Dracula’s tale has been retold on screen time and time again, with wildly varying levels of success. Some have concentrated on the shock of his vampiric nature, others on the horrific settings, others still on the sensual scenarios vampirism produces. In some instances the original tale is followed closely, in others it is completely reinvented. Regardless, there is still a collection of Dracula films that is hailed as the best attempts of any. It is no surprise that one of the most celebrated of these films came out of Hammer Film Production in the late 1950s.
Hammer Film Productions got its start in the mid-1930s. At that point in time, it was not involved in horror films, and even went bankrupt and dissolved. However, Hammer bounced back in the late 40s and filmed a good deal of mystery/thriller films during this period, refining their technique to a high level of mastery. In 1955, Hammer was presented with the opportunity to make a Frankenstein film, which they did to the chagrin of censors around the world. The film was the first intense horror film in vivid color, showing scenes of extreme (for the times) violence and gore. It was such a wild success that Hammer went on to create its very own Dracula film, aptly called Dracula (retitled as Horror of Dracula in the States as to not confuse it with Universal’s own Dracula film).
Horror of Dracula starts off in a very peculiar way. The very first shot is of Jonathan Harker dining in Dracula’s castle. Suddenly a woman rushes in and implores Harker to assist her in escaping Dracula’s castle. Harker laughs her off, insisting that as the new librarian he can do nothing for her. At that point, the Count makes his appearance and takes Harker to his room. Within the next fifteen minutes, there are teeth marks in Harker’s neck and a wooden stake in his hand, ready to remove the horror of Dracula from the world. Throughout the film, such wild liberties are taken with the Dracula tale (Harker, for instance, does not know of Dracula’s nature upon first entering his castle nor does he go for the sake of being a librarian). However, for someone that is familiar with the original story, it is rather refreshing to be unsure of who will be bitten and who will not (this creates some art-dread, especially in scenes with the maid’s young daughter, who is in more danger than we may care to think). Many names of characters are switched around and some characters personalities are totally reinvented (Hammer’s Van Helsing, for instance, is much more rationalistic and grounded than his Stoker counterpart).
The film, from Carroll’s perspective, obviously is a horror film. Dracula (as well as any other vampire in the film) is impure (living and dead), threatening (very strong, fast, and eager to kill), and those in the film certainly do not wish to be touched by him, making him an ideal Carroll monster. The main plot of the film also follows Carroll’s complex discovery plot. The onset occurs when we first see Harker in the castle, and witness the horrible events that he is faced with. Then there is discovery, by Van Helsing, in a classic scene in which locals are trying to run him away from Dracula as to not lead the undead fiend to them. Van Helsing is given by a local Harker’s diary that was found at the crossroads. Written within is Harker’s account of Dracula and the vampires, something that Harker and Van Helsing had studied together for some time before Harker’s attempt to destroy Dracula. After being tight-lipped to Harker’s fiancee’s brother Arthur, Van Helsing must try his best to protect the family from Dracula, who has come to London to wreak havoc on them. Eventually, through meeting up with the vampiric form of his sister, Arthur is convinced that the vampires are real, but his ignorance almost cost him his life. The discovery aspect being covered, the men are forced into a final confrontation when Arthur’s wife is abducted by the Count and returned to his castle. After a literal brawl between Dracula and Van Helsing, good triumphs over evil and the day is saved.
At least, the day is saved until Hammer followed up with sequels. As a matter of fact, there are seven direct sequels: Brides of Dracula, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, Dracula has Risen from the Grave, Taste the Blood of Dracula, Scars of Dracula, Dracula AD 1972, The Satanic Rites of Dracula. There are others, but they are not canonically related to these, after all, Dracula doing battle with seven kung-fu masters just does not seem to fit. With the possible exception of Brides, no other Dracula film that came out of Hammer studios held the same level of horror that Horror of Dracula did. The plots were watered down and uninteresting complex discovery plots, extremely predictable and tame (not at all gripping like Carroll suggests as a necessity of horror). Hammer attempted to make the vampires more repulsive with each film, but only succeeded in lifting the sense of disbelieve with rubber bats, buckets of violently red blood, and bad lighting effects. The horror of Dracula shifted from the mere image of the Count striking fear in the hearts of humans to the mere thought of the script striking fear in the hearts of humans.
If you are in the market for a classic Dracula romp that does have its moments of tension, excitement, and possibly even scares, then look no farther than Horror of Dracula (and Brides of Dracula too). If that does not quell your desire for Hammer films, try The Curse of Frankenstein and The Mummy on for size, surely you will find something worth screaming over.
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