You mention Dracula to film fans and most will think only of Bela Lugosi or Sir Christopher Lee. The reason for that being that these two are quite simply the best two people to have ever tackled the role of Bram Stoker’s iconic vampire Count.
For my money, Lee wins that battle. Every time.
Lee’s first outing as The Count came in 1958′s Dracula/Horror of Dracula, a bona fide classic that saw Lee face off against Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing in one of my favourite British horror films of all time. That film ends with The Count reduced to ashes, however if cinema has taught us anything, it is that dead very rarely means dead.
Lee steadfastly refused to return as in the role in the “sequel”, Brides of Dracula, before finally agreeing and donning the cape once more. As such, Dracula: Prince of Darkness is widely regarded as the true sequel to the events of the first film, a belief further reinforced by the fact that Dracula: Prince of Darkness opens with a reminder of the closing scenes of Dracula as Van Helsing renders The Count little more than dust.
And so we jump forward ten years. The Count is gone but the vampire threat remains. Four upper class English tourists find themselves knocking on the door of the Count’s castle in the Carpathian mountains. A brief aside, when will people in horror films finally realise that warnings are issued for their own good? Almost everyone they encounter advise them against this journey but still, off they go. I guess there would have been no film had they just decided against popping along to the sinister castle and remained in the taverns and villages of Romania.
Once there, they are met by The Count’s right hand man, Klove, who finds in their arrival the opportunity to re-animate his long-dessicated boss. The old adage of “curiosity killed the cat” has never been more accurate as the inquisitiveness of one guest leads to him being brutally murdered and his blood used to fuel the return of The Count in what proves to be the film’s most impressive set piece.
It is from this point that Dracula: Prince of Darkness stumbles a bit. It’s almost as if everyone was so thrilled to have Lee back on board that they forgot to actually write him much to do, at times reducing the suave Count to a snarling caricature.
The ending of the film is rushed at best and at worst, sloppy. A little more time and care and Prince of Darkness could have stood alongside Dracula as one of the finest films to emerge from Hammer. That said, its still a thoroughly entertaining 90 minutes.
The cast are more than able. Barbara Shelley (Village Of The Damned) does her best work once converted to a vampire while Andrew Kier (Quatermass and The Pit) attempts to fill the giant vampire killing shoes of Peter Cushing as the priest, Shandor, and does a fine job. Philip Latham is great as Klove and his reveal is one of the film’s finest “red herrings”.
But this is still all about The Count and Lee manages to out act every single person in the film, without uttering a word. His body language and expressions convey more than any words could. His imposing presence permeates everything, even when he doesn’t actually appear on screen.
Visually, this is everything that you would expect from a Hammer film. Wonderful gothic sets, great lighting, fantastic costumes and bags of atmosphere, an atmosphere aided no end by James Bernard’s ominous score. Hammer fans might find it all a bit familiar given that Dracula: Prince Of Darkness was filmed back to back with Rasputin The Mad Monk, re-using many sets.
From the very first frame, I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the transfer. It is outstanding. Restored in 2.35:1 from the original negatives housed at Pinewood, this HD transfer has been handled with care and the results really show. It’s crisp and bright and the accompanying restoration comparison feature shows the stunning difference between previous prints and this one.
The rest of the special feature package is fairly standard, barring an episode of World of Hammer focusing on Christopher Lee, narrated by the late Oliver Reed and the interesting audio commentary which features Lee, Suzan Farmer, Francis Matthews and Barbara Shelley (in which Lee speaks matter-of-factly about an on-screen rape scene), the rest is pretty much just padding. A tiny behind-the-scenes featurette with commentary from the aforementioned cast, the usual trailers and a look at the original US titles.
Overall, it’s an impressive release. Dracula: Prince of Darkness remains an interesting slice of gothic horror and some niggling acting and pacing issues aside, this should be required viewing for any fan of vampire movies. A British horror gem, gloriously restored for modern audiences, who will hopefully take the opportunity to re-visit this film and hopefully, fall in love with Hammer films all over again. I for one welcome it.
Dracula: Prince Of Darkness will be released in the UK on double play Blu-ray and DVD on March 5th, 2012 via StudioCanal.
