I have seen quite a few Hammer horror films and was excited to finally see their first Dracula film. Unfortunately, while very well made and interesting, not much occurred in it that was novel or interesting. Sure, the story was changed around a bit so that now the motive for the killings is more revenge than just a need to drink blood, but otherwise nothing that I haven't seen before. I guess part of the problem is that I've seen a couple of Hammer's Frankenstein movies and liked how they created a very different vision of the monster and monster maker from the 1930s Universal films. Here, it's not too different from the Lugosi Dracula except that I still greatly preferred Lugosi. Unfortunately for poor old Christopher Lee is that he's actually given very few lines even though he got second billing. Michael Gough, a perennial performer in Hammer and other British productions actually had a lot more to say and do even though he received lower billing.
So my overall rating is a 7, since it is competently made and fun for horror movie fans. However, due to it being very familiar material made in a rather familiar way, I can't give it a higher rating. I have 5 or 6 more Hammer Dracula films on DVD yet to watch--hopefully they'll shed some new light on the Drac legend.
So my overall rating is a 7, since it is competently made and fun for horror movie fans. However, due to it being very familiar material made in a rather familiar way, I can't give it a higher rating. I have 5 or 6 more Hammer Dracula films on DVD yet to watch--hopefully they'll shed some new light on the Drac legend.