Horror of Dracula

Description

Chilling Hammer adaptation of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" novel stars Christopher Lee (in a career-defining role) as the bloodthirsty Count. When the plasma lover takes an interest in his fiancée, Jonathan Harker (John Van Eyssen) soon falls under his spell, leaving vampire hunter Doctor Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) to stop Drac's fiendish plans. With Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling. 82 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: English DTS HD mono Master Audio; Subtitles: English (SDH). Review: ドラキュラ映画での聖杯です。幼少期、テレビで放映され、その晩に怖くて眠れなかったことを思い出します。 自宅の寝室の窓の外に、ドラキュラ伯爵が立ってこちらを見てるんじゃないかと思うと、眠れません。 やはり、クリストファー・リーさんは格好良いです！背が高い。面長の顔面ですが、それなりに高身長なので顔が小さくみえます。ボディバランスが最高。 この舞台となる時代（１８００年代）の、リアルな輸血作業や、円筒レコード式蓄音機とか。本当に時代背景に忠実で、ドラキュラ映画にはかかせない馬車も美しい。英国の景色が存分に楽しめます。 大人になってから、こんなにドラキュラ映画を楽しめるとは思ってもいませんでした。 高身長な俳優さんは、沢山居ると思います。 是非、超リアルなリメイク作品を望みます。 Review: This review is for the Blu-Ray edition of 'Horror of Dracula' released by Warner Archives in December, 2018. I'm giving this release 5 stars but really it doesn't deserve more than 4 stars. For an explanation, look below in 'CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS'. For those of you who are new to this movie, this is not a 'new' Dracula movie but is a classic that was made in 1957. This movie along with 'The Curse of Frankenstein' helped launch Hammer Horror into prominence. BLU-RAY: This movie is presented in 1080p High Definition with a 16x9 (1.66:1) aspect ration. The picture is very good as would be expected. It is not perfect and can be improved upon but as a straight transfer it is very good. So I'm giving the transfer 4/5 stars. EXTRA'S: As is usual with all of the Warner Archive series, the extra's are minimal. You get a trailer and subtitles (if you consider that an extra) and that's it. The trailer is of poor quality and has the colors washed out with many imperfections. PLOT/SUMMARY: The movie starts out in 1885. Jonathan Harker travels to Castle Dracula where he is to take a job as Dracula's librarian. In reality, he has come to the castle to kill Dracula (Christopher Lee). Upon arriving he is locked in his bedroom and begins writing in his journal where he reveals his true intentions. Harker is released by a mysterious woman who asks him to help her escape the castle. She then attempts to bite his neck but Dracula intervenes. Harker is brought back to his room after he passes out during the skirmish. When he awakes, he realizes that he is bitten and will soon become a vampire. He writes a final entry and hides his journal outside of the castle in a shrine to the Virgin Mary. He then attempts to kill Dracula and the woman who approached him earlier. He kills the female vampire first but that awakens Dracula. Some time later, Professor Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) arrives in town looking for Harker. He is met with much resistance to his questions. An innkeepers daughter secretly gives Harker's journal to him. Van Helsing goes to Castle Dracula and finds Harker in his coffin. He immediately drives a stake into him. Van Helsing goes to the home of Lucy Holmwood, who was Harker's fiancee and delivers the news. Lucy has been ill. Van Helsing discovers that Dracula has been paying her visits and puts a crucifix around her neck and has garlic put in the room. He tells Lucy's parents, Arthur (Michael Gough) and Mina about what is going on but does not tell the maid and her daughter. He gives Harker's journal to Arthur to help convince him. The maid, Gerda, is coerced by Lucy into removing the garlic from the room despite strict orders to the contrary. After Lucy turns into a vampire and attempts to feed of of Tania, Gerda's daughter, Van Helsing and Arthur Holmwood hunt down Mina and kill her. Dracula sets his sites on revenge and targets Arthur's wife, Mina. It's up to Van Helsing and Arthur Holmwood to stop Dracula and his plans. PRODUCTION: This is the first of the 'Hammer Horror Production' Dracula movies and is the one that most people consider the best. -'Dracula' was the original title of this film. It was changed to 'Horror of Dracula' for it's American release. This was done to avoid audiences with confusing this movie with the original 'Dracula' starring Bela Lugosi. -Universal had exclusive rights to 'Dracula' that were given to the by the Bram Stoker estate so therefore the rights had to be negotiated with them by 'Hammer'. -'Horror of Dracula' was released in 1958 as part of double feature with 'The Thing that Couldn't Die'. The movie premiered in the United States first in May followed by the English premiere two weeks later. -This movie was directed by the great director Terence Fischer and written by Hammer Horror icon Jimmy Sangster. -This movie was a big commercial success on the heels of 'Curse of Frankenstein'. This success would lead to many more horror movies over the next 15 or so years. -There would be 8 sequels to this movie made by 'Hammer'. The second or immediate sequel would not feature the character of 'Dracula' but Peter Cushing would reprise his role as Professor Van Helsing in that movie. The sequels were all made between 1960 and 1974. -This movie is distinctly different than both the novel by Bram Stoker and the 1931 movie staring Bela Lugosi. -Christopher Lee would reprise his role as Dracula 6 more times for 'Hammer'. However, he famously did not like any of the sequels and needed to be persuaded for each one. -Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee would team up 3 times for Hammer Horror in Dracula movies. The other two were the two modern day Dracula movies, 'Dracula, A.D. 1972' and 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula'. Peter Cushing appears on both 'Hammer' Dracula moves that Lee does not appear in, 'The Brides of Dracula' and 'The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires'. -A slightly longer version of this film was discovered in 2012. This included the scene of Dracula disintegrating. This scene is included in this version. -The sound of Dracula's footsteps were deliberately removed. Also, Dracula's powers were scaled down. His abilities to climb walls and turn into a bat were removed. -In his scenes driving the coach, Peter Cushing insisted on not using a double. -Christopher Lee has minimal screen time. He actually only appears in just seven of the films 82 minutes! Also he has only 13 lines of dialogue. Of course this is quite a lot when compared to his next appearance as Dracula in 'Dracula: Prince of Darkness'. In that one he has none! -As a result of the success of 'Curse of Frankenstein' and the production of this movie, Hammer never filmed their version of 'I am Legend'. It may also be possible that it wasn't filmed because of issues with the censors. -Many critics of the time period did not like this movie. Most of the criticism had to do with the explicit nature of the film (obviously, for the time period). Ironically this criticism helped make the movie an even bigger success. COMMENTS: Obviously this is one of the best 'Dracula' movies ever made. That said, I have a few comments. What I like: -I liked the blood on Dracula's name plate at the open of the movie. To me this is especially effective. -The scene in the library is one of the best ever for a horror movie. This must have been shocking to audiences in 1958. It's hard to imagine what that must have been like to see the blood dripping from Dracula's fangs in full color in 1958 and than watching him violently attack a woman.! -I love Peter Cushing's performance as Van Helsing. Cushing is my favorite 'Hammer' actor. What I don't like: -I'm not sure why Dracula allowed Harker to leave the castle. I suppose he thought that he would not get far without returning. But Harker could have easily killed Dracula had he not chosen to kill the woman first. This doesn't make much sense. -Why would Dracula need a full time librarian? I think that they should have kept Harker in his original role as a real estate agent. The results would have been the same. -I do not like the fact that most 'Dracula' movies do not have rules for 'crosses'. You can pretty much use anything to make a cross, not to mention that crosses exist virtually everywhere in a room if you look for them. RECOMMENDATIONS/CONCLUSIONS: This movie is a must have for Dracula fans. I'm giving this release 5 stars taking into account the period in which it was made. So 5 stars for the plot. I'm going to give the picture quality 4 stars but I believe this can still be improved upon. The extra's get just 1 1/2 stars for subtitles and a trailer. All things considered on a scale of 1 to 10 I'm giving this release an 8/10 or 4 stars. I bumped it up to 5 stars because this is such a classic movie and one of the best 'Hammer Horror' ever made. Certainly, a better release is possible especially when taken into account the lack of extra's. Highly recommended obviously for fans of Hammer Horror Productions. Highly recommended for all fans of Dracula or vampire movies in general. Highly recommended for fans of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Highly recommended for fans of classic horror.