cult film freak: dracula

Showing posts with label dracula. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 1/13/2025 / No comments / carol marsh , christopher lee , dracula , hammer films , horror , janina faye , john van eyssen , melissa stribling , michael gough , peter cushing , terence fisher , valerie gaunt

CHRISTOPHER LEE WITH PETER CUSHING IN 'HORROR OF DRACULA'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisSHSEEWAKGX89FRujgO2Bsg_p6jHmqdlJ3jY2ki8UUDL7dGY71phNbkrlCZRh13DH9iUwnAToArYPOg827ONDgSCJRe_YjItL3XeaCtvKNFjiI-enBQi5LphTiW7cWBK8GJPFRQdQqWKJVJ2MmyPRknmRr1h1FW0Ia6vBgXGmVH_B66cbV6KcoKptepp6/s1946/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-09%20at%2012.38.57%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1340" data-original-width="1946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisSHSEEWAKGX89FRujgO2Bsg_p6jHmqdlJ3jY2ki8UUDL7dGY71phNbkrlCZRh13DH9iUwnAToArYPOg827ONDgSCJRe_YjItL3XeaCtvKNFjiI-enBQi5LphTiW7cWBK8GJPFRQdQqWKJVJ2MmyPRknmRr1h1FW0Ia6vBgXGmVH_B66cbV6KcoKptepp6/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-09%20at%2012.38.57%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Valerie Gaunt facing Christopher Lee's poster image for HORROR OF DRACULA/DRACULA Year: 1958 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>While Hammer's groundbreaking horror-remake <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2025/01/cushingcurse.html">THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN</a> proved that Frankenstein was a man and not the monster, their follow-up HORROR OF DRACULA was to also show the monstrous Dracula as a man... And quite dashing and attractive he is... especially when Christopher Lee first shows himself, along with a barrage of sinister music, to solicitor Jonathan Harker, exactly what he's supposed to be... a gentleman wealthy enough to need someone to look over his books, getting his business in order...

carol marsh, christopher lee, dracula, hammer films, horror, janina faye, john van eyssen, melissa stribling, michael gough, peter cushing, terence fisher, valerie gaunt

CHRISTOPHER LEE WITH PETER CUSHING IN 'HORROR OF DRACULA'

Valerie Gaunt facing Christopher Lee's poster image for HORROR OF DRACULA/DRACULA Year: 1958 Rating: ***1/2 While Hammer's groundbre...

CHRISTOPHER LEE IN HAMMER'S 'DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizPskI6uNnYJi-leEpz-xdYtKQNXQEA2mvVazd91L35iIPxuy2Ha7P1WTxyNrIiIRwj1nNLS4RuyH4tcgqxQd6U3ALRrWWUWFpGBK9C15PzfguhE2iKsFTtSe7ANzGVGJAn9w2Na6P2ykecw7fhULmE-_kkf1hM0Y-iXwaMbpibtT3VsEuUz6BWSr70oDz/s1486/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-06%20at%203.05.29%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizPskI6uNnYJi-leEpz-xdYtKQNXQEA2mvVazd91L35iIPxuy2Ha7P1WTxyNrIiIRwj1nNLS4RuyH4tcgqxQd6U3ALRrWWUWFpGBK9C15PzfguhE2iKsFTtSe7ANzGVGJAn9w2Na6P2ykecw7fhULmE-_kkf1hM0Y-iXwaMbpibtT3VsEuUz6BWSr70oDz/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-06%20at%203.05.29%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christopher Lee in DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS Year: 1966 Rates: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Opening with a jaundiced-eye view from the climax of the original, HORROR OF DRACULA, another suitable name for DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS would be HAMMER HOTEL since the basic premise is the luring of two couples into Dracula's castle and featuring two gorgeous women: one in her cautious thirties, the other her lithe-naive-twenties... But the luring isn't really a temptation but rather, like most Hammer Films, tons of expository dialogue (mostly uttered by intensely bearded Andrew Kier) that, halfway through, finally gets this lost stranded foursome into the murky manor where of course, DRACULA will inevitably rise in the form of the iconic Christopher Lee...

barbara shelley, body count, christopher lee, dracula, francis matthews, hammer films, horror, philip latham, sixties, suzan farmer

CHRISTOPHER LEE IN HAMMER'S 'DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS'

Christopher Lee in DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS Year: 1966 Rates: ***1/2 Opening with a jaundiced-eye view from the climax of the original, H...

CHRISTOPHER LEE & LINDA HAYDEN 'TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNjalysZWd4PzQXbJ9S_c2SimTvEecMAHHamhoLxKS1ARLzUNSaHv4lhPnC71AdQSWz9zvzzdxNIUwtBot8WUvbaLNlNQX1gwdYvLYeAGI2ESSU2RzZyS6WJwTfrF7xn9qrNfWkHHXIiDFMR3jfUpXHi2Mq2P7ANXaXsdeIMLmFLAv1QCrTbFYkVuOl3yT/s2040/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-06%20at%201.27.20%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1114" data-original-width="2040" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNjalysZWd4PzQXbJ9S_c2SimTvEecMAHHamhoLxKS1ARLzUNSaHv4lhPnC71AdQSWz9zvzzdxNIUwtBot8WUvbaLNlNQX1gwdYvLYeAGI2ESSU2RzZyS6WJwTfrF7xn9qrNfWkHHXIiDFMR3jfUpXHi2Mq2P7ANXaXsdeIMLmFLAv1QCrTbFYkVuOl3yT/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-06%20at%201.27.20%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christopher Lee, Linda Hayden & Isla Blair Taste the Blood of Dracula Year: 1970 Rates: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Foreshadowing GHOST STORY with three older, wealthy, distinguished, sophisticated Victorian Era gentlemen who, with a curious penchant for the macabre, become involved in a strange, semi-accidental murder before being stalked and picked off one by one...And not by Christopher Lee, returning in Hammer's TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA in which he seeks vengeance against these fathers of one young man and most importantly, two token girls/women he bites and hypnotizes... this time for a particular reason other than eternal enslavement...

anthony higgins, christopher lee, dracula, geoffrey keen, hammer, hammer films, horror, isla blair, john carson, linda hayden, madeline smith, peter sallis, ralph bates, roy kinnear, seventies, vampire

CHRISTOPHER LEE & LINDA HAYDEN 'TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA'

Christopher Lee, Linda Hayden & Isla Blair Taste the Blood of Dracula Year: 1970 Rates: ***1/2 Foreshadowing GHOST STORY with three olde...

CHRISTPHER LEE VAMPING 'DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rthS1vQ51nxcM6ueNZJeOY9fWIc3O7_zjTRz423vsVfG7Ki-_WLqIzSgc_LHgSkPcNN5aw6rA9Ggjof6k4HRJg7DDkRb81Qnf1y_cR94ssv-DBjUDt3P2Q85mv1NfUv-IGh6Ke_lDhR_iMYF0cYAjsfuz_xqwDq7qFkOUlSkUw_-BD4d7RyAXEr7KtWz/s1718/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-05%20at%2012.19.50%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="952" data-original-width="1718" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rthS1vQ51nxcM6ueNZJeOY9fWIc3O7_zjTRz423vsVfG7Ki-_WLqIzSgc_LHgSkPcNN5aw6rA9Ggjof6k4HRJg7DDkRb81Qnf1y_cR94ssv-DBjUDt3P2Q85mv1NfUv-IGh6Ke_lDhR_iMYF0cYAjsfuz_xqwDq7qFkOUlSkUw_-BD4d7RyAXEr7KtWz/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-05%20at%2012.19.50%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE Year: 1968 Rating: ***</td></tr></tbody></table>Hammer's DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE came out in 1968, and the studio must have really needed younger viewers to relate with the hero as Barry Andrews looks far from the Victorian Era setting... With a frizzy perm, groovy clothes and being a proud and confident Atheist scholar (for what it's never clear), his girlfriend... niece of the monsignor who accidentally resurrected DRACULA while exorcising a cursed church... is what GRAVE is really all about...

barbara ewing, barry andrews, christopher lee, dracula, ewan hooper, franchise, freddie francis, hammer films, horror, michael ripper, sixties, veronica carlson

CHRISTPHER LEE VAMPING 'DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE'

Title: DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE Year: 1968 Rating: *** Hammer's DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE came out in 1968, and the studi...

CUSHING/LEE RETURN IN HAMMER'S 'THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMLj6wsNMvmOObbLjC4P1KaZdU3v2CbQeM-op0_xy4s3Mb3q43cx0jF2nTEZFQBsv-B6e8JP_ZhOczoF6rX7TyWZECWL0K9xfd4zx6SK9nLVMXj8UHrjMlNPUIG6xlNrgrCcBEWEgiocPjuRC-8EzogmKi1fuRXzfHmKIsEnyY3Hw-8IJA3y4UB9HQJO5J/s1984/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-03%20at%207.56.07%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="1984" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMLj6wsNMvmOObbLjC4P1KaZdU3v2CbQeM-op0_xy4s3Mb3q43cx0jF2nTEZFQBsv-B6e8JP_ZhOczoF6rX7TyWZECWL0K9xfd4zx6SK9nLVMXj8UHrjMlNPUIG6xlNrgrCcBEWEgiocPjuRC-8EzogmKi1fuRXzfHmKIsEnyY3Hw-8IJA3y4UB9HQJO5J/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-03%20at%207.56.07%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christopher Lee & Peter Cushing in THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Hammer's THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA shouldn't be considered Christopher Lee's seventh Dracula but his 2nd... after <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2024/12/drac72.html">DRACULA A. D. 1972</a>, which brought the famous vampire from the signature Victorian-era into the 20th Century including hippies, nightclubs, night parties and one important seance... But that was then... and now, two years later, there's a reclusive billionaire inside a spooky corporate building shot in murky wide angle lenses... actually looking more antique Gothic than Dracula's awakening church from 1972...

body-count, christopher lee, dracula, franchise, freddie jones, hammer films, joanna lumley, michael coles, peter cushing, thriller, vampire, william franklyn

CUSHING/LEE RETURN IN HAMMER'S 'THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA'

Christopher Lee & Peter Cushing in THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2 Hammer's THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA shou...

HAMMER'S SWINGING LONDON COMEBACK OF 'DRACULA A.D. 1972'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM7qOR0zD_28WY4P1xpRjVH_o6hAdjsh8XSzI5EjFQ8ha496EIdQlRlZt8g37HnKWqDb9oBnkM0EJDWKoXZ4NwtSnIlFhod9JuZBVojt1Am7mscTe-5WJO-KgXvADiptu0twbFTU24BHQg_FqjGDUdNp_VgpyJK4Oobgk0bk7fg_V_JPeZZuUv4orK2uKm/s1644/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-31%20at%204.28.15%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="1644" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM7qOR0zD_28WY4P1xpRjVH_o6hAdjsh8XSzI5EjFQ8ha496EIdQlRlZt8g37HnKWqDb9oBnkM0EJDWKoXZ4NwtSnIlFhod9JuZBVojt1Am7mscTe-5WJO-KgXvADiptu0twbFTU24BHQg_FqjGDUdNp_VgpyJK4Oobgk0bk7fg_V_JPeZZuUv4orK2uKm/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-31%20at%204.28.15%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Cushing scolds Christopher Neame in Dracula A.D. 1972 Rating: ****1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>A year after Hammer's progressively-sexual <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/karstein">Karstein Trilogy</a>, thrusting the classic vampire-horror into the counter-culture sensibilities while remaining in their signature Victorian Era, they finally skipped to the present, built right into the DRACULA A. D. 1972 title... And while Peter Cushing's college professor Van Helsing heir has several long bouts of exposition and two third-act vampire battles, Christopher Lee basically hangs around at the same gothic church where he was reawakened by a young British swinger, who's basically the main character here, or at least, technically speaking, the most important...

caroline munro, christopher lee, christopher neame, dracula, exploitation, hammer films, janet key, marsha a. hunt, michael coles, peter cushing, pip miller, seventies, stephanie beacham, vampire

HAMMER'S SWINGING LONDON COMEBACK OF 'DRACULA A.D. 1972'

Peter Cushing scolds Christopher Neame in Dracula A.D. 1972 Rating: ****1/2 A year after Hammer's progressively-sexual Karstein Trilogy ...

DENNIS WATERMAN GROUNDS HAMMER'S 'SCARS OF DRACULA'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0jxk6TG22aG49W7mE4jJUlB0ZnoXjkOPAmy13BmWHH89tOKWZd_oMpk0eeEPAwH4jMJEwr2S0abFylLXWOgOT5RXu1E-HFoNxbiOqnIL4sBA-F8ZOHKE8bDJz0tqNGauNDf8gUkJcp8a30I9Flt5kIFDs_WOoRywQLyAj1Ow3x_wJR1RRxlOwdpr9LA=s2364" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0jxk6TG22aG49W7mE4jJUlB0ZnoXjkOPAmy13BmWHH89tOKWZd_oMpk0eeEPAwH4jMJEwr2S0abFylLXWOgOT5RXu1E-HFoNxbiOqnIL4sBA-F8ZOHKE8bDJz0tqNGauNDf8gUkJcp8a30I9Flt5kIFDs_WOoRywQLyAj1Ow3x_wJR1RRxlOwdpr9LA=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: SCARS OF DRACULA Pictured: Christopher Matthews, Jenny Hanley, Dennis Waterman Year: 1970 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Hammer decided why mess with a successful formula, and turned their 1970 sequel SCARS OF DRACULA into what's basically a remake of the original, HORROR OF DRACULA, with a womanizing flake in the place of a traveling solicitor, and he even rides a dark-forest coach to get there...This after beginning with the cheapest of fake-looking bats spitting blood on ashes and thus conveniently reanimating Christopher Lee's iconic and eternal Bram Stoker-created vampire legend...

body count, british, christopher lee, dennis waterman, dracula, hammer films, horror, jenny hanley, michael ripper, seventies, vampire

DENNIS WATERMAN GROUNDS HAMMER'S 'SCARS OF DRACULA'

Title: SCARS OF DRACULA Pictured: Christopher Matthews, Jenny Hanley, Dennis Waterman Year: 1970 Rating: ***1/2 Hammer decided why mess with...

DAVID PEEL & PETER CUSHING IN HAMMER'S 'THE BRIDES OF DRACULA'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhekv4M0-n8vPytQmvjJPESOGSb7FjJpDxSvE_MtlbztXyi1IyhETcarrtSGW9AUo2bjMVlY23lVjYSWaN-5Pn_57zEErGNXgrvWvw5cSa8gP_MkkxAeFcjBtHI4GAy9kehp6izo3Q8EmvQ/s400/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2021-03-07%25252Bat%25252B8.54.49%25252BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="400" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhekv4M0-n8vPytQmvjJPESOGSb7FjJpDxSvE_MtlbztXyi1IyhETcarrtSGW9AUo2bjMVlY23lVjYSWaN-5Pn_57zEErGNXgrvWvw5cSa8gP_MkkxAeFcjBtHI4GAy9kehp6izo3Q8EmvQ/w400-h323/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2021-03-07%25252Bat%25252B8.54.49%25252BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brides of Dracula Year: 1960 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>A pretty boy Hammer DRACULA works since David Peel has such little screen-time, and it's not that he's unsuited for the role. In fact, dealing with the titular BRIDES, which is really a singular character played by Yvonne Monlaur, a younger, more apparently-attractive neck-sucker fits...Having been held captive by his mother in the family castle, Monlaur's Marianne, a teacher on her way to working at an all-girl's school, has only to look at this particularly vulnerable, chained-up Dracula to fall in love — hypnotic eyes aren't needed, at least not up front... But the true lead is Hammer legend Peter Cushing in what's a separate case file for Van Helsing: During scenes without him, there's wasted potential in that girl's school replete with beautiful, virginal maidens: If only they'd ALL have been brides, Van Helsing's task would garner more urgency, which this second Hammer Dracula needed more of. Although, the two or three bitten babes do look terrific, and there's an attempted lesbian seduction till Cushing cuts in and saves the day... or rather, night. Damn him! The movie, though, under 90-minutes, is entertaining enough to fill the absence of Christopher Lee, who'd return a few years later — and let it be noted that some of those entries aren't as good as this one.