Thanks for this one, Shandor. If you continue to watch Hammer Studios’ Dracula (and other) films, you’ll enjoy the sets in every one, and the actors are always top-notch.
This is by far my favorite version of Dracula. Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee made a lot of great movies together and separately; Island of Terror, Asylum, Tales From the Crypt, Nothing But the Night, The House That Dripped Blood, The Uncanny. Also starring in Horror of Dracula was Michael Gough, a very fine British actor as well. This movie is always a part of my Halloween film festival. Great reaction Shandor.
17:21 This film was shot in Technicolor. All Technicolor films have merit. The last film shot in the Technicolor dye transfer process was Argento's "Suspiria." That Italian Technicolor processing facility was torn down afterwards.
Thank you for reacting to this film, nobody ever reacts to Hammer films and they're some of the best. Their version of The Mummy is my favourite of them all, Christopher Lee puts so much emotion across using just his eyes, as Kharis.
You mentioned the beautiful set. This film was shot on three sets. Any set with a stairway and a landing is the same set. Sometimes they hide the stairs with a curtain but you can still see the landing. Even the graveyard set has the stairway and landing. One of the other sets is Harker’s room/Dracula’s crypt/Arthur’s basement. This is production design on a budget at its finest.
The production company, Hammer, is synonymous with the horror genre from the 50's through the 70's. Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, (good friends in life), were the stalwarts of the studio. Michael Gough is also in many of the Hammer classics. Hammer brought their own take to the classic Universal pictures of the 30's and 40's. I hope you watch more of them!
In all, Christopher Lee played Dracula ten times: seven films for Hammer Productions, once for Jesús Franco's Count Dracula (1970), uncredited in Jerry Lewis' One More Time (1970) and Édouard Molinaro's Dracula and Son (1976). He also played an unnamed but Dracula-like vampire in The Magic Christian (1969). So, it is no wonder that he is forever associated with the character of Dracula.
Please!!!! Screen the 1978 Brad Davis flick .." Midnight Express"... Davis is AWESOME and shakes you up in his insane rage/ revenge scene!!! Great flick ..also the TV mini series "Sybil" starring Sally Field as a woman with multiple personality disorder, Brad Davis as a concerned love interest..Joanne Woodward as the psychiatrist...and the character actress who plays Sybils crazy abusive mother is over the top ..so real!!!!
What a great reaction to wake up to! In my top 2 Dracula movies, the other being Count Dracula with Louis Jourdan produced by the BBC in 1977 which actually follows the novel the most closely which for me is a huge + since the novel is so excellent in every way. Most films don't. The '31 Dracula I've always found really creaky, overly melodramatic in the acting and looking too much like a stage play although the opening scene at Dracula's castle is really well done. But the worst Draculas are the ones that try to make him some lost romantic soul like Coppola did. This Dracula strays from the novel, but it has a wonderful immediacy about it and perfect atmospheric cinematography and a stunning score by James Bernard not to mention the excellently deliberate performance of Peter Cushing. Creepiest moment? When Tania exclaims, 'it was cousin Lucy!'
Agreed, the 1977 BBC production is quite wonderful. My personal favorite is still Werner Herzog's '79 film. Also I enjoy the 1931 version, it's theatricality and campiness is weirdly charming. The Universal horrors from the 30s have that awkward charm about them. The 1931 Spanish version of Dracula with Villarias is better, though.
If this is your first Hammer Horror movie, I envy you. Most Hammer movies are at least a B+ and if Cushing or Lee appear it will automatically be an A+.
Christopher Lee is my favorite Dracula. But my favorite version of the Dracula legend is the 1979 Werner Herzog film 'Nosferatu The Vampyre.' It nails the eerie forboding atmosphere, and Klaus Kinski does a very raw re-creation of Max Schreck's monster from the 1922 silent movie Nosferatu (which is also a must-watch). It feels very grounded, whereas as the Dracula films prior to it are more campy and exaggerated. Coppola's '92 version is the most over-the-top, it has it's fans but I never liked it.
Thanks for this one, Shandor. If you continue to watch Hammer Studios’ Dracula (and other) films, you’ll enjoy the sets in every one, and the actors are always top-notch.
This is by far my favorite version of Dracula. Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee made a lot of great movies together and separately; Island of Terror, Asylum, Tales From the Crypt, Nothing But the Night, The House That Dripped Blood, The Uncanny. Also starring in Horror of Dracula was Michael Gough, a very fine British actor as well. This movie is always a part of my Halloween film festival. Great reaction Shandor.
I first saw this when it came out in 1958, I was about 10. I've been a Hammer fan ever since.
17:21 This film was shot in Technicolor. All Technicolor films have merit. The last film shot in the Technicolor dye transfer process was Argento's "Suspiria." That Italian Technicolor processing facility was torn down afterwards.
Thank you for reacting to this film, nobody ever reacts to Hammer films and they're some of the best. Their version of The Mummy is my favourite of them all, Christopher Lee puts so much emotion across using just his eyes, as Kharis.
You mentioned the beautiful set. This film was shot on three sets. Any set with a stairway and a landing is the same set. Sometimes they hide the stairs with a curtain but you can still see the landing. Even the graveyard set has the stairway and landing. One of the other sets is Harker’s room/Dracula’s crypt/Arthur’s basement. This is production design on a budget at its finest.
The production company, Hammer, is synonymous with the horror genre from the 50's through the 70's. Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, (good friends in life), were the stalwarts of the studio. Michael Gough is also in many of the Hammer classics. Hammer brought their own take to the classic Universal pictures of the 30's and 40's. I hope you watch more of them!
Peter Cushing, of course, was in the first Star Wars movie and Michael Gough was Alfred the butler to Michael Keaton's Batman.
In all, Christopher Lee played Dracula ten times: seven films for Hammer Productions, once for Jesús Franco's Count Dracula (1970), uncredited in Jerry Lewis' One More Time (1970) and Édouard Molinaro's Dracula and Son (1976). He also played an unnamed but Dracula-like vampire in The Magic Christian (1969).
So, it is no wonder that he is forever associated with the character of Dracula.
Other great watches by the Hammer studio with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Horror of Frankenstein and Hound of the Baskervilles.
Christopher Lee !! Most iconic vampire in my book. Although Bela Lugosi was the og. I can only see Lee as the blood cursed monster.
Please!!!! Screen the 1978 Brad Davis flick .." Midnight Express"... Davis is AWESOME and shakes you up in his insane rage/ revenge scene!!! Great flick ..also the TV mini series "Sybil" starring Sally Field as a woman with multiple personality disorder, Brad Davis as a concerned love interest..Joanne Woodward as the psychiatrist...and the character actress who plays Sybils crazy abusive mother is over the top ..so real!!!!
What a great reaction to wake up to! In my top 2 Dracula movies, the other being Count Dracula with Louis Jourdan produced by the BBC in 1977 which actually follows the novel the most closely which for me is a huge + since the novel is so excellent in every way. Most films don't. The '31 Dracula I've always found really creaky, overly melodramatic in the acting and looking too much like a stage play although the opening scene at Dracula's castle is really well done. But the worst Draculas are the ones that try to make him some lost romantic soul like Coppola did. This Dracula strays from the novel, but it has a wonderful immediacy about it and perfect atmospheric cinematography and a stunning score by James Bernard not to mention the excellently deliberate performance of Peter Cushing. Creepiest moment? When Tania exclaims, 'it was cousin Lucy!'
Agreed, the 1977 BBC production is quite wonderful. My personal favorite is still Werner Herzog's '79 film. Also I enjoy the 1931 version, it's theatricality and campiness is weirdly charming. The Universal horrors from the 30s have that awkward charm about them. The 1931 Spanish version of Dracula with Villarias is better, though.
If this is your first Hammer Horror movie, I envy you. Most Hammer movies are at least a B+ and if Cushing or Lee appear it will automatically be an A+.
Christopher Lee is my favorite Dracula. But my favorite version of the Dracula legend is the 1979 Werner Herzog film 'Nosferatu The Vampyre.' It nails the eerie forboding atmosphere, and Klaus Kinski does a very raw re-creation of Max Schreck's monster from the 1922 silent movie Nosferatu (which is also a must-watch). It feels very grounded, whereas as the Dracula films prior to it are more campy and exaggerated. Coppola's '92 version is the most over-the-top, it has it's fans but I never liked it.
Hi Shandor, The Time Machine 1960 is a great sci-fi movie i think you will enjoy, if you are looking for recommendations and you haven't seen it.