Dracula goes mod, baby! Following SCARS OF DRACULA--which failed to secure distribution from Warner Bros, who were reportedly appalled by the films cheapjack production values--Hammer decided to copy the Americans by putting vampires in the modern era. Inspired by the success of Bob Kelljans scary no budget COUNT YORGA VAMPIRE (1970), they concocted a scenario whereby Christopher Lees Dracula could be brought into the modern day. Lee was not necessarily thrilled with the idea, but when various projects he committed to in 1971 went down the tubes he elected to take the money and run. The result was DRACULA AD 1972 (1972), probably Hammers most controversial Dracula film. A pre-credits sequence allows for some appropriately Gothic imagery as Dracula and Van Helsing (Peter Cushing, finally returning to the Hammer Dracula fold after many years) battle to the death on a runaway carriage. Its a gripping opening, very well directed by Alan Gibson. From there, Gibson pulls a Kubrick by panning from the 19th century to the 20th, as a plane flies overheard announcing that we are no longer in Hammers usual milieu. A hopelessly protracted party sequence featuring The Stoneground (sue me, but I enjoy their songs just fine) slows things down a bit, but it eventually regains its footing as Draculas minion Johnny Alucard (Christopher Neame) convinces a group of spaced out kids--including Van Helsings granddaughter, Jessica (Stephanie Beacham)--to participate in a black mass. Despite the fact that these kids are the oldest group of teenage delinquents this side of BEVERLY HILLS 90210, Gibson and cinematographer Dick Bush make a great set piece out of the black mass as Neames overacting goes positively into hyper-drive and gorgeous Caroline Munro volunteers to become Draculas first victim. With Lee back in the picture and Cushing back on the case trying to bring him down, it settles into classic good versus evil Hammer-style and its done with such energy and style, I find myself forgiving its missteps. In terms of sheer entertainment value, DRACULA AD 1972 is up there with my most rewatched entries in the series. It also helps that Cushing gives what I deem to be his best performance as Van Helsing here: compared to the rather one-dimensional zealot conceived by Jimmy Sangster in the 1958 original, this Van Helsing wrestles with some inner doubts and he is also motivated by something a little more humane than just a desire to eradicate evil: he is also looking to protect the granddaughter on whom he dotes. The story goes that Cushing was originally intended to be Jessicas father, but that he aged so drastically following the death of his wife Helen in early 1971 that the filmmakers worried he looked too old to fill that role--so he became a grandfather instead. Cushing, always a thin man, looks gaunt and vaguely haunted, but his energy is undiminished. His good friend Christopher Lee, who looked vaguely bored and disenchanted in the last two entries, seems to have felt energized by Cushings return: he rises to the occasion and is arguably his SCARIEST in this picture. Their two big showdowns are terrific to behold and should be enough to warm the heart of any Hammer film aficionado. It may not be Great Art, but it is Fun Entertainment. DRACULA AD 1972 didnt set the box office on fire, but Hammer launched into a sequel before they realized the writing was on the wall: audiences were simply no longer interested in repackaged goods and were looking for fresh, new horror films like ROSEMARYS BABY, THE EXORCIST and THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. With THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA, screenwriter Don Houghton devised a much more ingenious scenario and Hammer brought Alan Gibson back to put Lee and Cushing through their paces--the latter for the very last time in a Hammer Dracula film. This time out, an occult society headed by the mysterious D.D. Denham--come on, is there ever any doubt who HE really is?--is wielding great political power in modern England. When a series of bizarre murders attracts the attention of the police and the British secret service, Van Helsing (Cushing, naturally) is drafted in to help investigate. Van Helsings worst fears are confirmed when he realizes that Dracula has risen from the grave once more--and its time for one final show down as Jessicsa (Joanna Lumley of ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS) is again caught in the cross fire. In a sense, THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA plays like a horror-themed episode of the classic British TV series THE AVENGERS--hardly a stretch, since Cushing and Lee both did guest stints and Lumley would go on to play one of the leads in the short-lived NEW AVENGERS. Dracula is more like a shadowy James Bond villain this time out--Lee would go on to film THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN not long after this--while Van Helsing is somewhat sidelined in favor of Inspector Murray (Michael Coles, reprising his role from DRACULA AD 1972) and Torrance from MI5 (William Franklyn). Theres some great scenes, however, as Van Helsing confronts a disgraced colleague (a marvelously jittery Freddie Jones) who has been roped into developing a new strain of the bubonic plague for the vengeance-and-suicide-minded Dracula, as well as the final showdown between Dracula and Van Helsing. Its a clever story, well executed by Gibson and his team of technicians, and it benefits from a very good cast: Lee and Cushing are professional as ever, while Jones, Franklyn, Coles and Lumley lend excellent support. With this entry, Christopher Lee finally bid adieu to the role that made him a star. Some have criticized his disdain for the sequels, suggesting that he was biting the hand that fed him, but he has never objected to the role or the source material--merely to the way that Hammers screenwriters marginalized him as the sequels wore on. Even Peter Cushing understood where he was coming from, rightly noting that the part seldom gave Lee a chance to do anything but glower and spout monosyllabic dialogue. He made the part his own, however, and even at his least inspired, he IS Dracula for me. The subsequent years would find him going through various peaks and valleys in his career, but he is still with us and has been appearing in major motion pictures into his 90s; a back injury sustained on the set of his Hammer return THE RESIDENT (2006) has slowed him down and I dont think we can look forward to seeing him physically appearing in any more pictures--but his still-magnificent voice is still strong and he continues to do some vocal work... as well as some controversial singing, which is not really my cup of tea, but what the hell: long may he continue. As for Cushing, he would return to the series one last time, this time facing off against a new (and inferior) performer in the role of the Prince of Darkness....
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 17:53:16 +0000
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