Dracula

Year of Release:  1958

Director:  Terence Fisher

Screenplay:  Jimmy Sangster, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker

Starring:  Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling, Christopher Lee

Running Time:  82 minutes

Genre:  Horror

In 1885, Doctor Van Helsing (Cushing) investigates the disappearance of his friend Jonathan Harker (John Van Eyssen), vampire hunter, at the Castle Dracula.   Van Helsing soon realises that Harker has fallen victim to the evil vampire Dracula (Lee) who has now set his sights on Harker's friends and family.  

Produced by the now legendary Hammer Films, this is probably the highpoint of what is known as "Hammer Horror".  It features the Hammer hallmarks of lavish production values (despite a low budget), classically trained actors, stories based on legendary horror tales, and most importantly all the blood and heaving bosoms that the 1950s censors would allow, photographed in vivid colour.  Christopher Lee turned in a star making performance as Dracula.  Lee made Dracula sexy and physical, moving from suave sophistication to demoniac monster.  Peter Cushing complements him as the rational but compassionate Van Helsing.  The film suffers from a low budget and some obvious day-for-night shooting, as well as an indeterminate sense of place where, despite being set in Eastern Europe, everyone seems to be English, but the qualities far outweigh the negatives.  Lee and Cushing became horror icons with this film.  Right from the opening images of Dracula's tomb spattered with blood this is empty of any inessentials.  This is a full blooded horror, which brought blood, fangs and sex to the vampire film.   

Christopher Lee is Dracula

Dracula: Prince of Darkness

Year of Release:  1966
Director:  Terence Fisher
Screenplay:  Jimmy Sangster (as John Sansom), story by Anthony Hinds (as John Elder), based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker
Starring:  Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Andrew Keir, Francis Matthews, Suzan Farmer
Running Time:  90 minutes
Genre:  Horror

It has been ten years since the evil vampire Count Dracula (Lee) last terrorized the good people of the Carpathian Mountains, however the toothy terror has not been forgotten, and when four English tourists decide to spend the night at the palatial Castle Dracula, they soon find themselves pitched against the newly resurrected Count, and his human servant Klove (Philip Latham).  Only gruff, boozy monk Father Sandor (Keir) knows how to stop the vampire for good.

This was the third film in Hammer Films successful series of Dracula movies, following Dracula (1958) and The Brides of Dracula (1960), and the second to star Christopher Lee in what would become, at least for awhile, his signature role (despite the title, Count Dracula does not appear at all in The Brides of Dracula).  For those who have forgotten or who missed it, Dracula: Prince of Darkness opens with a short prologue, replaying the finale of Dracula, before moving forward ten years with an arresting scene where Father Sandor brusquely stops the local worthies from staking the body of a young woman as if she were a vampire.  This is a good slice of what would become known as "Hammer Horror", and the hallmarks are all present and correct: Lavish (for the time and budget) production values, full-blooded (no pun intended) performances, vivid colour, and plenty of blood and heaving bosoms (again, considering the time).  The film suffers from it's slow patches, and the quartet that make up Dracula's prey are fairly bland (with the exception of Hammer stalwart Barbara Shelley who gives a great performance moving from nervous buttoned down Victorian lady to savagely seductive vampire).  Aside from the prologue, Christopher Lee does not appear as Count Dracula until quite late into a fairly short film and when he does, he is completely silent, with the exception of the odd hiss.  According to Lee, Dracula did have dialogue in the script, but it was so bad, that he just refused to say it.  However according to writer Jimmy Sangster, Dracula was never intended to have any dialogue, because Sangster didn't believe vampires would be particularly chatty.  Whatever the real reason, Lee still makes the most of his scenes, turning in an energetic physical performance, and Andrew Keir is good as tough, shotgun wielding monk Father Sandor.  Francis Matthews and Suzan Farmer are effective if kind of bland as Dracula's targets.  The film is very creaky by modern standards, and it all looks quite tame now, with the exception of Barbara Shelley, the female characters have very little to do, except swoon, and it's all very white.  It has some good set pieces, Dracula's resurrection scene with it's semi-religious overtones, is very effective, and surprisingly gruesome, and the watery climax is imaginative.

Christopher Lee and Suzan Farmer in Dracula: Prince of Darkness