Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

I just caught this movie on the late late show at 3am. Its a Hammer production so I had high hopes. Then I saw the names of legendary Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing (the two stars in this review are for them only.) The movie went downhill after the opening credits. There is the usual Satanic ritual going on which shows how popular the Devil was in the 70's. But what really didn't work for me was the modern setting. Seeing Van Helsing walking around in London without all the old style gothic settings of past Hammer films didn't sit with me. It reached the point of being absurd when Van Helsing is sitting at a desk with a dark figure speaking to him and then the figure is revealed to be Lee as Count Dracula. Seeing Dracula in a corporate setting lost all crediablilty to me. The other problem is the waka cha waka cha disco soundtrack. I know Hammer was trying to appeal to a young audience in swinging London, but it doesn't really work at all. I could see that soundtrack in a Kung Fu film and it would have been fine, just not here.
Despite all that, there are so cool moments. When Van Helsing's daughter Jessica, is surrounded by female vampires, who procede to throw her to the ground and leap on top of her, that was a scary moment. You know the heroes would come in any second to break it up but for those few minutes that scene did work.
The ending confrontation between Cushing and Lee was good too. No matter how bad the storyline can get, seeing those two titans clash, is always worth it. The hard part is staying awake until you get to that part. If I saw this on DVD, instead of TV, I would have scanned forward to the ending. The ending did work, everything in between was a lot of talk and padding.
This is worth a watch only if you can see it for free on TV.

Almost everyone comments on how this Dracula movie is a bit like a Bond Film. It is in a way, and I have to say I like it. It adds another level of fun and excitement. And we get to see "Mod" Britain. And although some people say Dracula lives through the ages because he is undead, I think the real reason is that he, or rather his collaborators reinvent him as needed. This is a Drac for the 70's. The traditionalists will always have "Horror" and "Brides" and other great movies and modernizing the Count won't take anything away from those movies. But if anyone knows about surviving by keeping up with the times it's a guy who's revenge "reaches through-out the centuries", to paraphrase the Count.

I really enjoyed seeing a different type of Drac movie. I liked the intrigue and subterfuge, the high-ranking powerful members of gov't involved in a horrific Doomsday plot. Epic stuff. And considering it was his last Hammer film its fitting Dracula wanted to go out with a big bang instead of a whimper. Instead of merely waylaying knucklehead tourists who are too stupid to avoid Dracula's castle AT NIGHT, or terrorizing some Bavarian hamlet with a bratwurst based economy, Dracula wants to take out the entire world. He's doing it right too. Instead of just unleashing one of the most dreaded plagues in human history on the world, Drac has gotten a bio-weapons expert to expose it to radiation, making it hundreds of times more deadly and painful. It's not just Super Bubonic Plague; it's Mutant Radioactive Super Bubonic Plague. And he has a good reason. Every time he gets killed some doofus with delusions of grandeur resurrects him for some crazy scheme. Dude just wants a little peace and quiet. And he's also evil incarnate too.
Of course as many point out, it's great just to see Lee and Cushing paired up as enemies one more time. They do a great job of conveying the eternal nature of their feud. There have been many great acting teams through out the years but most of those team members were on the same side in their movies. This is one of the few great teams where the members were adversaries most of the time.

Also the movie starts out with some Dark Rites, a blood sacrifice, a nude blonde and a savage garroting. If that doesn't wake you up, check your pulse. Some of the scenes down in the dungeon where Dracula keeps his vampire brides chained up are actually truly creepy. And the twin hit men who carry out much of the Doomsday Groups dirty work are quite the fashion plates, sporting matching deep pile shag vests and hideous mutton chops. There is plenty to enjoy here.


The sets maybe weren't up to par with past Hammer film sets and the writing was sometimes a tad clunky but over all this is a very entertaining film. The only part I felt was a little weak was the very ending where Dracula, the Big Impaler himself, the Lord of Darkness, King of Vampires, Prince of the Undead, is killed by a ....bush. Yeah he gets caught in a bush and dies. Van Helsing helps finish him off but that's pretty much how Drac met his final end. He's bushified. Maybe the actors felt too old to get into much of an athletic scuffle, maybe the writer was searching for a novel way to do in the Count, or maybe there was some other reason for the movie to end that way. It was a bit anti-climactic. However, Dracula still lies out there in the mist, waiting for someone foolish enough to bring him back to the world of the living. MWA HAHAHAHA! It's a good entertaining movie. Check it out.