I have always enjoyed Hammer Films’ “Horror Of Dracula” starring Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing, vampire authority, and Christopher Lee as the undead blood sucker, Dracula. I thought the movie was a very well done horror thriller. Lee is menacing and frightening as a very strong but cold parasitic beast bent on his own survival. Cushing is magnificent as the determined and brilliant expert on folklore and the Supernatural bent on ending the vampire’s reign of terror.
With the current pandemic raging on and being newly unemployed, I found time to finally finish Bram Stoker’s novel, “Dracula”. Now, comparing Hammers’ “Horror” with Stoker’s work, I found definite narrative differences. The Hammer film follows its own logic and twist on the story and is satisfying enough in its own right. Stoker’s work is of course The Source Material and being a 300 page novel having to be adapted by a scriptwriter for a 90 to 120 minute movie, many choice and not so choice bits are left out of the screen treatment for “Horror of Dracula”. I think these are two different visions sharing the same title character and some of the supporting players. Both versions are interesting and entertaining and it is worth investing time in reading the novel and getting a look at the original vision of author Stoker.
Christopher Lee commented that he welcomed this take as Dracula because it was a role that followed the novel source material closer than the Hammer Film’s series which brought Lee to international stardom. Lee also had a chance to emote beyond the various snarls, grunts and invectives that the Hammer Dracula required. I look back fondly on this film, admittedly. a low budget affair. Yes. The interior sets look a bit prefabricated and cheap and spray on spider webs adorn Dracula’s castle to an uncomfortable degree but there are many charming exterior sequences that sustain my interest. There is also a nice turn by macabre movie veteran Klaus Kinski as a bug eyed, creepy Renfield. I remember seeing Christopher Lee at a horror movie convention in the 1970’s where he sat not more than five feet away surrounded by fans and talked of his career. It was a very awesome experience for an impressionable youth, being me. I always enjoyed Lee’s work, whether it be portraying Frankenstein’s monster, The Mummy, The Man with the Golden Gun, or Dracula. A true giant in the world of fantasy films, Lee will be greatly missed.
NEWS FLASH – 10/07/16 – I watched some of this flick last night and noticed that Van Helsing (Herbert Lom) had blue hair! The back of his gentlemanly white pate was an odd shade of blue. WTF? Nice touch whether intentional or not.
A varied collection of unusual movie and music video clips.
