Dracula: Prince of Darkness (Ws)

A literate script and fine acting on everyone's part contribute to the obvious high production values of this film. Extras include two original trailers (one of which is a double-bill with a Hammer zombie film) and a documentary narrated by the late, great Oliver Reed containing all the information on Hammer Dracula/Vampire films that one might ever need. There are also home movies taken on the set of "DPofD" which contain commentary done in 1997 by Lee and some other surviving co-stars. (In these frames, sunlight doesn't seem to hurt the Count one little bit.)

All in all, a great DVD for watching on a cold, rainy night ... all alone ... in an unfamiliar house? Just don't invite any tall, handsome strangers in ... or you might wind up as dinner yourself!


By no means the best, but has its moments   April 21, 2001
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

When Hammer was churning out pictures in the mid 1960s rasputin and dracula prince of darkness were intended to be the first halves of two double bills with weaker hammer films backing them up. However as fate would have it those second half films, Plague of the zombies and the reptile were far better films than the two slightly crude (in comparison) vehicles for christopher Lee.

This film has some wonderful moments, when dracula burts out of his coffin at the end, when the body is left dangling over his coffin to reanimate him, extremely eerie moments courtesy of the great terence fisher. But the effect of most of the film, hashed together from the original story and the bela lugosi film from the 30s is soporific, guests, castles, warnings from villagers, all the details are perhaps over familiar to us (to me anyway), i found my attention wandering.

But as with most good hammers this is a visually fascinating film. christopher lee's voice is missing, a shame as he's wonderful as the vampire that speaks in the horror of dracula. Throley walters and that great british stage actor playing draculas servant (curses forgotten his name) are wasted too, Andrew kier is, to paraphrase robert deniro impersonating jake lamotta "no olivier" this was the best hammer film he appeared in.

If you're new to hammer films go get plague of the zombies or the devil rides out first, this film is always worth buying after the best of the hammer collection have been added to your library of DVDs

I'd probably buy the DVD for the trailers alone "Boys, get your dracula fangs, fight back, bite back against the worlds most dangerous man!!" hehe


Good effort that suffers when compared to its "Parent"   July 17, 2002
Simon Davis
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

With "Horror of Dracula" as its "Daddy" this film had a very hard act to follow and live up to. In its own right I find it a good installment in the Dracula cycle that Hammer produced between 1958 and 1972.

Hammer waited roughly 7 years after the release of the classic "Horror of Dracula' before they produced a sequel. In the interim they had produced the interesting "Brides of Dracula' that was minus the Count's involvement. Christopher Lee was reluctant to don the Black Cape again and was only persuaded after much discussion by the director Terence Fisher and Hammer execs. The one fatal flaw in this production as has been mentioned by other reviewers, is the fact that Dracula never utters a word of dialogue during the whole running time of "Dracula Prince of Darkness" and is reduced to a series of sinister snarls and hisses. Part of Christopher Lee's great mastery of the Dracula role was his excellent deep voice which fitted the character to perfection and the fact that Lee still gives Dracula an arresting presence in this production without dialogue says alot for his excellent technique and commanding presence. Be that as it may Dracula in this production, despite limited time on screen, is still a frightening and very eerie presence and does add to the overraul look and atmosphere of "Dracula Prince of Darkness".

Atmosphere and attention to period detail is certainly one of the very strong points of "Dracula Prince of Darkness". I watched this film for the first time in 2 years recently and I was very impressed by the beautiful look of the production, its top notch cinematography, excellent use of colour and above all else its settings. The set pieces are what make this film. For the first time Hammer made use of Black Park, a strange and wildly beautiful rural district full of birch groves, old oak trees and tangled undergrowth which would become a constant setting for future Hammer productions including their next Dracula film with Christopher Lee, "Dracula Has Risen From the Grave". The outdoor photography is some of the best used in Hammer productions. After 7 years no attempt was made to reproduce the original Castle Dracula exactly as it was in "Horror of Dracula". The new castle in this film is a much grander building which really adds to the overraul atmosphere. Its Gothic entrance way, sinister hallways, old paintings, and antique furniture are in the finest traditons of Hammer film settings and I feel add a very sinister feel to the whole production which is totally appropiate.

The storyline is a fairly typical one but is one which sets the scene for an interesting story. 2 couples become lost in a mysterious wood after their coach driver refuses to travel any further in the direction of the former Dracula Castle. A sinister driverless black coach suddenly appears and before they know it they have been driven to Castle Dracula where they are invited to dine and spend the night by their unexpected "dead" host. The frightening manservant Klove (superbly played by Philip Latham) however has an ulterior motive for asking them to stay as he is intent upon reviving his dead master Dracula and proceeds to do this by brutally murdering one of the male travellers and in a very controversial and bloody scene slits his throat and suspends his hanging body over Dracula's ashes to mix the two and bring Dracula back to life. This scene causes much outcry at the time of the film's release in 1965 and still packs a punch . It definately isn't for the light headed.

As Dracula's actual screen time is limited the focus of the rest of the story is on the remaining travellers and their attempts to escape Dracula's clutches, in particular Diana (Suzan farmer) who Dracula in particular pursues. Andrew Keir delivers a strong performance in the second half of the story as the gruff, no nonsense Father Sandor who is determined to destroy Dracula. After Dracula pursues Diana to the father's Monastery and almost Vampires her by using Barbara Shelley's character of Helen (she has already been attacked by Dracula and turned into a Vampire)occurs the second shocking scene where Father Sandor and his monks hold Helen down and drive a stack through her heart . Once again its not for the faint hearted and is quite graphic even by Hammer standards.

Dracula's demise in this production has been declared by many critics to be a major let down as he is shot at and slowly sinks under a sheet of ice in the moat of his castle. I believe it is an excellent scene and the fight between Dracula and Francis Matthews who plays Charles just prior to this happening on the ice is excellently done and one of the better death scenes for Dracula. It also once again shows Hammers clear attention to detail in these earlier years of Vampire films whereby they have used the point of running cold water as a means to despatch Dracula which is correct with all the legends of how to kill a Vampire.

While "Dracula Prince of Darness" can't match "Horror of Dracula" and suffers from a lack of screen time and dialogue for Dracula it is still a very entertaining film in its own right. Hammer had a way of giving their productions a unique look which matched so well with the stories they told and this film is no exception. To see the superb Christopher Lee in his most famous screen character is reason enough to enjoy this second film based on Bram Stoker's 19th century creation. Enjoy!