This right here is a damned good vampire flick. And depending who you talk to, maybe the best ever? And a shame that I haven't seen it until now. I've never been a big vampire fan - there's just a lot of cheap vampire crap out there. And then, there's the whole Twilight thing... it just felt like the whole genre has been kind of diluted, and other than the stone cold classics (Tod Browning's 1931 version with Bela Lugosi) I haven't been all that interested in doing an awful lot of digging around. But I think Horror of Dracula should change that. Good thing too, because I guess Hammer made like 8 more of these. So that'll be fun.
My Synopsis: I assume you know the gist of the Dracula story. Horror of Dracula changes things from the source material a bit, but doesn't get too crazy. What it doesn't match in plot it matches in spirit. Peter Cushing is Van Helsing, and Christopher Lee is Dracula.
Overall: Just a great, great telling of the tale.
Probably the biggest surprise about the film is the lack of focus on Count Dracula himself. He's certainly a plot motivator in the film, but I'd guess his actual screen time is limited to about 10 minutes. But because of that, when you see him it counts. Lee is solid in the role, despite having very little dialogue outside of the opening scene. But he's got the look (sha na na na na). He's towering and imposing, but still has a certain debonairness that suits the character well. (I wouldn't say we've totally made the move to "Sexy Dracula" yet, but we're getting there.) And his look is simple, but effective - the bloodshot eyes in particular are great.
While you may leave the film thinking about Count Dracula, there's no doubt that this is Van Helsing's story. And Cushing just slays in the role (pun intended). He plays Van Helsing with a sort of dry, almost clinical properness - he's a gentleman *and* a scholar - but he never comes across as pompous or a dick or anything. And while he's not in bad shape by any means, he's just an average looking guy. He's not your typical hero, nor self-righteous about his cause. I mean, I suppose that's the Van Helsing character to a certain extent, but Cushing just gets it - he's the noble and intelligent everyman, and is really easy to get behind.
My only real complaint? Some of the more elaborate sets are not quite what I was hoping for. I have a certain image in my head of what "Gothic Hammer Horror" would look like. And while I liked the look of Horror of Dracula more than The Curse of Frankenstein, there are still times where things look a little too set-like. This is especially true in the opening scenes set in the interior of Castle Dracula. Although I wrongly assumed we be spending a lot of time there - once you get out of there, things look pretty good. One thing's for sure: where ever/whenever they filmed, it must have been really cold, because you can often see the actor's breath, so you kind of feel bad for them. Especially the women in the low cut dresses.
Horror of Dracula has just about everything you'd want in a vampire/Dracula story: a good mix of atmosphere, action, horror, humor, and a little touch of class. (Not sure if the classy feeling is just by virtue of it's Britishness, but yeah - it's classy without being stuffy.) No one trait overpowers another. What violence you see works - but honestly it's not what you see, it's what you hear. When Van Helsing is doing the deed to various vampires (stake to the heart, of course), you don't see it at first - you just see the hammer go down and hear the anguished screams. And it's legitimately unsettling. Eventually, they up the ante and you see the tempera paint blood... but even that works. It's impressive that it still packs a punch almost 60 years later.
I'm having a hard time thinking of a Dracula/vampire flick that I've liked more than Horror of Dracula. It almost doesn't seem fair to compare it to Browning/Lugosi's 1931 version - this one has much more modern sensibilities. You can consume it more like you are used to, rather than having to keep it at a distance like an old piece of art, you know? That's a poor way to make that argument, but whatever. I'm done here - see Horror of Dracula.
I would highly recommend this film.
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