Dracula - Prince of Darkness

Rating:
Summary: "A full-blooded sequel to sink your teeth into".
Review: After the success of "Dracula" in 1958, Hammer atlast decided to bring back Christopher Lee after seven years for a second outing as the bloodsucker. Why it took Hammer so long to realise how good Lee was as the Count in the first place is anyones guess. This time Dracula doesn't speak a single word throughout the entire film. He hisses, snarls and spits, but quite simply there is nothing for him to say. Only Lee with his rivetting screen presence could carry this off. The story involves four English travellers who take refuge in Dracula's castle, not a smart move and deserve everything they get when one of them ends being sacrificed for the Counts revival. A somewhat unimaginative plot, but in the capable hands of Hammer's star directer Terence Fisher there are some fine moments. Superb characterizations including the late Andrew Keir as the charismatic Father Sandor who is as every bit a determined and powerful a character as Peter Cushing's Van Helsing from the first two films. Thorley Walters as the deranged often comic Renfield type character Ludwig and above all Barbara Shelley as Helen who transforms from upright frump to wild siren after she is vampirized by Dracula. The film also boasts three excellent set-pieces. The first one being the resurrection of the Count in which poor old Charles Tingwell is suspended upside down over Dracula's tomb and his throat slashed by disciple Klove (chillingly portrayed by Philip Latham)in a scene which is truly shocking even today. The second being the physical dual between Dracula and young hero Francis Matthews after the latter discovers the mutilated body of his brother (Tingwell. The last being the final scenes in which Dracula drowns in the icy waters around his castle. The final descent beneath the ice was actually performed by Chris Lee's stuntman and double Eddie Powell who almost drowned in the process. Another wise choice was to bring back James Bernard's famous three note Dracula signature tune that was sadly lacking in later Dracula sequels. All in all a worthy sequel, and although not on par the 1958 classic, is still far superior to later follow-ups.

Rating:
Summary: A Hammer classic
Review: Dracula, Prince of Darkness tends to get short shrift from the critics, but it is hard to see why. Director Terence Fisher is on top form, delivering some of Hammer studios' most memorable and fascinating images: Klove's pseudo-Eucharistic ritual to bring Dracula back to life; the staking of a female vampire; the Count's destruction at the film's icy climax. Cast are second to none: Christopher Lee reprising his role as the Count; Barbara Shelley as a repressed Englishwoman-cum-vampire; Andrew Keir as Father Sandor, a rough-and-ready Van Helsing-type. Rest of the crew are top-notch: The atmospheric photography is by Michael Reed; the score is one of studio regular James Bernard's best; and Bernard Robinson's set designs are among his most memorable (the castle exterior was shared with the less impressive but still entertaining Rasputin the Mad Monk in the same year).

I found this film riveting as a child, and it still captivates me today. It certainly belongs in the essential Hammer canon, and is perhaps the finest of the Dracula sequels.

Rating:
Summary: 2nd C. Lee Dracula Outing Is Very Nearly As Good As The 1st!
Review: Eight years after Christopher Lee first donned his cape as the Lord of the Undead, Hammer Studios released this second entry in its series of "Dracula" films. "Dracula -- Prince Of Darkness" premiered in 1966 and provides an ample amount of blood-curdling scares and Gothic touches that places it right next to its predecessor, "Horror Of Dracula" (1958), as a fine example of how a horror movie should look.

Christopher Lee's portrayal of the king of all vampires in "Prince Of Darkness" is every bit as chilling and effective as his first Dracula performance in "Horror". And the "resurrection" scene (in which Dracula rises from his ashes) is a most unsettling and disturbing scene, especially given the eerie-looking actor that was utilized to perform the resurrecting. This faithful "servant" of Dracula looks like he, himself, would have made a fairly convincing "Count Dracula" in his own right.

This film was shot in color, and uses light and shadow (and the color red) to its distinct advantage during the course of its ninety-minute feature running time.

This double-sided DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment (released in 1998) offers up a Widescreen version of the film (2:35:1 aspect ratio), with a Dolby Digital Mono soundtrack (in both English and French).

Side 1 of this disc contains the movie; while the opposite side has a few interesting Bonus supplements. Here's a brief look at the Special Features.....................

>> Feature-length Audio Commentary Track, with four actors who starred in "Prince Of Darkness", including Christopher Lee.

>> Theatrical Trailers (two for this film).

>> An episode from a program called "World Of Hammer", all about vampires (which features movie clips from several Hammer vampire flicks, including "Prince Of Darkness").

>> A 4-minute "Home Movie", showing behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage with Christopher Lee on the set of "Prince Of Darkness". This silent film footage is augmented by explanatory audio commentary featuring Lee and others. This home movie is short, but quite interesting nonetheless.

>> Thick cardboard insert, which has as a Chapter List on one side (13 chapters) and a replica of an original "Prince Of Darkness" poster (or lobby card) on the other side. Nicely-done insert.

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Any Christopher Lee DVD collection would not be complete without a copy of "Dracula -- Prince Of Darkness".

Rating:
Summary: like a marionette with its strings cut ...
Review: It's been years since I've seen this film but the thing that remains most clear to me is the first time we see the 'creature' fully. It's been unconscious or asleep on a low bench and it wakes and tries to get up, but its legs don't know what to do, and its arms are just as helpless. That's when I thought of a newborn colt, or a marionette with its strings cut.

Lee didn't need that ghastly makeup because his long somber face and those suffering Italian eyes did it all for him. He had as great an ability to make us understand him even when he didn't speak as Buster Keaton did.

He has that same grace to this day, as Sauroman. I've always wondered if he had early dance training.

Those perplexed and terrified eyes of the Creature put me on his side at once, just as they did when they belonged to Kharis later, in "The Mummy."

Although this film's plot varied from the classic book, the heart of it was still true to it. We see our humanity in the 'monster' more than we do in the genius who created him so heartlessly and then didn't know what to do with him.

Rating:
Summary: 2nd Lee-Cushing Dracula is a great time
Review: Strangely, this film is referred to often as "the sequel" to Horrors of Dracula, when actually Brides of Dracula was the second in the series. Then it became know as the "prequel to the sequel"...whatever, it's one of the best of the Hammer vampire cycle and a great film for Lee - Cushing fans.

Hammer in it's early days tended to be shortsighted. In the first pairing of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in Frankenstein, they ended up having Cushing dump Lee's monster into a vat of acid. Super ending - but it literally stopped Lee from returning in a sequel. Cushing did go on to reprise Frankenstein in a series of Films. And it looked like Hammer had repeated the same mistake at the end of The Horrors of Dracula. Wonderful ending of Lee turning to dust and the wind carrying him away...only, they once again stopped any hope of Lee returning in the next film. Cushing went on to make the critically acclaimed Brides of Dracula, many often site as the better film, but it lacked Lee and that lack really hurts the film. David Peel just did not have the power and presence Lee did in the cape!!

So Hammer put their thinking caps on and 8 years (and Lee refusing to put on the cape) they came up came up with a way to bring Lee back to "life" for a the sequel. Okay, a little stretch, but it worked! Hammer made sure never to kill of Lee "permanently" again!! The box office pairing of Lee and Cushing was magic.

Two English couples traveling through Transylvania end up spending the night at the Drac's Castle. Lee's servant brings the Count back to "life" and he is off and up to old tricks. The film is super, Hammer at top form with Terrence Fisher as director. Just a SHAME they kept Dracula mute with no lines.