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You're approaching the final 3, where Hammer experimented with the Dracula films.
Anyone seen this? I remember seeing it back in the 80s, and it was really bizarre. Not very good, just unpleasant.
Oh man, my girlfriend suggested this one about a year or two back and it totally floored me. It's now one of my all time favorite horror films, I think. What a maddening and insane experience with really, really great performances.
I think this is what @DarthDimi meant.
I think that about sums it up. The only two things I remember about Possession, are Adjani having sexy time with a tentacled monster, and the scene in the underpass.
Well, it’s an allegory for divorce so it’s kind of unpleasant by design (a great date night movie, by the way). I found it a fascinating film. It was pretty long ago when I watched it. I should revisit it someday.
I'm glad you approve of the experimental nature of the film. Next up is the final installment, Satanic Rites, which some love for its originality and others hate for its lack of originality. ;-) And then there is the Legend Of The 7 Golden Vampires, which I would call the CR67 of this series.
Yeah I'm going to check out both of those over the weekend so I can finally have seen them all. Some installments are objectively better than others and some were very inviting and entertaining to me. Gotta say I've enjoyed myself so far overall!
Agreed with Dimi on AD 1972. Glad you liked that one, Creasy. The opening with it's minimal explanation, is one of the reasons that is is one of the better films, imo.
The next one is the one that I can't wait to read your thoughts on it. Again, as Dimi said, it's possibly the most divisive entry in the series. I'm definitely in the former camp, though, I love it, and am not going to feel bad for doing so. Among other reasons, SATANIC RITES, has my favourite cast of the Hammer Draculas. A pity it couldn't have had Veronica Carlson, but... oh well.
It is interesting to see all the chances and new opportunities they take as the series progresses, instead of falling back on the same premise over and over again (which they seemed to do when they weren't sure if Lee was returning or not).
There was a growing amount of bad blood between Lee and Hammer by this point. Lee wanted a Dracula film closer to the book (he got his wish, though not with Hammer). As for Hammer, when Lee told them he was done with their Dracula films, Hammer tried to emotionally blackmail him into returning (if Lee wasn't Dracula, the film wouldn't get made, and all those people won't be paid). For those reasons, Lee hated the last few Dracula films he did for Hammer. He also criticized the dialogue, going so far as to refuse to say the worst lines.
That's awful to hear. I know one of the earlier installments also had a bit of controversy due to Lee claiming he refused to speak the horrible lines he was given whereas the screenwriter claimed he didn't want Dracula speaking (despite him speaking early on in the series). I wonder who was telling the truth.
It's a strange story. In the late '50s, Hammer blew in with films that were more thrilling than most American horror pictures. And for a while, Hammer kept delivering film after film after film, some of them so "vile" in the eyes of the critics, that they wrote angry reviews condemning the indecent boldness of these films. Eventually, American horror hit back hard, and now the British output stayed behind. It was suddenly deemed too softcore to please an audience hungry for independent B flicks like Night Of The Living Dead.
The Funny thing is that I've always been fond of British horror films. They are usually low-budget, but several of them are really unforgettable. Think 28 Days Later: A British horror film, made on a shoestring budget, but absolutely relentless in its satire and horror.
I might be mistaken, but I think there's an interview with Lee, online, where he talks about about the dialogue that he refused to speak. I might be misremembering, but I am sure I have seen such an interview.
I'd love to see it. I just saw some snippets of it on the Wiki page after I watched the film and couldn't help but side with Lee. Dracula spoke before in the series and I don't see why he'd make up a story like that if there was simply no dialogue written down. I guess the screenwriter was embarrassed by that call-out and tried to save face with a lie.
It's one of him in his later years.
Found it:
And while I didn't absolutely love it, I still really, really enjoyed Dracula A.D. 1972 for what it was and I'm thoroughly loving The Satanic Rites of Dracula but I'm only halfway through. I admire their risky attempts to try something new and it still retains a dark atmosphere and all the occult madness that comes with it.
I love its experimental nature but I resent its somewhat dull police research story. That's why this one lands in the middle of my Dracula ranking. I guess I'm going with
1) Prince
2) Taste
3) Dracula
4) A.D. 1972
5) Satanic Rites
6) Brides
7) Risen
8) Scars
9) Golden Vampires
Jess Franco's Count Dracula with Lee was made outside of Hammer and shows a different Dracula, but I find it to be a sort of spiritual sequel/sidequel to the Hammer series. If I had to include it, I'd almost put it in the second place. It's dark and cold, but arguably much closer to Stoker. Not that a good Dracula film has to be, mind.
I liked that one better than the Hammer films.