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Post by ripper on Feb 25, 2010 9:57:27 GMT
Many years ago I read somewhere that Hammer were considering giving the Dracula role to Christopher Neame, who played Johnny Alucard in AD1972, after Chris Lee bowed out after Satanic Rites. The book I read mentioned that Hammer had penciled in new Dracula and Frankenstein films for 1980, but, of course, fate overtook them long before then.
Has anyone mentioned Kiss of the Vampire, which has one of the best pre-credit sequences of any Hammer film imo and also a cracking climax, particularly if you're fond of rubber bats on strings. It is one of Hammer's classiest productions, I think, and some good acting all round.
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Post by andydecker on Feb 25, 2010 12:01:43 GMT
time has been downright sadistic to Dracula AD 1972, You can say that again. Cringeworthy dialog, hip young people who could have been even back then no longer any kind of hip, a laughable villian, the lamest vampire death of all ages - I mean, showered to death, come on - and Chushing´s finest acting óf all times when he had to pretend that breaking the code of Alucard is a feat worthy of Blechtley Park The only thing which is still a sight to behold is Stephanie Beacham´s white dress and her cleavage.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Feb 25, 2010 12:28:30 GMT
There can never be too many photos of the charming Stephanie
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Post by David A. Riley on Feb 25, 2010 13:11:34 GMT
There can never be too many photos of the charming Stephanie I know what you mean. I remember being bitterly disappointed when I went to watch Satanic Rites and they had replaced her with Joanna Lumley. Dracula AD 1972 did seem dated even when it first came out. And, as usual in these kinds of films, the "up-to-date" dialogue was terrible. Other than that, though, I remember being impressed by Hammer's efforts at bringing Dracula into the 20th century. I felt then - and still do - that they did it well - and, in fact, far better than many more recent attempts. Johnny Alucard's death, though, was poorly done and was a naff way of killing off one of the main characters. David
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Post by dem bones on Mar 3, 2010 12:56:28 GMT
i thought she looked well fetching hanging around the graveyard in ... And Now The Screaming Starts, too ...
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Post by lukemorningstar on Mar 3, 2010 13:10:40 GMT
And so my epic trawl through Hammer's 'Dracula' movies has come to an end (it's confusing, seeing as I included 'Brides' despite not featuring Dracula, didn't include 'Countess Dracula' as it is quite clearly not about Dracula, and didn't include '7 Golden Vampires' which does feature Dracula - albeit not played by Lee - as I simply don't have a copy to watch!)
So that just leaves 'AD1972' and 'Satanic Rites' - the 'modern ones'
I can't say a great deal about 'AD' that hasn't been said on here already. The trouble is, I'm a sucker for psychedelia and a 'hippy party scene' and I love 'Alligator Man' by The Stoneground (although imagine if they - Hammer - had thought to get the still not quite made it Bowie and the fledgling 'Spiders From Mars' to do the scene - that would have been incredible) So I love the opening scene, crap dialogue or not. Also it's the only time in the movie when Neame / Alucard actually looks and acts like a totally cool dude.
It's a pile of poorly realised exploitation hokum, but I really enjoyed watching it again (for the first time in years) and it is still very well paced. As for the laughable 'hip' dialogue, how about 'are you taking me for a twit?' or Jessica's 'I've never dropped acid, I'm not shooting up, and I'm not sleeping with anyone, yet' for two classic quotes (mind you, I'm sure Jessica / Stephanie could have done a whole lot better than the hapless 'Bob' so no wonder she had him on a starvation diet)
As for 'Satanic Rites' well it's basically Hammer 'genre delving' as they did so much in the early to mid seventies and comes across more as a typical 70s spy / mystery thriller, with Drac himself more in the Bond villain role. I still enjoyed it though and it does have some creepy moments.
For some strange reason I enjoyed the excellent bit of product placement by William Franklyn with his 'huge cumbersome 70s battery shaver' - I'm suprised he isn't shown splashing on some 'Pagan Man' aftershave too.
Cushing is of course excellent in both. One thing that struck me though, was Cushing a virtual chain smoker in real life? Surely even in the early 70s his scripts wouldnt have called for him to get through about forty fags over the two films as he seems to do?
All in all I have enjoyed watching these movies again after so long and my love of Hammer is revived once more. My next mission is to work my way through their 'Frankenstein' and probably 'Mummy' series - so watch this space. Holding of breath is not compulsory.
Cheers for now
Colin
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Post by Steve on Mar 4, 2010 11:00:34 GMT
One thing that struck me though, was Cushing a virtual chain smoker in real life? Surely even in the early 70s his scripts wouldnt have called for him to get through about forty fags over the two films as he seems to do? I seem to remember reading/hearing somewhere that Cushing was indeed fond of his fags and that he used to wear gloves when he smoked to avoid getting heavily nicotine stained hands. Let's face it, the man was sheer class. Coincidentally, Colin, I did something very similar to yourself last year. That is, undertook to watch/rewatch every Hammer film I could get my hands on*. Time well spent is all I can say. *And I do mean every Hammer film I could find - Love Thy Neighbour spin-off anyone?
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Post by andydecker on Mar 5, 2010 20:35:50 GMT
for 'Satanic Rites' well it's basically Hammer 'genre delving' as they did so much in the early to mid seventies and comes across more as a typical 70s spy / mystery thriller, with Drac himself more in the Bond villain role. As for the sheepskin-thug-brigade with the villian mustaches,when I see this movie I kind of always wait for Bodie and Doyle springing out of their car and beating them to a pulp Somehow these Special Branch guys were even less convincing than LIFEFORCE´s SAS Colonel Caine
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Post by ripper on Mar 6, 2010 16:11:45 GMT
I must admit to having a soft spot for Satanic Rites. It was the only Hammer horror that I was able to see on the big screen, on a double bill with Creatures the World Forgot way back in 1978. I do like the film, even though it does have many shortcomings. It is dated, but I find the previous year's AD1972 to be far more so. Satanic Rites took the series in a completely new direction. It is far less tongue-in-cheek than AD1972 imo and watching the two films back-to-back really emphasizes that. I wonder if the box-office takings for AD1972 were so poor that Hammer were forced to look for a new direction in which to take the series? Of course, PC is still as ace as ever as Van Helsing. SB vs JL in the Jessica Van Helsing role? Well, both ladies have their own particular assets. SB's Jessica is definitely more of a hippy chick than JL's, but I think that each suit the particular style of the film in which they star. Chris Lee doesn't have much to do in either film, but that wasn't anything new. Chris Neame was being groomed to take over the Dracula role after Lee quit the part so I have read, but from his performance in AD1972 I really don't think that he would have been too successful at reviving interest in the franchise. Perhaps the guy who played the vampire in Brides of Dracula would have been a better choice but I suppose by the mid-1970s he would have been getting a little too old for the part.
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Post by andydecker on Mar 7, 2010 17:12:25 GMT
I wonder if the box-office takings for AD1972 were so poor that Hammer were forced to look for a new direction in which to take the series? . According to a book on Hammer (Wayne Kinsey HAMMER FILMS THE ELSTREE STUDIOS YEARS) the production of TSRoD began before AD1972 was even released. Both sreenplays were by Don Houghton. Somehow they seem to be a bit desparate about losing theit touch. Which they were. But the inner struggles at Hammer of course can´t have helped much. Hammer had of course a lot of competition at the time. TSRoD had to go against movies like The Excorcist or Sisters. I dont know if stuff like Sisters was shown in 1973 in the UK, but on the american market Hammer movies must have appeared very old-fashioned.
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Post by ripper on Mar 7, 2010 19:31:02 GMT
Thanks for the information, Andy, that is very interesting. As you mentioned The Exorcist I was wondering if that film had been released before Satanic Rites and may have had some influence in removing the tongue-in-cheek style of Ad1972? Probably not, but it did cross my mind. Hammer did produce To the Devil a Daughter, but that was not until 1976 I think. As an aside, I remember seeing something in a magazine, possibly Film International, showing a publicity still of a scantily-clad lady vampire and a caption to the effect that Hammer's latest Dracula film was in production with the provisional title "Dracula is Dead and Well and Living in London," but I am not sure if that film became AD1972 or Satanic Rites.
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Post by Steve on Mar 8, 2010 6:36:59 GMT
I remember seeing something in a magazine, possibly Film International, showing a publicity still of a scantily-clad lady vampire and a caption to the effect that Hammer's latest Dracula film was in production with the provisional title "Dracula is Dead and Well and Living in London," but I am not sure if that film became AD1972 or Satanic Rites. 'Dracula is Dead and Well and Living in London' was the working title for Satanic Rites. There's an interview with Christopher Lee where he talks about attending a press conference when the film was still at the script stage and basically saying, "Don't bother with this, it doesn't know if it wants to be a comedy or what it's supposed to be - it's going to be rubbish and I'm only doing it under duress". I'm paraphrasing but you know the sort of thing. I can understand Mr Lee's misgivings on this occasion but I've always rather enjoyed SROD.
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Post by ripper on Mar 8, 2010 10:19:00 GMT
Hi, Steve, and thanks for that. Perhaps the vampire lady in the publicity still was Valerie Van Ost, who played the unfortunate Jane in Satanic Rites. It really doesn't bode well for a film when its star basically says that it's a load of old tosh. I guess after that there was no chance of persuading Chris Lee to appear in Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires hahahahaha. As Andy said earlier, the Hammers of c. 1972 must have seemed very dated to contemporary viewers, even when Hammer had dragged its storylines into the 1970s.
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Post by killercrab on Mar 8, 2010 13:03:16 GMT
It's being shown on the Unexplained channel under the title DRACULA AND HIS VAMPIRE BRIDE ! An American title I think. I've always seen SAT RITES as Dracula v the New Avengers. Some great action set pieces but Dracula wanting to commit suicide by destroying everyone on earth seems a bit weak. Oh and when VH stakes Dracula - he really RAMS in that picket fence!
Also ,
I watched Frank Finley's hair only the other night Dem - I really enjoy this adaption though the ending feels a little rushed , but there's a great bit where Mina and VH are in a protected circle surrounded by hissing vampire women!
KC
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chastel
Crab On The Rampage
Where wolf? There castle!
Posts: 42
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Post by chastel on May 8, 2010 13:43:28 GMT
I love Hammer´s Gothic Draculas, but Dracula AD 1972 is only moderately entertaining , Satanic Rites is just dull and shoddy and Legend proves that vampires and martial arts just don´t gel. Unpopular opinion, that last one, but true. My list: 1. BRIDES OF DRACULA 2. DRACULA (Horror of Dracula to yanks) 3. TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA 4. SCARS OF DRACULA Yes, seriously. Dracula is where he belongs, in right Victorian Gothic milieu of castles, costumes and beautifully photographed Black-Narcissus-glass paintings, and gratutuous violence is rather tame in modern standards, while nudity is one bare bottom... I´m surprised that Kim Newman, not exactly fighter of Clean movies, got his panties to bunch for THIS film! 5. DRACULA - PRINCE OF DARKNESS 6. DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE 7. DRACULA AD 1972 5. SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA and LEGEND OF SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES can share the jumbo part.
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