1958 Directed by Terence Fisher
After Jonathan Harker attacks Dracula at his castle, the vampire travels to a nearby city, where he preys on the family of Harker's fiancée. The only one who may be able to protect them is Dr. van Helsing, Harker's friend and fellow-student of vampires, who is determined to destroy Dracula, whatever the cost.
Peter Cushing Christopher Lee Michael Gough Melissa Stribling Carol Marsh Olga Dickie John Van Eyssen Valerie Gaunt Janina Faye Barbara Archer Charles Lloyd Pack George Merritt George Woodbridge George Benson Miles Malleson Geoffrey Bayldon Paul Cole Stedwell Fulcher Humphrey Kent John Maxim Guy Mills Richard Morgan John Mossman Judith Nelmes William Sherwood
Pimeyden prinssi, De nachtmerrie van Dracula, Le cauchemar de Dracula, O Horror de Drácula, Drakoulas, o vrykolakas ton Karpathion, Horror de Drácula, Kyuketsu ki Dracula, Horror of Dracula, 恐怖德古拉, I Draculas klor
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Huge fan of Hammer's typical course of explosive action: showcasing the two opposing leads noticing each other on separate extremes of the frame, with one fleeing with an "oh FUCK" expression while the other sprints as if they haven't shit in weeks.
Grandiose with its technicolor splendor, booming score, and monolithic genre leads, Horror of Dracula manages to spice up a familiar tale with a neat twist on the opening as we’re introduced to pimp level infinite Christopher Lee’s Dracula, and a goddamn banger of a finale where a manic yet always in control Peter Cushing barrels over tables while launching his body with total disregard in a final showdown that results in melted face akin to Mason Verger from Hannibal.
This was one of my first introductions to Hammer Horror films and boy howdy did I love it.
I grew up (probably like most of you) obsessed with Universal Monster movies—they were my first ‘favorite movies’ and I loved everything about…
Oh, this is such cinematic comfort food. It's like being wrapped in a warm, Technicolor blanket, as you're lulled into a restful sleep, transported into a dreamscape awash with a luscious, gothic atmosphere. It easily sits alongside the 1931 Dracula and the 1992 Dracula, as one of my all-time favorite Dracula films. Peter Cushing is great, as a younger, more action-oriented Van Helsing, and Christopher Lee is so damn menacing as Dracula. Sure, it takes its liberties with the original story, but it all works great. It focuses on the important moments, moving along at a brisk pace, with more action than most Dracula adaptations. And that climactic battle between Dracula and Van Helsing is glorious.
I always love returning to this one. In fact, I love all of these lovely little Technicolor gothic masterpieces from Terence Fisher, that I've seen so far.
There's a lot to be written about how some characters endure while others never catch on. I never got anywhere in the Fables comic book series, but I recall part of its premise was that the more popular stories were more powerful characters--that is, say, Snow White could survive a more horrific attack than, say, the manananggal, because the story is much more widely known. If Count Dracula appeared in that series, he must have been invincible. Few characters, especially villains, are more widely known and depicted.
The popularity of Bela Lugosi's depiction was such that it must have been daunting to step into these shoes. I know many others had done it, but this film was even called Dracula.…
My vampire weekend continues...
Grand Moff Tarkin and 90's-era-Alfred take on Saruman, what's not to love? Between Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee there's an abundance of joyfully camp scenery-chewing to go around, and (Horror of) Dracula really rides a great deal on its amazingly game cast.
The characters and the world is clearly Bram Stoker's, but everywhere small details have been changed. Jonathan Harker isn't visiting Count Dracula to sell him a new house, he's there as a hired librarian with a not-so-secret agenda of killing Dracula and ending his reign of terror. The story takes place in an alternate reality of the world Stoker created where everything is a bit less serious and more fun.
Dracula (Christopher Lee) is…
Geoff T's Hoop-Tober 8.0 Challenge
Dracula (1958)
It took me a while, but I finally got on board with Hammer Films last year, and I'm likely to keep it that way going forward. Here, we have one of their most well-known contributions to the horror genre, in the form of their 1958 adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, directed by Terence Fisher.
Jonathon Harker shows up at the castle of Count Dracula (Christopher Lee), apparently as his new librarian. However, Harker is actually a vampire-hunter who plans on putting an end to Dracula and his reign of terror His attempt at destroying him fails however, and the family of his fiancée Lucy is targeted. That's when his colleague Dr. Van Helsing…
#15 of 31 - HOOPTOBER 5.0 : We Don’t Need A Stretcher In There We Need A Mop
When you choose an old Dracula classic it's literally impossible to reveal spoilers because the story has been so ingrained into our psyches and culture by way of cinema, so much so our babies are born knowing the drill! What makes this one worth your time are the legendary male leads.. Christopher Lee as Count Dracula and Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing! I call this Terence Fisher film upscale Horror ;-)
Considering what I've been exposed to over the years this came off pretty tame! I must confess I was gifted a cheap thrill when Van Helsing went to town on…
100% cinematic deliciousness.
Just a delight from start to finish. I really wasn't expecting to be so impressed given that I've seen the story itself many times. This one, like many, makes a few slight changes to the characters, but all the regulars are still in play and I don't care what anyone says: Christopher Lee IS Dracula. And for that matter, Peter Cushing IS Van Helsing. I love seeing them onscreen together, great friends playing great enemies.
As expected from Hammer, this is an absolutely gorgeous looking film. The kind that you just get totally lost in. The kind that has an oddly calming and comforting effect in spite of being a horror movie. I know not everyone will…
Synopsis: it's Dracula, you know? The vampire story.
This Hammer Film Productions adaptation of the classic vampire story accomplishes one thing for certain: it indeed impresses me as sure-as-can-be classic; from the moderately stoic performances (not alluding to them being 'bad' here) to the rationed production design, and from the deliberate direction to the compressed runtime, (Horror of) Dracula is markedly grounded in the 'classic' time period during which it was made.
It therefore shook me up when the film unveiled its assumption that viewers are already familiar with the story, and more importantly, the titular character. There's barely a dramatic reveal of the count's vampiric identity, because people who'll watch the Hammer adaptation won't be jolted by such a…
Hits the primordial eroticism of vampiric folklore right on the head, all whilst delivering campy, Hammer-time chills. Not the best Hammer entry, per se, but by far the best Christopher Lee performance of any of them. Terence Fisher was a God among mere mortals, and this is the proof.
