Series: Hammer Dracula

By the time of The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires in 1974 Hammer Studios was dying. Thanks to the vérité horrors of films like Night of the Living Dead (1968), their unique brand of Gothic chills seemed archaic - as dusty as one of Dracula's cobwebbed tombs. Indeed, Golden Vampires would mark the last appearance of their erstwhile Count and Hammer would soon after stagger into the graveyard of television and, finally, oblivion. Golden Vampires is filled with the kind of desperation akin to someone in their death throes and the assimilation of Kung Fu (then all the rage) reeks of a company all out of ideas. But despite this Golden Vampires actually has a lot to offer. In fact, it is one of Hammer's best films of the 1970s and remains a fitting send off for one of the giants of British Cinema.(read more...)

Taste the Blood of Dracula, the fifth installment of Hammer’s Dracula series, is a well made but unfortunately routine affair.  We have all the trappings of a good Hammer film:  a red-eyed Christopher Lee, beautiful young women falling under his spell, a great deal of blood, and an intrepid seeker of good to put a stop to the vampire.  However, in trying to expand the story of Dracula, director Peter Sasdy and screenwriter Anthony Hinds make the Count almost a guest star in his own film. While Taste the Blood of Dracula does have certain positive attributes, ultimately it is a dreary chapter in Hammer’s Dracula saga.(read more...)

After the massive success of Horror of Dracula in 1958, Hammer Films was keen on making a sequel - even when Christopher Lee was not set to return to the role of Count Dracula. Nonetheless, filming began on a sequel that carried on without Dracula and surprisingly became one of the best sequels in the entire Hammer horror cannon. Ladies and gentlemen - I present Terence Fisher's The Brides of Dracula.
(read more...)

Anyone wondering why Hammer Films felt the need to transplant Count Dracula to Swingin’ London in Dracula AD 1972 need look no further than Scars of Dracula (1970). This tepid continuation of the studio’s Dracula series proves, with little room for argument, that Hammer’s ability to deal with the vampire in his native Gothic setting had long ago dwindled to nothing. All devoted fans get for their troubles is a rehash of old ideas, a terribly insufficient plot, and a bad mishandling of Dracula as a character.(read more...)

In a desire to reach the young market, Hammer Films put out the movie that many consider an atrocity in the Hammer Dracula series. Dracula 1972 A.D. was meant to breath new life into the classic horror monster, even though there was nothing really wrong with him to begin with. What we are left with is a film that can’t decide whether it’s a teen flick or a serious horror film, but still has enough likeable aspects to make it an enjoyable Hammer Dracula flick.(read more...)

Without a doubt, 1958's Dracula is the Granddaddy of Hammer Horror. Changed to Horror of Dracula for the US release (to prevent confusion as Bela Lugosi’s Dracula was still playing in the theaters), this film put Hammer on the map.
(read more...)

Well, here we have yet another Hammer Dracula movie. I must say I was a little worried as this one had no Peter Cushing and no Terence Fisher. It turns out my worries were for nothing, as this film was a perfect installment to the series.(read more...)

I must start out this review by saying that it was a true pleasure to review this film. I am a clinically insane Hammer buff and have not seen this movie for quite a few full moons. Therefore, in order to give it a proper review, I had to view it again. I was even more thrilled with the film after the second passing.(read more...)