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Post by lukemorningstar on Feb 18, 2010 15:22:21 GMT
Warning - Spoilers!
Last night (for want of something better to do) I watched ‘Brides Of Dracula’ and ‘Dracula Prince Of Darkness’ back to back. I honestly don’t think I have watched either of those in the last 30 odd years and I have no idea why I was suddenly struck with the desire for a ‘Hammer Dracula Double Bill’ but there you go.
Although ‘Brides’ has no Dracula, and therefore no Christopher Lee, I think it is by far the better of the two. Baron Meinster (David Peel) at least has some dialogue and a bit of character development (as opposed to Lee hissing a few times and having a dreadful girly fight with the hero of ‘Prince’) and of course Cushing is excellent as Van Helsing. There are some terrific characters in ‘Brides’ too, the super camp Baroness, the hypochondriac, money obsessed doctor and the completely barking Freda too, as well as the overtones of incest and homo eroticism (Meinster is not fussy about sinking his fangs into his own Mum, or indeed Cushing) lacking in other movies of the franchise. That’s not to say he isn’t averse to infiltrating the gothic equivalent of a ‘Carry On Camping’ style all girls school to spread his wickedness. Even the ridiculous plot padding in ‘Brides’ is amusing and enjoyable (the Innkeepers speech about how ‘my horse brasses remind me of the different seasons of the year’ – excellent stuff) and it has a superb ending too, so even the crap rubber bats that appear from time to time can be excused on this occasion.
Prince of Darkness is OK I suppose, but takes bloody ages to get going. The non speaking, hissing, girly fighting Lee is probably on screen for a total of about 15 minutes and the Victorian Yuppy types who visit the castle invite no sympathy whatsoever. Most annoying of all is the old ‘quick it’s getting dark now’ routine when it is clearly still broad daylight (I know this was because of budget constraints, but is really is dreadful) Lee (so menacing, not to mention quick on his feet in the original Hammer ‘Dracula’) fannies around waving his arms about on the ice (in the bloody broad daylight!) and that’s about it.
It’s not all bad though, Father Sandor makes for an entertaining Van Helsing replacement (and gives a top notch speech about the pleasure of warming one’s arse in front of the fire) and there is an excellent cameo by the ever reliable*** Thorley Walters.
Anyhow, I enjoyed both movies enough to want more, so it looks like I’m going to have a plod through the whole Hammer ‘Dracula’ franchise. Prepare therefore for more razor sharp critique in the near future……………………………….if you read Empire magazine of course, otherwise look out for more of my Drac related babbling.
*** Except perhaps for his (apparently half cut and not having troubled to learn his lines) Police Inspector in ‘Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed’ of course.
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Post by killercrab on Feb 18, 2010 16:51:23 GMT
To me DPOD is a superb Dracula film - his lack of lines ( Lee refused to say the script) give a snarling interpretation. The film breaks down into three acts - the castle , the confontation and the finale. Dracula's rebirth is a superbly grisly sequence - Klove presiding as High Priest with attention to every sanctimonious detail. I particularly like how earlier he snuffs out four candles ( not fork handles:) signifying the travellers danger.
Helen's move from frigid to waton vampiress is BRILLIANT - her ecclesiastical rape by the monks at the abbey , one of Hammer's strongest and most disturbing sequences. Father Sandor steps ably into Van Helsing's shoes - a bawdy , gun toting priest - what more could one want ? A series surely must of been in mind way before Captain Kronos was born.
DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS deserves more credit - born for late night viewing - I have nothing but admiration for it myself.
A
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Post by lukemorningstar on Feb 19, 2010 13:53:03 GMT
Greetings
I feel bad now!
Perhaps I have set the critical bar way too high and have been too negative (I’m having a rubbish week – that’s my excuse) The problem is, I don’t recall ever seeing any Hammer Horror that I didn’t like and enjoy, it’s just some I have liked and enjoyed less that others, so the temptation is to veer towards the ‘over picky’ Otherwise I suppose a thread that said ‘I Love Every Hammer Film To Bits’ wouldn’t invite much of a discussion..
I agree, DPOD has some excellent scenes and great little touches, it’s just that some of it is, I dunno, ‘lacking’ in my opinion.
Is DPOD your favourite Hammer Dracula then, or one of the others?
Also, what is your take on ‘Risen From The Grave?’ – that’s next on my list and I hope to sit and watch it in peace tonight with a few bevies. I have seen it, many many years ago, but all I can really remember is the girl in the bell. I’m sure it will all come flooding back……………….
Cheers
Colin
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Post by killercrab on Feb 19, 2010 15:21:41 GMT
DPOD and TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA are my favourite Hammer Draculas! I like RISEN alot too - so will be interested in how you respond to it. I guess I like most Hammer Horrors as well as other Brit Horror flicks. I've spent alot of time arguing the toss about them - but lately not so much. It was fun to run up the DPOD flag for a change and you are fully entitled to your say! Let us know how you get on with the rest. ;D
ade
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Post by andydecker on Feb 19, 2010 20:39:56 GMT
DPOD is also not very high on my Hammer list. The four travelers are annoying and the begining is too slow. Of course the marvelous Father Sandor and the fun take on Renfield are great I am more a fan of the less subtle Hammers. Things like Vampire Circus or the Carnstein trilogy. I know, there is no accounting for taste But I have to say that I have become a big fan of Jimmy Sangster in the last years. I love movies like Paranoiac or Taste of Fear, the b/w thrillers he did.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Feb 19, 2010 22:09:07 GMT
The great thing about Hammer was 1. If very good it was very good 2. If very bad it was very good 3. If very average it was still good because it was hammer
The comfort zone of simply seeing the title still works wonders on the jaded spirit.
My personal favourite was Frankenstein. You could almost pick any of them. But the first two dracula's are also hard to beat.
And of course the spin off, Hammer House of Horror, was worth it just for the catchy tune.
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Post by killercrab on Feb 20, 2010 12:48:21 GMT
VAMPIRE CIRCUS - favourite Hammer ever.
LUST FOR A VAMPIRE - guilty pleasure.
KC
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Feb 20, 2010 12:54:13 GMT
Terrible confession time. I've never seen Vampire Circus. Somehow missed it. Must redress this immediately. I found a youtube link with the whole film.
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Post by lukemorningstar on Feb 21, 2010 17:44:01 GMT
Watched 'Risen From The Grave' last night. Loved the psychedelic effects over the opening titles - very 1968 (in fact it wouldn't have surprised me at all if the correct title had been 'Dracula Has Risen From The Bedouin Scatter Cushions To Help Himself To Another Tab Of Premium Grade LSD')
So much to enjoy in this one. The picture edge tinting whenever Drac is in shot, or nearby; plenty of references (not all favourable) to the teachings and doctrines of the catholic church - I liked the Monsignor's 'You're as good as a wife to me' to his housekeeper!
Good pace, an absorbing story and plenty of menace too. Horror highlight has to be Drac's rotten treatment of the poor bar girl and her fiery fate after he gurgles 'Destroy Her!' at the poor priest / henchman.
Really enjoyed this one, so much so that even more obvious daytime supposed to be nighttime scenes cn be forgiven!
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Post by killercrab on Feb 21, 2010 18:28:10 GMT
You nailed the joys ! RISEN is one of those I like more everytime I watch it. I love the psychedelic credits too like a haemoglobin lava lamp. The rooftops sets are triff and I can even smile at the shot when Veronica Carlson drops the doll to signify her loss of virtue! Talk about lack of subtlety!
Paul is brill as an atheist vampire hunter ( played by the guy from BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW - you must check that out - same curly mop). How did Dracula get the girl up into the church belltower?! I don't really care because it's such a superb opening to a film. Hell I could watch this again now!
Here's my Hammer dracs in order of preference:
DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS ;D TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE DRACULA SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA SCARS OF DRACULA DRACULA AD72
cheers
KC
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Post by lukemorningstar on Feb 21, 2010 20:47:08 GMT
Yeah, go on, watch 'Risen' - you know you want to. Perfect for a wintry Sunday evening.
My viewing medium is an odd one, in that I watch them on an i-pod. You soon get used to the small screen and the picture and sound are superb (also its the only way I get to watch anything I want to watch in peace, being the only male in the house - this was also useful - bearing in mind my daughters are of an impressionable age - when a mate of mine convinced me that I should 'watch Cannibal Holocaust just to make up my own mind - but that's another story altogether)
I'm going to watch 'Taste The Blood' next, then 'Scars', 'AD 1972' and finally 'Satanic Rites' after which I'll try for my own list in order of preference. I don't remember ever seeing 'Scars' but I have heard and read some pretty ropey reports. Hasn't it got Dennis Waterman in it? Oh well, I'll give it a watch anyway.
I have seen 'AD1972' before, but so long ago that I remember thinking it looked pretty up to date!
Oh, and going back to 'Risen' - of course the 'doll dropping' scene - a terrific if very non subtle metaphor for loss of innocence and very errrrmmm....... penetrative?
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Post by ripper on Feb 22, 2010 8:31:34 GMT
Lukemorningstar: Yes, Dennis Waterman is in Scars of Dracula along with Jenny Hanley of Magpie fame. Scars is the only Hammer Dracula I have not seen in its entirety. I used to have a 20 minute Super 8 version of the highlights and from that it did seem to be one of the lesser entries in the canon.
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Post by killercrab on Feb 22, 2010 9:27:04 GMT
I found it fairly entertaining in it's own right but it's the first film to veer from the *series* Hammer Dracula. It reverts back to the book - whereas the rest follow each other rather nicely - which is a shame really!
KC
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Post by lukemorningstar on Feb 24, 2010 14:39:48 GMT
Continuing my trawl through the Hammer Dracula series, I have now had the chance to watch ‘Taste The Blood’ and ‘Scars’ The great thing is that neither of these I have seen before (they must have been on telly loads in the past 30 odd years, I must have just missed them each time)
Anyhow, the good humoured cynic in me is tempted to rename ‘Taste The Blood Of….’ As ‘Taste The Reconstituted Poster Paint Of….’ but I won’t, as I found the movie excellent from start to finish. I loved the extent to which Hammer strove to preserve continuity, by using the cheeky little ‘Deus Ex Machina’ of having poor old Roy Kinnear stumble straight into the ending of ‘Risen From The Grave’ There are some great ‘larger than life’ characters such as Felix the brothel keeper and Courtley, played brilliantly OTT by Ralph Bates.
Another excellent twist is that Drac’s ‘victims’ (or at least those on whom he seeks vengeance) are for once not so squeaky clean themselves (the three odious Victorian thrill seekers) and their descent into paranoia after kicking poor old Ralph Bates to death and fleeing the scene is excellently realised, especially the very unpleasant scene of the drunken and latently incestuous Hargood pursuing his daughter in order to ‘whip’ her.
Altogether enjoyable, sinister and one of the best by a long way.
As for ‘Scars’, I have read and been told so many negative things about this movie, but I really enjoyed it actually!
OK, so any efforts at continuity go right of the window, as the remains have found their way back from London to Castle Drac, and resurrection by having a bit of claret vomited over you by an obviously fake bat (Damn you, Fake Bat!!!) is hardly the most dignified or dramatic, but hey, there I was moaning about how long into ‘Prince Of Darkness’ it is before Drac appears and here he is, alive and with an inexplicable excess of white face paint, before the main titles!
The plot of ‘Scars’ may be the thinnest of them all, but I still found it entertaining. I had it in mind that Lee did virtually nothing in this movie, but I thought he in fact had a huge part (fnnnrrr fnrrrr – oh no wait a second, wasn’t that Bowie in ‘Labyrinth’?) in this one, and Drac is a vicious, mean old bastard too; ‘oh look, I’ve had this one, now she’s a vampire so I’ll brutally stab her to death and get Doctor Who to clean up the mess’. Also (talking of Doctor Who, or ex Doctor Who by then) his treatment of Patrick Troughton’s ‘Klove’ is downright horrible.
Flawed it may be, but entertaining too and I reckon this is easily the goriest Hammer Drac so far, with some great moments, such as;
The ‘Carry On’ style farce scene with the ‘Burgomaster’s Daughter’ and her (shock horror) bare bottom.
The young Dennis Waterman’s ‘posh’ accent (very similar in fact to Ewan McGregor’s ‘posh’ accent)
The sinister ‘red eyes’ effect, used to deter Carter (sorry Waterman) from staking the slumbering count – it may be a cheap effect but very effective.
Mindless or not, all of the gratuitously gruesome scenes; the knifing, the branding, the dismembering, the burning, and most of all the ‘Fake Bat’ attacks.
Finally, I know I’m very unkind to ‘Fake Bat’ and his cronies, but I really do think that he deserves at least a BAFTA nomination for his lengthy and important role in this movie.
So there you have it; ‘Taste The Blood’ may well prove to be my favourite of them all, and ‘Scars’ was certainly not as bad as I had been led to believe.
So it’s now time for ‘AD 1972’ and ‘Satanic Rites’ – both of which I have seen before. I wonder if time has been kind?
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Post by dem bones on Feb 25, 2010 9:05:36 GMT
time has been downright sadistic to Dracula AD 1972, the sworn love of my life until i watched it one too many times, swiftly transferred my fickle heart to the Godlike Ralph and Taste The Blood Of Dracula. Dracula - Prince Of Darkness would likely just squeeze past the burgomaster’s daughter’s arse into second place, and i miles prefer Philip Latham's moribund, throat-slitting Klove to Patrick Troughton's in Scars. Regurgitating old posts yet again, but if it's explicit rubber bat action you're after, you could do a lot worse than the BBCs Count Dracula (1977) based on an idea by Bram Stoker, and featuring Louis Jourdan, Susan Penhaligan, and some groovy Top of the Pops-style special effects. ("Frank Finlay's hair was more frightening than Louis Jordan" - Franklin Marsh). there's quite a bit about the Hammer Dracs on the Scars Of Dracula (the Sphere paperback) thread
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