. After seeing the very British Peter Cushing doing battle with Lee in this version simply had people crying out for more and more. OK it had run its course by the time Dracula AD1972 came about (let alone the two movies that followed that one). It didn’t stop Christopher Lee being the anti-hero in that role and Peter being immortally linked with Hammer Horror there after. For me the classic Hammer Horrors deserve a mention in this list as I don’t own that many of them and this one really deserves a bit of recognition because of its greatness. If you haven’t seen this movie then I would say if you want to see where many modern horror movies has got its roots from then give this one a go. If you want to watch the classic story this one doesn’t get close but it is still enjoyable if given half the chance. Its now time for a Tri-Critic update and then the move to double digits from here on in.. Woooo the end is near…
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