Classic horror film review--Dracula: Prince of Darkness

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Steve Miller
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Classic horror film review--Dracula: Prince of Darkness

Post by Steve Miller »

Dracula: Prince of Darkness
Starring: Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, and Andrew Keir
Director: Terence Fisher
Three of Five Stars


“Dracula: Prince of Darkness” is a direct sequel to “Horror of Dracula.” It starts with a recap of the dramatic finale where Van Helsing finishes Dracula off with a surprising dash and leap toward the heavy drapes keeping out the rising sun.

(For continuity freaks, the events of this film probably happen while Van Helsing is dealing with the menace of Baron Meinster in "Brides of Dracula.")

In “Dracula: Prince of Darkness,” two English couples vacationing in Transylvania ignore a warning from the eccentric Father Sandor (Keir) to change their touring plans to give the region around Castle Dracula a wide berth. They don't take his advice, so they inevitably find themselves abandoned by superstitious locals in the mountain wilderness. Luckily, a coach comes by, and they are taken to Castle Dracula where the caretaker offers his hospitality. Before the night is out, one of the tourists is sacrificed in a bloody ritual to restore life to Dracula's ashes. Will any of them escape the house of horror, and Dracula's lust for blood and female flesh?

Director Terence Fisher once again helms a gorgeous production lots of gothic horror moments and fine acting on the part of the entire cast. However, I must say that the usually delightful Barbara Shelley plays a character so whiny in this film that I found myself wishing that Dracula or his knife-wielding human follower would put her out of my misery!

On the downside, "Dracula: Prince of Darkness" is also the first time in the series that Dracula suffers a truly embarrassing death-and it sets the standard for the climax of just about every Hammer Dracula movie from this point forward. Basically, after being cornered at sunset by Father Sandor and surviving tourists turned vampire hunters, Dracula falls through the ice on the moat around his own castle and is rendered inert and helpless by the running water underneath it. It's a shame that the final confrontation between good and evil in this film is so weak, because the menacing presence of Dracula and the chase scene that leads up to the climax makes for very dramatic and satisfying viewing.

Dracula isn't exactly destroyed at the end of this film, and his death-by-ice-water leads to the best Hammer vampire resurrection in “Dracula Has Risen From the Grave.”
Steve Miller, Writer of Stuff
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