Horror of Dracula Rivals the Best that Hollywood Has to Offer
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Horror of Dracula has lush costumes, great actors and a climactic death scene to end all death scenes. Hammer was certainly ahead of their time and this film holds up to this day.
Written by BHM Contributor Dr. Chills
September 8, 2008
Buy on Amazon
Release: 1958
Directed by: Terrence Fisher
Written by: Bram Stoker (novel) and Jimmy Sangster
Starring:
Christopher Lee as Count Dracula
Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing
John Van Eyssen as Jonathan Harker
Michael Gough as Arthur Holmewood
Melissa Stribling as Mina Holmewood
The night I watched Hammer Film Productions’ Horror of Dracula happened to coincide with a History Channel piece on real life, Human Living Vampires (HLV). No kidding. There are actually groups of people who consider themselves modern day vampires. These modern day-walkers actually suck the blood of willing victims and claim that without human blood, they would soon die. The medical term for those who crave blood is “Porphyria”, but for those in the know and the Who’s Who of vampires the preferred names of these blood suckers are Sanguines, Sanguanarians or Sang Vamps for short.�While many of us non-vampires are worried about the global food crisis these Sang Vamps are concerned about a global blood crisis; What with the proliferation of HIV,
Hepatitis and such, a Sang has to put serious thought into where the next batch of blood will come from. Like the Sang Vamps, Horror of Dracula’s main character Dracula (Christopher Lee) is dark and blood thirsty.
The Hammer version of Dracula depicts The Count (Christopher Lee) as a somewhat one-dimensional character with a singular focus and purpose; blood. Unlike the 1992 Bram Stoker adaptation Dracula starring Keanu Reeves in which Dracula was a complex and tormented villain, and almost likable, this Hammer Dracula is pure Badness.
Of real interest to me are the differences between the two films. The Jonathon Harker character for example. In Hammer’s 1958 version of the Dracula story Harker is a librarian on assignment to catalogue books as opposed to an attorney in the Francis Ford Coppola 1992 version. The Horror of Dracula has Librarian Harker also working as a secret spy on a mission with Van Helsing to do away with the evil Dracula.
There are a few glaring problems with Harker’s plan. Firstly, he goes to castle Dracula alone and he isn’t a particularly strapping man. Secondly, he ventures out of his room after the sun has gone down, a time he knows Dracula is at his strongest. Lastly, even though he has limited time and the sun was setting, he chose to kill the stupid female vampire first instead of the big dog. This is a fatal flaw that is almost
intolerable were in not for the fact that the movie was made in the 50’s. This Hammer Film takes significant liberties in the ending as well, compared to the Bram Stoker story and Coppola’s version.
Horror of Dracula relies heavily on traditional myths about vampires; Crucifixes and garlic as a way to ward off vampires, for example. If only it were that easy. What with all of the mega churches and pay for pray fakers out there I think you’d be hard pressed to find a crucifix working against vampires these days. Who knows? We’ll find a Sang Vamp and give it a try.
The Hammer Dracula exceeds Frances Ford Coppola’s Dracula in one salient area: Decorating and fashion. The 1958 Count Dracula’s pad was so swank. I kept thinking to myself, wow – my friend in the antique business would love to have that red velvet and gold chair, or the really funky animal head on the wall, or the amazing desk or wall sconce. This 50’s Dracula even had the signature Black cape which was totally hip. They just really knew how to do art back then and as “artsy and old” horror flicks are my thing, I have to say, it moved me. There was also a unique use of red throughout the film that rivaled M Night Shyamalan’s use of the color red in the The Sixth Sense. Very artsy and musical in general.
There is something so sweet about menacing orchestral music you know must have been played by a live orchestra and the beauty of watching classic actors really act, not only with their words, but with facial expressions, subtle gestures and inappropriately long gazes. The drama of Horror of Dracula culminates in a death scene to end all death scenes. I’ve never seen a vampire die in the sunlight more beautifully.
The Zombie Master indicated that the Hammer films were low budget, but high quality (Hammer Horror). I see nothing low budget about Horror of Dracula at all. In fact, it’s a masterpiece rivaling the best that Hollywood has to offer even today. Hammer Film Productions were ahead of their time in the 1950’s and are still way ahead of the game. Questions or comments about Horror of Dracula? Discuss it on The Ossuary Forums!
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