Horror of Dracula

Fine Hammer piece, with a modest production design and a likeable theatrical stylisation, but I can’t avoid comparing it with Coppola’s, and I don’t think the alterations of the source material were very fortunate, so 1* down. Also, Dracula is supposed to be demonic and charismatic, Lee is hardly demonic, and is kept afloat only by (again) the brilliant Cushing, whom I consider the best Van Helsing among all the Dracula film adaptations. (06/06/2009)

A purely gentlemanly distinguished treatment of a classic substance propelled forward without unnecessary delays in the form of any formal excesses by Fisher's briskly elegant direction. The director's hesitation regarding the main point is somewhat unfortunate, i.e., the character of the undead count. Christopher Lee has absolutely no charisma in his role, which is perhaps due to the limited length of his overall presence in the film. In contrast, much is saved by the bombastic Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, whose charisma, insights, and overall delivery leave his fellow actors in other versions of the material far behind. This is a film that is definitely worth watching not only for the famous final scene. (03/05/2007)

Although Cushing’s Van Helsing is outstanding, Lee looks really out of place as the theatrically styled Dracula. And it’s terribly slow-moving, so much so that after the part in the castle I felt like I’d just watched a two-hour feature movie and not just the twenty-minute prolog. This is clearly the weakest to come out of Hammer’s heyday. (03/13/2010)