Horror of Dracula (1958)

Title: Horror of Dracula (1958)

Director: Terrence Fisher

Cast: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling, Carol Marsh      

                                                                

Horror of Dracula is one of the most important of all the Dracula movies mainly because it’s the first time that Christopher Lee donned the fangs and cape for the role; in my opinion one of the most ferocious and savage of the Dracula’s. Christopher Lee doesn’t say much in this film (actually he only has about fourteen lines!) but his look, snarl and hiss painted a very feral picture of Count Dracula. Lee would go onto play this character many times over for Hammer films and even other directors outside of Hammer films, but it was his portrayal of the character on Horror of Dracula that will forever remain his best. But it wasn’t just Christopher Lee who made this film such a memorable experience, many important elements came together to make this version of Dracula one of the best out there. For one, we get Peter Cushing playing one of his most memorable roles, that of Vampire Hunter Dr. Van Helsing, a vampire expert! We also have Terrence Fisher, now Terrence Fisher wasn't just any old director; he was one of the best that Hammer ever had. He directed many of the most memorable Hammer films, amongst them The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) The Mummy (1959) and The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) and these are just a few of the best ones, he did many other films for Hammer; so we have a true master of horror behind the director’s chair. 

Horror of Dracula starts out with Jonathan Harker arriving at Dracula’s castle to work as Dracula’s librarian. That’s right, on this one; Harker isn’t in Dracula’s castle to sell him a piece of land in London. Nope, on this one he is here to work for hire as Dracula’s book keeper. Dracula welcomes Harker to his castle, feeds him, and then proceeds to make him his prisoner! Now, if you know anything about Count Dracula, then you know this is standard operating procedure for the count. He bids you welcome and then when you are all nice and comfortable, he goes for the jugular! But, what Dracula doesn’t know is that this Jonathan Harker already knows that Dracula is a vampire, and he’s come here disguised as a “librarian” to kill him! We also have a professor in the "black arts" and a very knowledgeable guy in the field of the supernatural, Dr. Van Helsing to go up against Dracula! Will Dr. Van Helsing have what it takes to eliminate Dracula forever?   

So what works for me with this movie is how persistent it is with its horror movie ambiance. Some of the best movies always keep that horror atmosphere going all the way through, the mist, the spooky woods, the castle on top of the hill, and this one most certainly keeps it going, which I love. The film is filled with many spooky images, many memorable horror film moments. There’s this one scene in which a vamped out Lucy is walking through the woods, holding a child by her hand and we all know her intentions are to eventually feed on the child. Wow, there’s some spooky moments right there, the woods just seem so haunted, the vampire vixen, so beautiful, yet so evil! And the scenes where Van Helsing and crew go into a mausoleum to stab Lucy the vampire through her heart? Wow, awesome stuff, actually, kind of gruesome for a film coming out of 1958, I’m sure back in those days, seeing a bit of blood splashing on Van Helsing’s face must have been truly shocking for audiences of the 1950’s! Those scenes with Dracula appearing on the girls bedroom window as he is bathed in falling leaves and the night sky, so memorable! Actually, the whole film is filled with these classic images; while watching it you’ll feel like you are in the presence of a classic film. True, this film does take some liberties with the book, but then again, what adaptation of Dracula doesnt right? What matters in the end is if the resulting film is effective and I can assure you, this one is.

This was the first time that Lee and Cushing would embody these characters and since they are doing it for the first time, they perform with a certain intensity that was never to be repeated in the rest of the sequels. That scene where they confront each other in the last moments of the film are some of the most classic moments on any Hammer film, ever! Actually, if you’ve never seen a Hammer horror film, then this is the best one to start with, in my book it remains the best one of the Hammer Dracula’s. It was followed up by a film called Brides of Dracula (1960), which by the way was also directed by the awesome Terrence Fisher, that was a truly excellent sequel to Horror of Dracula. Even taking in consideration that Christopher Lee didn’t’ return in the role of Dracula, Brides of Dracula still remains a great Hammer production, truly atmospheric, very much a classic vampire movie. So if you want a double dose of spooky, old fashioned awesomeness, I recommend a double feature with those two films! Hammer would later repeat the formula presented in Horror of Dracula through a series of sequels, which to be honest, with few exceptions, were always good horror film fun for me because they were always bathed in that old school gothic atmosphere. Hammer did a good thing by embracing that gothic setting for their Dracula films, it's what people loved about these movies. The atmosphere and the spookiness in these films is the stuff that Halloween movies are made off. This is the reason why Horror of Dracula is my Halloween movie recommendation for Halloween 2013. If you guys want to see a movie that captures all those things you love about Halloween encapsulated in one spooktacular film, but with a touch of class, than look no further than Terence Fisher’s Horror of Dracula, a true horror classic and one of the best Dracula films ever made!

Rating: 5 out of 5

The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)

Title: The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)

Director: Alan Gibson

Cast: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Coles, Joanna Lumley

Dracula A.D. 1972 is universally considered to be the worst of the Hammer Dracula films, it took Dracula out of the gothic setting and put him right smack in the middle of 70’s London hipster scene. I guess it was a way for Hammer Films to attempt to connect with a younger crowd, after all, it was mostly the kids who went to see these movies and they couldn’t risk losing a connection with that market! As a result, we have these long scenes of young dudes and dudettes partying and grooving to the tunes of some hippy rock band as Dracula is being resurrected by a young dude interested in the black arts. For me it didn’t work because honestly, what I enjoyed about those old Hammer Dracula’s was the gothic setting, I liked the castles, the full moons, the cemeteries; it’s what made those films special for me. Taking Christopher Lee’s Dracula out of that and bringing him to swinging 70’s London felt like suddenly Dracula was in a fish out of water story? And that’s not what Dracula’s about! So anyways, I hated that film, it was directed by a guy called Alan Gibson, a director whose career was mostly centered on directing television. So here’s a guy who made one of the worst of the Hammer Dracula’s and what does Hammer do? They let him direct the next Dracula film as well! It’s not surprising that the end result was a less than stellar film.

On The Satanic Rites of Dracula the Count has become the head honcho of a major corporation, he runs things from this shadowy office at the top floor of his office building.  Apparently Dracula has grown tired of eternity and is looking for a way to end it all, in other words, on this film Dracula wants to hang his cape and die! But he doesn’t just want to die, he wants to take all of humanity with him, so he enlists the help of some of his followers (who also happen to be Satanists) in order to create a deadly plague that will eradicate all of humanity by way of a deadly flesh eating virus! It’s up to Van Helsing and a couple of detectives to stop Dracula’s plans!  

The thing about this Dracula movie is that it is kind of uneven in tone. For example, at times it feels like a James Bond movie, at times it feels like a satanic film and at times it goes into sci-fi territory and then at some point it attempts to turn into one of the old Hammer Dracula films, so it’s kind of like a mish-mash of genres that never quite works in my book. I will elaborate. On this movie, Dracula’s followers are a group of Satanists who kidnap people in order to sacrifice them to Satan, so part of the film focuses on their little operation, you kind of get the idea that they are here to resurrect Dracula, but it’s not even about that. Anyways, their operation hasn’t passed unnoticed to local authorities who have sent secret agents in order to infiltrate the satanic cult and find a way to stop their evil schemes. Now here’s where the James Bond type of thing comes into play! The secret agents use micro films and gadgets in order to record the secret meetings that these cultists perform! Then the film takes a turn towards sc-fi/post apocalyptic territory with the deadly plague plot line, and the idea that this plague could possibly destroy all of humanity. Of course, we never actually see the plague take over the world or anything, but the idea is there, the virus is set and ready to go on the petri dish! Where the film completely fails in my book is that it doesn’t even feel like a Dracula film at all! It might as well have been a film about the satanic cult and that’s it. Dracula feels like he was shoehorned into the plot, which is sad because what we want to see is a Dracula film, not a James Bond wanna be.

And here’s the most disappointing thing about this movie, we hardly ever see Dracula on this one! Now this doesn’t surprise me at all because Lee always did a lot of these Dracula movies without any real interest in doing them. Actually, he was quoted as saying that he thought this particular Dracula film was unnecessary. “I am doing it under protest!” he said, Lee also used words like pointless, fatuous and absurd to describe this particular film and I have to say I agree. This is probably the reason why we don’t see much of Lee during the film. Actually, the film is close to hitting the 50 minute mark and still no Dracula! Can you imagine seeing an Indiana Jones film with no Indiana Jones after 50 minutes into the movie? Exactly. Instead we are treated to Satanists performing rituals involving naked girls and killing roosters. The film also centers a lot of its time on the Satanists escaping snooping cops.  The one moment where you feel you’re finally in one of those old Hammer Dracula movies is when the cops stumble upon a dungeon filled with a couple of Dracula’s vampire brides, but if it wasn’t for that, you’d think you were in some other movie. I also liked some of the visuals they pulled off during Dracula’s demise that I really liked, they did this thing where Dracula gets entangled in thorns which was pretty cool, Lee’s face on those scenes has all the evil and all the rage that should have been present on more of the film, not just the last 15 minutes!

Thank god we do get some Van Helsing! And this movie got me to thinking about what an important element Peter Cushing was in these movies, he was in them a heck of a lot more than Lee himself. Cushing was one of the most vital components of the Hammer Dracula formula. Gotta say, even though this isn’t the best of the Hammer Dracula’s, Peter Cushing gave it his all. By the way, this was the last time that Lee and Cushing worked together on a Hammer Dracula film, so it’s notable for that alone. This is the last time you get to see Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing vs. Christopher Lee’s Dracula, after this one, Cushing would go up against Dracula again one more time in The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974), a film that brought together the worlds of Shaw Bros. Kung Fu movies with Hammer Films Dracula universe, it’s one of the more offbeat Hammer films, but also, one of the most fun, highly recommend checking that one out! So anyhow, The Satanic Rites of Dracula doesn’t hold anything special to it, save for it being the last Cushing/Lee collaboration in the Hammer Dracula films.

Rating: 2 out of 5 

  

Asylum (1972)

Title: Asylum (1972)

Director: Roy Ward Baker

Starring: Peter Cushing

Review:

Hammer Studios wasn’t the only English film studio wholeheartedly dedicated to making horror films, there was also a studio called Amicus Productions. Now, though these two studios often times shared directors, crew and actors, Amicus films were known for doing one thing: making anthology films! That’s right, they didn’t just do a film with one story, they did one film which told four and sometimes five stories. George Romero’s Creepshow (1982) and John Harrison’s Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990) are similar in this way. So was Cat’s Eye (1985). Amicus did this kind of film with almost all of their productions. There most famous ones being Tales from the Crypt (1972), Vault of Horror (1973), The House that Dripped Blood (1970), And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973) and Dr. Terror’s House of Horror’s (1965). The one I will be reviewing today was called Asylum. How was it?

The titular Asylum

Well, the wrap around story on this one is about a psychiatrist called Dr. Martin who is arriving at an insane Asylum because he is trying to get a job there as the new head doctor since the previous head doctor, one Dr. B. Starr now forms part of the crazies of the institution! This asylum is a place for the “incurably insane”, and its in the middle of nowhere England. On his first meeting with the man in charge of the asylum he is made a deal. In order to prove his abilities as a psychiatrist, Dr. Martin has to go patient by patient, room by room interviewing each patient to see if he can identify who use to be the asylums previous head doctor, Dr. B Starr. So that’s how the movie begins. As Dr. Martin begins to visit each patient, we get a different story.

The first story is called “Frozen Fear” and it’s about this woman named Bonnie who is having an affair with a married man named Martin. Martin is married to Ruth, but he is extremely unhappy with her. They no longer love each other. To top things off, Ruth has just started getting herself into voodoo, and she wears a magic bracelet and all that. Well, the day comes when Bonnie and Martin decide to finally kill Ruth. Will they kill her? And if they do, will she stay dead? This story was pretty cool, and it’s probably the best of the bunch. I don’t understand why they didn’t decide to leave this one for last, cause usually they save the best for last in anthology films. But I guess they wanted to open with a bang, so they gave us this one first. This is the story that’s responsible for the illustration on the poster, with the chopped off head wrapped in a paper bag.

The second story is called “The Weird Tailor” and it stars Hammer star Peter Cushing, who jumped the fence over to Amicus Productions for this one. Jumping from Hammer to Amicus was something he did yet again for another Amicus production called Tales from the Crypt. And many Hammer actors did the same, like Christopher Lee for example, who appears in Dr. Terror’s House of Horror. Sadly, Cushing is a part of the worst of all the stories, but heck, its not that bad. This story is about a tailor called Bruno, who is one day visited by a mysterious gentleman, called Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith commissions Bruno to make a very expensive suit made of a special fabric that he himself will provide. Bruno is about to be evicted from his shop so he says “sure, Ill do it!” When the suit is done, its true purpose is revealed.

The third story is called “Lucy comes to Stay” in which we meet this woman named Barbara who just been released from an insane asylum. She is going back to her home with her brother, who is trying to help her put her life back on track. You see, Barbara had been doing heavy drugs and was constantly talking to an imaginary friend called Lucy. But apparently that’s all over and Barbara is ready to get back to living a normal life. Unfortunately, she feels oppressed by her brother, who is taking care of her almost as if he was her father. So, one night, Lucy reappears! What horrors will Lucy and Barbara commit together in order to escape the oppressive environment?

The final story is called “Mannequins of Horror” and on this one, we meet Dr. Byron; a crazed mad man of a doctor who builds these little robots and collects them in a cupboard. One of the robots has Dr. Byron’s likeness and he tells Dr. Martin that he is experimenting with transferring his consciousness onto the little robot. He even tells Dr. Martin that the robots has all its internal organs and everything. It even has a little brain inside of it! Dr. Martin dismisses him as totally insane and leaves. Soon after, Dr. Byron succeeds in transferring his consciousness onto the robot! The robot walks out of the room! Will Dr. Byrons diabolical escape plan come to fruition?

Hammer veteran director Roy Ward Baker (The Vampire Lovers, Scars of Dracula) was in charge of directing duties for this one. He had some inspired moments in it, like when Dr. Martin is one his way to the asylums rooms and stops to look at some pictures that are up on the wall of different morbid medical practices done through the ages. The dvd has interviews with Roy Ward Baker and the producer and founder of Amicus Productions, recalling the days when everything got started. Baker compares what it was like to work with Amicus vs. working with Hammer. This dvd extra is worth the price of admission cause you also get to see and hear another famous Hammer director: Freddie Francis. I worship these guys cause of the movies they made when they were young, and found it extremely interesting to hear them talking about their films after all these years. Asylum was written by Robert Bloch, better known for having written Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho.

So there you have it, synopsis for all the four stories in the film, but you’ll have to watch them in order to know how they turn out. This movie was fun, but I couldn’t help thinking that it could have been better. As if it is, the best thing about the film is the music, which pretty much makes the film more exciting then it really is. Asylum does have a very dark tone to it, especially when it comes to the resolution of its stories, so be on the look out for that. It’s got a nihilistic tone to it. I’m looking forward to seeing more Amicus Productions films. I will be reviewing them soon, so keep an eye for them!

Rating: 3 out of 5

Twins of Evil (1971)

Title: Twins of Evil (1971)

Director: Jhon Hough

Cast: Peter Cushing, Dennis Price, Mary and Madeline Collinson, Damien Thomas

Review:

This Hammer film had managed to elude me for sometime because unfortunately, its NOT on DVD yet! For some unholy reason some studio head somewhere has not done his homework, and as a result, we still dont have a proper DVD release. But thanks to a buddy of mine I finally got a bootleg copy of it. So I finally I got to get a look at Twins of Evil. And Ill be damned if it wasnt one of the coolest vampire flicks Hammer Studios ever produced!

This is the third film in Hammer films "Karnstein" trilogy. This trilogy consisted of The Vampire Lovers, was followed by Lust for a Vampire and ended with the film I will be reviewing today, Twins of Evil. They all deal with the Karnstein family as the vampiric threat in their stories. On this one we get Count Kernstein, a young bachelor who lives on a castle at the top of a hill, as is usually the case with villains in Hammer films. Everyone in town knows he is into witchcraft and devil worship, and they are right. It's all true. This count is really into worshipping Satan! Black Masses! Human sacrifices! Anyhows, Count Karnstein grows bored with charlatans and fakers claiming to be true devil worshipers. So on a desperate attempt to really get things moving, Count Kernstein decides to summon old Beelzebub himself into his home by sacraficing a virgin! This makes for a fantastic scene if there ever was one! The scene reeks of satanic blasphemy! The virgins blood doesnt make Satan show up...but it does awaken the corpse of Mircalla Karnstein! An old vampire vixen who's laid dormant for years! When Mircalle wakes up, she in turn transforms the young Count into a vampire. Shortly after that, two innocent yet mischievous twin sisters decide to wonder into the castle...will they fall for Count Kernsteins charms? Will these twin sisters be turned to the dark side to worship the devil?

The first film in the Karnstein trilogy was Vampire Lovers wich starred Ingrid Pitt as Countess Mircalla Karnstein. And even though the beautiful Ingrid Pitt, who wows us in Vampire Lovers does not reprise her role in this sequel, Twins of Evil is an excellent example of what a really great Hammer vampire film should be like. A great story, great atmosphere, lots of blood and lots of nudity. Oh and lets not forget the girl on girl action. Lust for a Vampire, the second entry in Hammers Karnstein trilogy I have yet to see, so I cant comment much on that one. But from what I hear, its one of the weakest in the trilogy. But with Twins of Evil Hammer studios out did themselves once again, as if they were trying to compensate for making a weak film with Lust for a Vampire. As I watched Twins of Evil, I couldnt believe how good this movie was turning out to be and I realized what a crime it is that its not yet available on DVD. Last info I discovered about this getting a U.S. DVD release, Fox bought off most of MGM's library (cause MGM is actually going bankrupt if you can believe it!) and well, it looks like this films DVD release is still very much uncertain, at least in the U.S.

One is the good sister, the other is the bad.

I was surprised to see that this film, had non of the usual Hammer directors, writers or producers. Theres no Terrence Fisher or Freddy Francis, or Roy Ward Baker directing...no John Elder writing the script. It was weird not to see any familiar names (save for Peter Cushing) being involved on this Hammer production. Maybe thats why this film feels like a breath of fresh air in certain occasions. Though this still is a Hammer film and we do get a lot of traditional Hammer situations...this one did things just a little more intensely. Its a very viscious film for a Hammer film, with a slightly edgier tone to it. More graphic, more satanic. Which of course in my opinion makes for a better film. This film in particular was directed by John Hough, who would go on to direct the excellent Legend of Hell House. He was also responsible for a horror film called Incubus (1982). He also made the Witch Mountain movies and the haunted house film The Watcher in the Woods (1980) for Disney Pictures. He also directed Howling IV: The Original Nightmare. But we dont need to get into that.

One of the things that stood out for me on this film was the sets. Usually on a Hammer film the sets will seem familiar some how, because many times they just reused sets used on previous films. On this one, the sets had a very unique look to them. Specially Count Kernsteins castle. That castle looked great on the inside! Its got a lot of skulls, Gargoyles and statues with horns coming out of them, it just made everything all the more gothic. Also the way the interior of the castle was lit, helped everything look all the more spookier. They later reused these sets for filming Vampire Circus.

The comes the acting. Peter Cushing is known for elevating Hammer films with his acting, in this film, his character is one Gustav Weil, witch killer! Cushing plays a priest, hunting down witches and warlocks and burning them at the stake! Part of that whole inquisition deal where a lot of innocent people were burned at the stake and tortured if they werent catholics. Cushing plays the witchfinder, his character in Twins of Evil is very similar to that of Vincent Price's in Cry of the Banshee or The Conqueror Worm, constantly looking for witches to burn. Great thing about this character is that apart from Cushings great performance, he is a very ambiguous character. He is often times seen as the villain of the film because of his habit of burning beautiful girls in account of religious fanatism. But at the same time he is seen as the heroe who is after Count Kernstein. So theres a duality to his role on this one. A detail that might have added to the somberness of Cushings character is the fact that his wife had very recently died right before he began production of this film, so during the filming of Twins of Evil, Peter Cushing was an actor in pain.

Still, I like how the film explores these themes, of how at one time people were burned if they werent catholics. Shinning a light on those dark times when you had to be a catholic, or else you were in cahoots with Satan! There is a scene that I really loved where Peter Cushings withfinder character almost burns a completely innocent person, and realizes it just before they burn the person alive! In this way, the film comments on how this sort of thing happened during those dark days of the inquisition.

As for the titular twins, well they do a good job of looking sexy as heck. These two actresses actually appeared in a 1970s issue of playboy! This film was actually marketed as a new X rated horror film from Hammer Studios! The sisters reveal their respective cleavages more then once during the film. Though nudity was not common in Hammer films of the past, after they did their first use of it in Vampire Lovers, nudity was common in Hammer films. I liked how one sister was the good girl, while the other was the rebelious one, looking to get into trouble all the time. I found it interesting how the "evil" twin was actually lured into the dark side because of how she hated her religious fanatic uncle. In a way, religious fanatism made her run into the clutches of something even more evil. Interesting situation they present us with there. The rebellious sister runs right into the vampires arms! Then she has to deal with the ambiguous nature of being a vampire, and trying not feed on her own sister! Kind of like the same situation we saw a couple years later in Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys.

 Burning innocents was something catholics enjoyed doing during those days.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this film was its fast pace. Lets face it sometimes Hammer films can get a little slow...specially the earlier ones. But this film comes to us from a new school of Hammer directors and writers, who moved their story telling at a faster pace. The ending is a rollercoaster ride of thrills when compared to other Hammer films. Another cool little tidbit about this film: the vampires have huuge fangs! When they reveal their vampire fangs its awesome. Kind of reminded me of the vampires in Vampire Circus. So what we got here is actually a Hammer vampire film that comes from a new generation of Hammer directors, striving to move things quicker, and striving to give their films a new edge.

In conclusion, I can say that this film quickly became one of my favorite Hammer vampire films. Its right up there with the best Hammer films. Im surprised to see that most of my favorite Hammer vampire films ended up being the most offbeat ones! Or the ones that have not yet made it to DVD. I love these flicks because they are films that were made many years after Hammer had already firmly established itself as a horror studio, so these last films learned from the mistakes of all the previous Hammer efforts. Hence the faster plots, abundant nudity and blood. Try to get your hands on this flick if you get a chance, its well worth the effort!

Rating: 5 out of 5

The Vampire Lovers (1970)

Title: The Vampire Lovers (1970)

Director: Roy Ward Baker

Cast: Ingridd Pitt, Peter Cushing, Madeline Smith, George Cole, Kate O Mara

Review:

As I have mentioned before on my previous Hammer film reviews, Hammer had a way of making their vampire movies. And I love it. Full moon, plus spooky castle at the top of the hill, plus fog, plus unsuspecting wanderers, plus vampires = A Hammer film. But I find myself enjoying the films that deviate from Hammers formula for vampire movies a whole lot more. The director of this film, Roy Ward Baker was the one director on Hammer's Studios roster that strived to always make something different with his films. On this one we have lesbian vampire chicks falling in love with their prey! And this film has nudity!

The story is about a vampire vixen known as Carmilla Karnstein. She belongs to a family of vampires that used to plague the local townsfolk. She has a modus operandi where she looks for an excuse to end up in someones home, then she proceeds to feed on them. It seems that Carmilla has a preference for female blood since thats practically all she does, feed on young girls. Her next victim is the innocent Emma whom she has just met and instantly befriended. But Carmilla faces a problem this time. This time she has fallen in love with her prey! Suddenly, Mircalla has an internal battle. What will be stronger? Her need to feed or her need for love? Carmilla wants Emma to love her "Her whole life!" as she so erotically puts it in one scene. This film is based on the novella Carmilla, a Gothic vampire novel written by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu in 1872, and it tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla. The novella Carmilla actually predates Bram Stokers Dracula by 25 years! This is just one of its incarnations. This little novella has actually been adapted to film on various ocassions. Hammer Studios made three films that dealt with the Carmilla mythology. Vampire Lovers (1970) was the first, and it was followed by Lust for a Vampire (1971) and Twins of Evil (1972). This film isnt a faithful adaptation of this novella, but it uses the Karnstein family as a means for the vampiric threat. Its one of those films thats not really interested in being faithful to the source material. They simply used the name of a famous book to give it some credibility.

This film starts off with a great opening sequence wich is loaded with Hammers mandatory atmosphere. Starting out with a scene like that lets you know that this director hasnt forgotten what we love about these old Hammer films. Mainly all the gothic atmosphere! And theres lots of it on this one! It's one of the things that makes a Hammer film a Hammer film. Theres scenes that take place in grave yards, theres a lot of shots with the full moon in the back, the wind blowing, you know, the whole Hammer thing, which is great cause I hate it when they try and leave that behind and set things in modern times. I like the magic and the atmosphere of the old castles, the graveyards, the fog. And though this film is a bit different then your regular Hammer flick, we still get the atmosphere we've come to expect from these films. It doesnt veer off too much from the path.

So whats the element that makes this one a bit different? Well, before this film, nudity was unheard of in a Hammer film. Vampire Lovers was the film to pop Hammer Studios cherry so to speak. And trust me, there's lots of nudity in Vampire Lovers! Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith always find a way to end up naked on screen. Theres this one hilarious scene in which Carmilla (the voluptuous Ingrid Pitt) is taking a bath and she gets up, and runs around the room after Emma trying to get her towel. Its the most shameless excuse to have so much nudity in a film! I thought it was funny, and at the same time, of course super hot! Both Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith were some of the most beautiful actresses on the planet at their time. Nudity scenes like the one Im referring to here are very gratuitous, and have nothing to do with the story. These scenes were just squeezed in there to please the largely male audience. Im sure more then one Hammer fan was happy about these scenes, which by the way are many. This film got into some trouble when it came time to rate it because of the lesbian theme it so heavily portrays. Actually the two films that followed this one (Lust for a Vampire and Twins of Evil) both toned downed their lesbian theme. Lust for a Vampire actually had Carmilla fall in love with a man, which completely goes against the nature of the character represented in the book.

It's easy to say that what makes this film special is the nudity. That would not make it a good film perse, just a film with lots of nudity. But putting the nudity aside, this is one excellent vampire film! The story is really what blew me away, watching Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith running around naked in their room was just a really juicy extra. I thought the idea of having a vampire vixen falling in love with one of her victims was a very original one. Not only that but she also seduces the men, and the rest of the ladies in the house! Carmilla is one viscious vampire vixen! Ingrid Pitt's scenes are really good in terms of acting as well. I dont know what it is about her voice, but Ingrid Pitt has that kind of voice where, no matter what she says, it ends up sounding sexy! I have no doubt in my mind that during the 70s she was considered the embodiment of all things beautiful and erotic in a female. Thats what I love about films. I love how they can preserve a moment for ever. Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith's beauty is frozen for all eternity on this film for future generations to enjoy!

At heart Vampire Lovers is really a love story with a vampire twist and in my book, it really works. I would have no problem in saying that it is one of the best Hammer films Ive seen. All thanx to Roy Ward Baker, who directed some of the best Hammer films, among them Quatermass and the Pit and Scars of Dracula wich is one of my favorite of the Hammer Dracula films. On Vampire Lovers he not only kept what we know and love from Hammer films, but he added the sexy angle to it, and he even put some gore in here to keep things interesting! Theres more then one beheading on this film.

It even has Peter Cushing in it, with a small role as "The General". As usual he did a great job, even though this role was a small one. He basically appears at the beginning of the film, and then at the end. Ingrid Pitt excells in this one not only in beauty but in the acting department as well. She actually manages to make us care for the villain, she is sweet, savage, erotic, and tender all roled up into one. Madeline Smith exerts a strange sort of innocence in her eyes, that makes her sexy as hell.

One thing I didnt get though is one character that shows up in the film. Every time Carmilla attacks or eats someone, theres this mysterious character on a horse who never says a word. He just stares and laughs revealing his teeth. You end up thinking that this guy might be Mircallas master or something, but sadly that plotline is never explained. Also, they play around a lot with the rules of being a vampire. In certain scenes Mircalla actually walks in the daylight and lets not forget the fact that vampires are supposed to hate water, yet on this film Mircalla is shown taking a hot bath! Not exactly something that a vampire would be doing in my opinion. These are really minor setbacks in what is otherwise an excellent vampire film.

If you are on a hunt down to see the best Hammer has to offer, you cant go wrong with Vampire Lovers. Its one of their best films, with an involving storyline, Hammers delicious atmosphere, a decent amount of gore and of course, the two beautiful bomb shells known as Madeline Smith and Ingrid Pitt. Whats not to like? Go get this one right now! You'll thank me later.

Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5

 

Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

Title: Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

Director: Alan Gibson

Cast: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Stephanie Beacham

Review:

When it comes to Hammers slate of Dracula films everything is fine and dandy until we come upon two films. Dracula A.D. 1972 and The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973). Today I'll be focusing all my hatred on reviewing Dracula A.D. 1972. The thing I love about these old Hammer films is how they all take place in a time of castles, and fog, and full moons. A time when people rode in horse carriages and didnt have cars, these films took us to another time and another place. The proceedings were made almost magical because of the atmospheric way in which Hammer Studios produced these films! So what happens when a studio wants to adapt to modern times and tries to put these old Dracula films in moder times? A disaster. Thats what happens!

Sometimes movies can turn into time capsules that transport us into the past or into the future. With Dracula A.D. 1972 were magically whisked away to a groovy time in wich Austin Powers would have felt right at home! The story is about this group of kids (were not a gang! were a group!) that love to hang out at a cafe shop called "The Cavern". The kids are bored, and looking for something to do. One day, Johnny Alucard (hmm strange last name...wait...it spells Dracula backwards! Aha!) a new kid in town waltzes into the coffee shop and offers the group of kids a new way they can get their kicks. He offers them a night of black mass and black magic! To wich they say "sure why the hell not, it could be fun!". So in no time flat, they find themselves resurrecting Count Dracula from the ashes. Problem is, one of the kids in the group is a direct descendent of Dr. Van Helsing! And that just doesnt sit well with Dracula at all!

This movie opens up with a swinging party somewhere in London, of course, this is just a way to try and get modern kids interested in these films, so they can feel identified with their music, and their clothes and they'll want to spend there money in this new modern take on the age old Dracula formula. As I watch this whole scene of young kids partying the night away in his house, doing drugs, making out and dancing on top of tables, I kept asking myself how they were going to fit Christopher Lee with his red and black cape into all of this. The filmakers wanted to make sure that this film was completely engulfed in whatever young people considered cool at that time. Everyone says words like "way out" and "groovy" and they finish many of their sentences saying "and all that jazz". To top it all off, theres a band that sounds something like "Jefferson Airplane" playing at the party...I mean youll be drowned in all things 70s! How was Dracula going to react when he wakes up in this modern world? Is there room for Dracula in the midst of modern 1970's London?

Of course this being a Black Mass, some blood has to be spilled on the altar..

Thats exactly the problem for me with this movie. Dracula feels really out of place in between all the partying and the rock and roll and the drugs. There are some potentially cool situations going on but sadly the music they decided to add to the proceedings doesnt fit at all and completely takes you out of the mood of things. Something horrifyin or scary will be happening on screen and suddenly a bunch of loud trumpets and congos start to beat and your just completely taken out of the horror element. The musical choices for this film sucked the atmosphere right out of this movie! Suddenly it felt like when Dario Argento puts heavy metal in one of his movies, and it just doesnt match with the feel of the horror film. Why couldnt they have updated Draculas look somehow? Does he always have to dress like he is stuck in time? How about having Dracula update his garments or something? Unfortunately, on this film, Dracula looks like an old dude trying to fit in within the young kids of the 70's. The ones to blame for this are Warner Brothers Studios and their Count Yorga The Vampire was succesful, therefore they wanted two modern day Dracula films from Hammer Studios. As a result we got this one and The Satanic Rites of Dracula, both dreadful in my book.

Another negative aspect of this film is that the story is just a re-hash of what they had already done in Taste the Blood of Dracula, which was a great film on its own. The story in Dracula A.D. 1972 is damn near identical, save for the fact that its set in London during the 70's and its got young people as lead actors. Lets see, a young lad inherits Draculas ring and ashes? Check! He then decides to bring Dracula back to life with the help of some people who know nothing about what they are getting into? Check! They perform a Black Mass to bring Dracula? Check! Said black mass takes place in a desecrated church? Check! The list of similarities between these two films goes on and on. So to top things off, this movie wasnt too original either.

No! Get those boobs away from me! They are too beautiful to behold!

There are a few things that make this movie worth while though. For example the fact that the movie is a time capsule to London in the early seventies makes the film entertaining. It made the movie fun for me, but we are here to get spooked, were here to see Dracula kill a few virgins and take his revenge on the House of Van Helsing. Did we get any of that? Well, in a way. We do get some Dracula vs. Van Helsing action. Only thing is that its too brief. The movie starts 100 years in the past, with Van Helsing and Dracula fighting on top of a horse carriage as its rasing through a forest! Both Dracula and Van Helsing die, but one of Draculas servants picks up his ashes and they are cared for 100 years until they end up in the hands of the guy who resurrects him in 1972. Then, in the 1972 Van Helsing and Dracula have another encounter and they fight each other off yet again, the proverbial battle of "good vs. evil". The one good thing this film has for it is that Christopher Lee plays Dracula, and he looks awesome even if the film does make the character feel like its entirely out of place. And that we get Peter Cushing playing both Van Helsing in the past and Van Helsing's descendant in 1972. I really cant say this film has anything other then that going for it.

All in all, an unintentionally funny Hammer Dracula film. Its trapped in the 70s and though that makes it a fun watch, it still doesnt gel well with the Hammer Dracula universe we've come to know and love.

Rating 2 out of 5

This foreign poster for the film was altered because it was released one year later in other countries.