SINK YOUR TEETH INTO AMAZON
STUDIOCANAL in association with HAMMER FILMS present
DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS
Fully restored, remastered and available on Blu-ray double play March 5.
Two men in the twentieth century helped to define the image of vampirism on the screen more than any other. In the 1930s (and earlier on stage) Bela Lugosi brought a dark, brooding, Eastern European flavour to the blood sucking Count but it was Christopher Lee that minted satanic sexuality, urbane sophistication and underlying perversion. Dracula Prince of Darkness was Lee’s return to Hammer Dracula duties after an eight year hiatus and it’s a Gothic horror classic so I thought I’d share my top three from his other vampire flicks…
Dracula (1970)
One things I love about Christopher Lee is, despite his thespian leanings, he still found time for a Jess Franco movie or two.
IMDB: “Jess Franco’s version of the Bram Stoker classic has Count Dracula as an old man who grows younger whenever he dines on the blood of young maidens.”
Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)
Hammer’s Dracula movies had to find ever more outlandish ways to return the Count to undead life and Taste The Blood Of Dracula involves a group of dabbling occultists to raise him by drinking his blood
IMDB: “Three elderly distinguished gentlemen are searching for some excitement in their boring borgoueis lives and gets in contact with one of count Dracula’s servants. In a nightly ceremony they restore the count back to life. The three men killed Dracula’s servant and as a revenge, the count makes sure that the gentlemen are killed one by one by their own sons.”
Dracula AD 1972 (1972)
Sometimes experiments to update a franchise fail at the time but then offer a kitsch and camp experience a few viewing generations down the line. Dracula AD 1972 might not be the greatest horror movie ever made but it does try and culture clash the ancient vampire Count with swinging hipsters and groovy parties.
IMDB: “In London 1872 – the final battle between Lawrence van Helsing and Count Dracula on top of a coach results in Dracula dying from a stake made from the remains of a wooden wheel. Lawrence dies from his wounds and, as he is buried, a servant of Dracula buries the remains of the stake by the grave and keeps a bottle of Dracula’s ashes and the ring. One hundred years later, the colourful 1972 Johnny – the great-grandson of the servant – joins up with a “group” containing Jessica, the grand-daughter of the present vampire hunter, Abraham van Helsing and with their unknowing help resurrect Dracula in the 20th Century who is determined to destroy the house of Van Helsing, but who can believe that The king of the Vampires really exists and is alive – in 20th Century London?”
