It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
The Coppola version of this scene is very similar.
Let's be honest, both are unintentionally funny here.
Quincy weeps.............and it's pretty damn funny.
Harker is back in England as Mina has gone and brought him home.
Here is a classic scene from the novel that only made it into a few filmed adaptations:
Harker spots Dracula in England and freaks out.
Here Dracula was the carriage driver bringing them home. In the Coppola version Dracula is seen in the distance.
That's one of my favorite creepy moments from the novel. The 1970 Jess Franco version played that scene as well, but Fred Williams' Harker barely seemed bothered to have spotted the younger Count.
The one element this version serious lacks is a team of vampire hunters I care about.
The Coppola version had Hopkin's Van Helsing, Bill Campbell as Quincy, Richard E Grant as Seward and Cary Elwes as Holmwood. All well cast with excellent chemistry. I loved Campbell as Quincy. I don't care if this Quincy (played by Richard Barnes) gets killed or not.
Meanwhile the ineffectual vampire hunting team are making hot cocoa and goofing off. If Peter Cushing were here, he'd straighten them out and Dracula would be destroyed by now. Oh, well.
It's a cool night. Maybe I'll make some hot chocolate, too?
Nah.
Daytime.
Renfield attempts to warn Mina. The Coppola version had a similar scene with Ryder and Tom Waits.
Renfield tries to warn D Seward who is disinterested. I really liked Richard E Grant's Seward as well as Donald Pleasence. Here Seward is played by..........................looking it up, excuse me for a moment.............................uh.................................
.......Mark Burns.
Dracula is hanging out with Renfield again discussing the meaning of life and death. He offered him Mina and Renfield turns it down. He attempts to destroy Dracula himself.
BIG FAIL.
Now Renfield is bloodied and twisted. Not a bad death scene for Renfield.
In comparing the Renfield death scenes, Lugosi throwing Dwight Frye from a high stair case is my favorite. Then Langella breaking Tony Haygarth's neck.
The Tom Waits/Gary Oldman scene was a bit disappointing for me.
Dracula comes back to seduce Mina. Jourdan is as oily as ever here.
Van Helsing and his buddies interrupt and Dracula calmly vanishes uttering "Fools..........fools."
Very understated line delivery by Jourdan. He should have said "I have.......a NASTY habit.........of surviving.", the vanished. That would have been classic!!!!!!!
Here the Ineffectual Vampire Hunters are in Carfax destroying some of Dracula's boxes.
Dracula arrives and confronts them.
Christopher Lee would have entered the room in full animalistic force. Van Helsing would have had a problem there.
Here Dracula and Van Helsing calmly discuss their difference like adults...............until Dracula vanishes yet again.
Gary Oldman would have used his huge wolf or bat persona and scared them off. Jack Palance would have tossed them around like rag dolls. Bela would have used his long fingers and hypnotized them to do his bidding.
Jourdan simply scolds them like a calm high school principal.
That's what I love about his interpretation is that he is so calm and oily he's completely different from the other Draculas.
This is another scene from the novel that rarely gets filmed. The Coppola version did it well with the three lovely brides (Monica Bellucci among them). This version is a bit subdued in the choreography and direction, but intact.
This is closer to how I envisioned this scene in the novel, with the location setting in the woods. The Coppola film is all done on sound stages. Here we get some actual forests. Very eerie at night.
Van Helsing holds them at bay with wafers. The brides are reasonably creepy but one may need her vocabulary enlarged.
Van Helsing enters the castle during the day to destroy the three lovely brides.
The Coppola version is kind of played for laughs when Hopkins tosses their heads of the cliff into the river below. I can attest the audience laughed.
This version is played straight.
Now we get to the final show down:
Dracula's wooden box is being carried by his helpers and Harker and Quincy are at hand to ambush them.
The Coppola version turns this into an action chase scene a'la Indiana Jones. This is much more intended to be low key and suspenseful. There's a bit of a shoot out akin to a western.
Quincy got shot. YAY!!!!!!!!! I'm as glad to see him go as I was when Leo died in TITANIC.
Mina saves Harker's life. She's a good shot.
Reminds me of how Kara suddenly becomes a bad a$$ at the end of TLD.
Maryam d'Abo could have played Mina at some point come to think of it.
I picture Mina a blonde anyway.
Okay here we go................................
Dracula's crate is opened..............................the sun is setting.....................Jourdan awakens........................
Dracula is staked.
The coffin/crate erupts into smoke and flames.
So ends my traditional viewing of COUNT DRACULA
.
A solid adaptation reasonably close in spirit to the novel.
In the mood for some more Dracula. This time my favorite Dracula actor Sir Christopher Lee in one of his least favorite outings.
He played Dracula for Hammer Films the same number of times Roger played Bond.
He also did a Dracula film outside of Hammer ( a'la Sean in NSNA) just so he could be made up to look like the character in the novel.
Here it opens with him fighting Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) atop a carriage in 1872. It topples over and Van Helsing impales him with a broken wheel. He slowly crumbles to dust. A great PTS!!!!!!
Now we get Mike Vicker's funky jazzy score and theme music as the scene transitions to 1972 for the titles.
Great opening!!!!!
Party time with STONEGROUND.
Tanner Michael Kitchen partying hard with Caroline Munro and LTK's Fallon Christopher Neame. Great stuff. STONEGROUND is rocking out.
Stephanie Beacham is this film's leading lady. I think she could have played Solitaire had Jane been unavailable.
This party scene is my favorite scene in cinema history.
Beacham is Van Helsing's granddaughter. Her boyfriend Bob (Philip Miller) is a dork.
Johnny Aluard (Christopher Neame) is a disciple of Dracula with the intent to resurrect him in the 20th century.
He hangs out with the young college age kids at a coffee shop and talks them into devil worship. Caroline Munro is down with this idea. Michael Kitchen is cool with it as well.
Beacham thinks it's a crap idea. But peer pressure sinks in and she agrees.
Still he gives this film his 110% (as does Lee in spite of thinking it was a weaker script). Great to see the two here again.
Cushing, to me, really is the definitive Van Helsing. After having just watched Frank Finlay do a decent job in the role, there is no comparison with Peter.
Now Beacham and her goofy boyfriend arrive at the abandoned church for some devil worshiping, only to discover her ancestor's tomb in the church graveyard.
Neame is sporting a hooded cloak like Tom Cruise in EYES WIDE SHUT
, and delivering his lines with the same intensity.
Damn, I should get a copy of that Kubrick film come to think of it.
Caroline Munro offers herself to be sacrificed as Neame pours blood on her (mixed with Dracula's ashes) and she freaks out.
Chaos ensues and the young kids evacuate in a panic leaving Caroline behind.
Those are true friends. That's what friendship is all about.
Beacham attempts to go back for her, but again peer pressure kicks in.
In the next film her character would be portrayed n a more mature manner by Joanna Lumley.
Either way it's too late and Dracula Has Risen From The Grave.
Here he attacks Caroline.
Damn, Lee looks his most imposing here. Somehow as these films went on he looked better and better. The makeup, wig and costume are spot on in this one.
I'm on Dracula's side here and I want him to destroy all of these kids.
Actually he's only interested in revenge against Van Helsing.
The idiot boyfriend does get it later, though.
I should revisit that film again, though and see if I'd like it more after all these years.
This one is a go-to Hammer Dracula for me. It's a lot of fun.
Neame attempts to get Beacham to go out with him to a concert, but she chooses Mr. Doofus instead. Marsha Hunt is available though and unwillingly will become Dracula's next victim.
Michael Coles portrays the police detective investigating Caroline's murder. In the next film he has a pretty good punch up with "Hold on You're Dead!" Paul Weston.
Time to take this investigation to the only man who can help: Professor Van Helsing.
Meanwhile, Neame gets Marsha stoned, drunk and ready for The Count.
Although skeptical, they still listen because Cushing's Van Helsing is quite convincing here. Cushing really played these types of scenes with conviction. What a great actor.
Now they drop a bomb and inform him his granddaughter is involved. The sh*t is about to hit the fan.
Beacham arrives. Her ineffectual date offers to assist, but she sends him away. If someone dashing like Ian Ogilvy or Shane Briant had played the boyfriend I'd be more forgiving. But no.
Beacham cracks under questioning and breaks into tears.
Van Helsing sends her to bed after learning the leader of the group's name is Alucard. Time for the obligatory reveal that Alucard is Dracula backwards. A concept that began in 1943 with Lon Chaney in SON OF DRACULA (an excellent, and very underrated Universal horror, IMO).
Here we go.
Lee scolds Neame for bringing the wrong victim. Lee is intense here. If he had his burning fireplace sword handy no doubt Neame would have to take a thrashing.
Still he feasts on Marsha Hunt as Beacham wakes up screaming. Great scene, IMO.
Neame is really a Renfield like character here, only played with strength. Now he pleads the Count to give him the power of immortality. Great performances here by Neame and Sir Christopher. Dracula obliges as the scene cuts before we see the bite.
Dracula awaits as Alucard disposes of Marsha Hunt. Didn't take long for Neame to become a vampire. He looks like he had a blast playing this role.
Lee sports his traditional Dracula attire: all black 18th century four button suit and scarlet lined cloak. This cloak had an incredibly long fastening chord and the cape itself doesn't quite reach the floor, but close. In DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE I'm pretty sure the cloak goes all the way to the ground.
About 10 years ago the original all black cloak used in HORROR OF DRACULA was discovered in a costume rental shop in England. After the first film, Lee's heavy wool cloaks would be lined with scarlet satin. Maybe it was crimson actually?
Lugosi's Dracula capes were lined in gray, salmon, and amber. More traditional opera cloak colors rather than the magician like black and red.
Neame has just turned the boyfriend into a vampire and he's lured Beacham into a trap.
The film is leading towards an exciting climax.
Sunlight and pure running water from the shower dispose of Alucard. Hammer always played around with vampire lore. In DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS a vampire cannot cross over running water. Here a simple shower-head can do the trick. Either way it's an entertaining sequence.
Dracula also has Beacham under his power and unconscious during the day. Meanwhile Van Helsing sets up booby traps for Dracula in the grave yard.
This confrontation is pretty cool considering it had been 14 years since the two appeared in a Dracula film together.
When I was in 6th grade I had recorded this film off the tube when a local station aired it. Didn't have cable then so the reception was a bit crummy. Still I watched that copy multiple times until we later got cable and TNT aired the film one Halloween.
Great viewing of this second to last Lee Dracula epic.
I've always loved this one.
DRACULA (1973)
Jack Palance version directed by Dan Curtis.
Opening shot of Dracula's castle- howling wolves. Real castle in Europe. I believe shot in Yugoslavia. Jack as Dracula we see coming down a corridor and descending a stairwell.
Title card!
This is a Dan Curtis production.
Actually it was to air for Halloween in 1973, but was delayed (a word we've become accustomed to) due to the resignation of Spiro Agnew.
I imagine that must have pi$$ed off many horror fans looking forward to this version.
So the film was rescheduled, much like BOND 25, for February of the following year.
I first saw this around Halloween of 1981. A wee lad I was. It happened to be a school night, but my folks let me stay up and watch it.
Jonathan Harker is traveling to Castle Dracula. Murray Brown takes on the role of the dashing 007- like real estate agent. No, just kidding. He's not even remotely Bond like.
Not sure where I'd rank him alongside the other Harkers. I suppose David Manners is my favorite Harker, followed by HORROR OF DRACULA's John Van Eyssen.
In this version Dracula is indeed Vlad Tepes. Though he's not made up to resemble the historical Dracula the way Gary Oldman was.
I always felt Jack Palance had a great look for his Count. He greets Harker wearing a subtle gray period suit. A bit later he sports a burgundy smoking jacket.
We'll soon see him in traditional black cloaked attire for the duration of the movie.
Similar to the Coppola version, Dracula spots a photo of a woman he believes to be the reincarnation of his long deceased wife. He has flashbacks and reflects on his romance. Great performance by Palance here. No weeping like Oldman, just reflective.
The castle is decorated like a well furnished manor house, you'd see in an Amicus Horror film.
Plenty of tapestries, old furniture, and mounted deer heads. Great set. When I was just out of high school I made my own amateur version of DRACULA and attempted to decorate the castle in a similar style.
I even wore a burgundy smoking jacket like Palance here.
The famous Harker cuts himself shaving bit.
Subtle and simple here.
The Count confronts them and is destroyed with sunlight and a long wooden spear.
Similar to HORROR OF DRACULA only without the action packed energy or the effects of Dracula crumbling to dust. He just dies with an expression of relief.
This has always been one of my favorite versions. Palance is terrifying, yet sympathetic in the role. I imagine had Dan Curtis written Renfield into his version, John Karlen no doubt would have tackled the role. The Renfield subplot is removed entirely from this film as are the abilities for Dracula to morph into a bat, wolf or mist.
Streamlined telling of the classic tale.
Today my Dad picked up a used VHS player for me as my old one was beginning to eat my tapes. RIP beloved CBS/Fox Home Video edition of OCTOPUSSY. You will be missed.
Testing out this player and seems to work great. So here goes:
THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970)
OCTOPUSSY's Douglas Wilmer beheads a lovely blonde vampire in this PTS.
Obligatory Hammer horror party scene with the same music. Young 19th century college kids dance about a grand ballroom. Peter Cushing plays a military general who is roped into looking after Marcilla Karnstein (Ingrid Pitt). Countess (Dawn Adams) leaves Ingrid in Peter's care. Little does Cushing know Marcilla will soon begin feeding on the young female family members.
This Hammer horror also features Madeline Smith. This was Hammer's attempt to up their 1970's game by incorporating nudity into their films, so we get to see Madeline Smith in all her glory, alongside Ingrid Pitt. Kate O Mara becomes another victim.
The vampiric Count Karnstein is played by John Forbes Robertson, who would later replace Christopher Lee as Dracula in Hammer's final Dracula : LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES.
Damn this old player does look good.
I first saw this one when I picked up a VHS copy when I was around 17. I think this VHS copy I'm watching now is an even earlier edition.
Very nostalgic watching it this way. I can remember as a kid watching the Hammer horrors late weekend nights on a local station. That station was hard to get in unless one had cable. There weren't any cable companies covering our neighborhood at the time. So we had to make do with old school antennas.
This looks alright, actually. The DVD is much cleaner, but this copy has a warmth to it. I need to get the Blu-ray sometime.
All three of the Karnstein Trilogy films were entertaining, though I like this the best.
Also I love Ingrid Pitt. (IN, OUT! IN, OUT! COME ON GIRLS! IN, OUT!)
I think she could have made a great Bond leading lady, actually. Maybe with Roger?
Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr get top billing. Karloff plays Dr Neimann- a Frankenstein admirer and imitator. He retired from portraying the Monster 4 years earlier since the character was becoming less and less prominent in terms of characterization in these films. So here he plays the good doctor. He's about 57 here, and some argue his age also prevented him from reprising the Monster. I doubt that, really.
Jack Pierce put the make up on him for various events around that time (and even later) and he still looked great.
That said, for this film, Boris coached the new Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange) in the role. IMO, Strange is the second best Monster in the Universal series.
Karloff and J Carrol Naish escape prison, kill the leader of a traveling carnival (George Zucco) and assume his identity.
I always wondered what color Naish's carnival uniform was. Gray? Red? Possibly blue? Most lobby cards color his outfit blue.
J Carrol Naish is great. Playing Karloff's assistant, Daniel.
The carnival is carrying the remains of Count Dracula (this time played by John Carradine). Meanwhile, in the village of Reigelberg, the police inspector (Lionel Atwill), Burgomaster (Sig Ruman), his daughter (Anne Gwynne) and her ineffectual wimpy husband (Peter Coe) attend the carnival in search of horror and thrills.
Karloff displays the skeleton of Dracula for the crowd and they think he'd full of crap.
Once the curtain goes down he pulls the stake and Dracula is revived. Pretty good effects here in 1944, and dare I say, more impressive than the CGI of today.
Carradine makes a dashing Dracula in his white tie and tails. Spread collar cloak, and clipped mustache. Definitely a ladies' man and charmer. Karloff offers to protect the Count's coffin in exchange for assistance in plotting his revenge.
Dracula is more interested in Anne Gwynne. After he gets everyone out of the room he puts the moves on Gwynne. Great voice Carradine had. A true Shakespearean actor.
Universal was ahead of it's time with these crossover films.
Dracula kills the burgomaster. Great bat transformation here.
Peter Coe isn't so ineffectual after all and instigates a chase to pursue the Count who has abducted his wife.
Karloff and Naish toss the coffin from the coach and Dracula arrives in time to get destroyed by the sunlight...............but not before half of his mustache falls off. LOL!
Great stuff here.
The Monster and Wolf Man (Lon Chaney) are discovered frozen in a mountain cave, and thawed out. The Wolf Man wants to be cured, and Karloff is obsessed with reviving the Monster to his full potential.
Great score here by Hans J Salter.
These films spend most of the time focused on Larry Talbot.
Great ending, though and this one remains a fond favorite.
I watched this last several months ago. Although it's officially Halloween season, I'm always in the mood for Hammer Horror or Universal Horror.
First saw this around 1983 on a local television station late one Saturday night. My folks would buy the the latest issue of TV Guide every Monday for the following week, and I'd immediately scour it for monster and horror movies. Eventually I'd be looking for Bond films on Sunday nights as well. This was before we had VHS player. By the time we finally got one, that local station ceased to air the Hammer horrors since their library of horror films package expired. Damn. I actually got a VHS copy of this one for my 15th birthday years later. This DVD is considerably brighter and crisper.
Obligatory Hammer horror party scene involving college age students.
Christopher Matthews is bedding all the beauties here. He reminds me of Lazenby slightly. He has that swagger and some of his facial expressions look a bit like George to me.
This isn't the most popular Hammer Dracula flick, but I love every frame.
Early 70's Hammer. More nudity and gore.
In addition, Lee has more screen time and dialogue than in the other films.
Dennis Waterman has '70's hair. Pretty much the way he wears it now.
The previous entry, TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA
, was released several months before and looked far more lavish. The sets here look somewhat flimsy in comparison. Same with the make up. Lee's Dracula looks too pasty here. Yet in the next two films, I thought he looked his best.
Good James Bernard score somewhat similar to TASTE THE BLOOD.
She's turned on by it.... as it should be. However, Lee didn't really like to show the actual blood sucking. He preferred to obscure the image with his cloak and fade to the next scene as in the earlier films.
Now Anouska seduces Christopher Matthews. Dracula intervenes and stabs her to death, which was cut in TV airings. This borders on slasher film territory.
I do love that this Dracula film showcases the castle atop a large cliff as per the novel. Some nifty matte painting work as Matthews attempts to climb down the castle wall.
I always liked this particular version of Dracula's castle. In the various Hammer Draculas that starred Christopher Lee his castle changes drastically in each film. Probably due in part to the various studios used and production designers over the years.
Klove is into it.
Unintentionally funny scene that makes me laugh out loud obnoxiously. I even clap when I'm laughing.
There are certain scenes in cinema history either meant to be intense, terrifying, disturbing or serious that I find hilarious. Several scenes in the Al Pacino classic HEAT, for instance. The scene in SUPERMAN II when the humanized Kent gets thrashed in the diner by the trucker makes me laugh every time.
This scene in SCARS OF DRACULA ranks alongside those.
The Van Helsing styled character in this film is a timid priest portrayed by Michael Gwynn. In his black cloak he looks a bit like Dracula himself minus the danger.
Needless to say this doesn't work out for him because Christopher Lee is such a bad a$$.
Meanwhile Dracula's pet bat arrives at the church and feasts on the priest. Fairly gory stuff here, and the obnoxious bat looks a bit like a plush toy with wings. His face is pretty intense, though. Hammer usually omitted the bat lore from their vampire films opting to spend their limited budgets on costumes, sets, color and beautiful music. Not to mention excellent actors.
Christopher Lee never transformed into a bat or wolf in any of the Hammer Dracula films. I imagine some of the budget went into the film's climaxes as well. Each Dracula outing had a reasonably thrilling ending. This one is pretty cool as The Count is struck by lightning, burns and plummets off the castle wall. Some questionable double work, though, for Lee. The model of Dracula falling is in slow motion.
So ends SCARS OF DRACULA, Christopher Lee's 5th outing as The Count for Hammer films.
DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (1968)
Great opening title sequence with animated blood veins. Astounding James Bernard score that omits his traditional "Dracula Theme" music.
Directed by Freddie Francis..............of many Hammer horrors.
Film proper- kid on his bike whistling an obnoxious little melody.
As he enters the town church...................blood drips, he flees and the priest discovers a dead body is dangling from the inside of the giant church bell.
The Monsignor arrives in the village to investigate...............so begin's Lee's 3rd outing as The Count.
Although HORROR OF DRACULA, IMO, may be the best Christopher Lee Dracula outing, this one is probably my favorite.
Michael Ripper again plays the village innkeeper/pub owner.
Rupert Davies plays the Monsignor. He gets tortured by Vincent Price in WITCHFINDER GENERAL, also from 1968. He's great here scolding the weak willed priest for the lack of attendance at church.
These films don't really define Dracula's European location as Transylvania. Here he lives close to the town of Keinenberg.
Soon Dracula will be resurrected.
They carry a giant cross. I love these scenes. James Bernard's score is epic.
I vividly remember the first time I saw Dracula Has Risen from the Grave. I was seven years old and it was Halloween time. It was a Saturday night, and the 1931 Lugosi film had aired the previous night along with BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Earlier in the evening Hammer's THE MUMMY aired on the same local station. I loved every frame and was really getting into the classic monsters.
I had already seen the previous Hammer entry DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS which featured a dialogue-less Count. Dracula had no lines. I wondered if we'd hear his voice this time?
HAS RISEN was scheduled to air at 11pm and we had an hour or so to wait In the meantime my mom wanted to watch the BBC series: The Six Wives of Henry VIII.
I must admit it was like torture waiting for the Dracula film to begin, but the BBC series was pretty cool. Atmospheric with elaborate costumes. Sometimes there would be a beheading, so I liked it. However, it made me miss the first 20 minutes of HAS RISEN.
By the time we tuned in to the snowy station playing the Christopher Lee epic, Dracula had already risen from the grave and I missed it. Damn. Luckily it aired again a couple years later. But effing A!.
When I was in the 2nd grade I would check out all the monster movie books from our school library: the Crestwood series and so forth. The book I loved was THINGS YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT MONSTERS, BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK. Great picture of Lee being staked from this film peaked my interest. I just HAD to see this one.
Veronica Carlson is his love interest and Dracula's intended victim.
The obligatory Hammer college kids party scene. The kids toss beer all over Paul making an a$$ of him before he goes to meet Veronica Carlson's guardian- the Monsignor.
Meanwhile Dracula and the priest steal a coffin and carriage and are headed into town.
Dracula is pretty vicious as he whips the horses.
Veronica Carlson is such a beauty I'm thinking she would have been a great Bond girl.
Paul makes a bad impression on the Monsignor when he announces he's an atheist. He gets kicked out of their house. Great scene! LOL!
Back to the bakery to get drunk and drown his sorrows, while the seductive barmaid (Barbara Ewing) consoles him.
Here's an interesting bit...........Veronica Carlson travels across the village via the rooftops to get back her man. Some great sets and matte work here.
The village here kind of reminds me of the sets in the Albert Finney SCROOGE.
The barmaid leaves the scene of the crime while Paul and Veronica Carlson get it on.
Now she walks home through the dark woods in the middle of the night...........well, day for night that is.
Christopher Lee looks definitive here. Quite imposing. Shorter wig in this film, and a tighter spread collar on the cape. Dracula's hair is mostly gray streaked. Great close ups of his red blood shot eyes.\
Just realized Barry Andrews is in TSWLM as an HMS Ranger Crewman. I'll have to look for him next time I pop that one in.
Christopher Lee means business.
A lot of fans don't care for this one, buy I love it.
Dracula is staked. The hero being an atheist, refuses to pray so the Count removes the stake. Great scene shot on Lee's 46th birthday. He felt this was against traditional vampire lore, but was overruled. Oh well. I think it's bad a$$.
Paul then throws fire on Drac, but to no avail.
Dracula lures Veronica Carlson back to his castle through the woods. Some stunning cinematography here. Lee looks great in his floor length scarlet lined cloak.
She walks though the woods barefoot.
Giant cross nailed to Dracula's front door. Hence the film's plot and motivation for his revenge on the Monsignor.
GET THAT THING OUT OF MY SIGHT!!!!!!!!
THROW IT AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Veronica obliges and down the mountain it goes.............................
I love that his castle is atop a massive cliff.....as it should be.
A fight with the hero ensues...........................and Drac is impaled on the cross. CLASSIC CLIMAX!!!!!!
This is easily one of my favorite endings to a Dracula movie.
Credits roll.................
Great viewing of this classic Hammer horror epic.
The end of DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE...............but Count Dracula will return in TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA.
I'll watch that one again some time soon.
Bela Lugosi and director Tod Browning team up again only at MGM for this vampire murder mystery. Been awhile since I watched it, as I only have it on VHS.
Count Mora (Bela) and daughter Luna (Carroll Borland) are in the castle surrounded by cobwebs, rats, bugs, etc.
Lugosi's Count Mora costume differs slightly from his Dracula attire as he's not sporting the white tie, and medallion. In fact this costume is probably closer to what Stoker had in mind for Dracula. Dracula's clothes in the book aren't exactly described in detail, but I figure Lee in HORROR of DRACULA had it about right. Same with Palance.
Where was I? Oh, yes...........
The MGM graveyard, castle, and foggy sets are just as atmospheric as Universal's.
This is set in Prague, and Holmes Herbert is discovered dead with two wounds on the throat. His daughter (Elizabeth Allen) is the next target and Luna is stalking her.
Vampire expert Lionel Barrymore is on the scene to investigate
There are several scenes here that echo the 1931 DRACULA in tone and style.
Lionel Atwill, as usual plays a police inspector. He thinks finds village superstitions on vampirism silly. Non-believer.
Michael Visaroff, as in DRACULA plays the village innkeeper.
Lugosi sports what looks like an all black cape in this film. However, many production still show him wearing a cape with a lining. That lining was in fact, a salmon color. At least one source confirms that THAT was the actual cape Bela was buried in.
I assume he would have kept it and used it for the various stage productions of DRACULA he did throughout his life. The 1931 heavy wool gray lined cape he later wore in winter months while performing DRACULA on the stage.
When Carroll Borland auditioned as Luna for this film, Bela arrived for her to read with, and to see how they looked together. He brought his cape, and was told the cape wasn't necessary. "I NEVER do the vampire without the cape" he replied. He used it to wrap around Borland, scrunched down so she would appear taller and got her the part.