Gotta Dig Dracula, Man

Boy, that ceremony in St Bartolph's when the luscious Munro is bathed in blood while Neame's Satanic rites are propelled inside the sanctuary as music from tapes on a player emit a certain vibe while the brood in attendance seem lost in some cult fix stirring up Dracula's return is the very epitome of cringe. Setting the film in 1972 might have seemed like a novel idea I'm sure. But Lee remains in the condemned church, set to be demolished, and so besides the fresh batch of young victims Neame's Alucard provides Dracula making up the British youth scene of the time and a modern Van Helsing played by Cushing in London this particular sequel doesn't ever capitalize on what a vampire in 70s London might have looked like. And there is only so many times Dracula can fall on a stake, turn to ash, with his dried blood and deteriorating bones leaving behind few remains until it just doesn't thrill anymore. But Neame is a great secondary heel, and he just seemed born to play a sociopathic, manipulative cult leader itching to become a bloodsucker and prey on gals with a cig hanging out of her mouth at the laundromat. Van Helsing still spelling out how to kill a vampire to another befuddled person finding him hard to believe amused me if just because of it this time being a member of Scotland Yard, trying to keep an open mind. Credit to Cushing who can vocalize such dialogue with such sincerity, integrity, and sense of calm that if many others had the same monologue about vampires and how to kill them it would come off more than absurd. With Cushing, it seems reasonable. How Beacham keeps her cleavage in that white gown with the low cut neck I remain impressed. Poor Cushing having a conversation with Beacham, world's so far apart and speaking two different languages, is hilarious. Seeing Cushing hurriedly around London looking for Breacham in 1972 really does take us out of the previous century and I imagine those very active in the city scene remember this period fondly. It does bring 1972 back alive. But Lee is really less important than he ever was, as Neame, I thought, stole some of his thunder.

October 2007--

Dracula awakening in early 70's mod London sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Well, he really doesn't emerge into the London crowd so that idea of fun isn't taken advantage of, but seeing a sophisticated descendant of Lawrence Van Helsing(Peter Cushing's glorious return to the role), Lorrimore talking to his hippie granddaughter, Jessica(Stephanie Beacham, with blonde hair no less)about her friends as she answers back with terms like "far out" & "all that jazz" is a hoot. Anyway, the film opens with Lawrence ridding us once again of Dracula, yet Johnny Alucard(Christopher Neame, quite good as the handsome, cunning, manipulative group's leader)uses Dracula's ashes, collected by a descendant who was a disciple of the vampire at the moment of the Count's death, in a black mass with his friends supposedly for some "giggles". The black mass, as Alucard uses his own blood dripping on Dracula's ashes and upon a ravishing Caroline Munroe, naked under a shroud, resurrects the Count successfully as we later realize that Johnny desires to become one of the immortal undead. Dracula, with hatred & revenge in mind, orders Alucard to bring Jessica to him so that he can take her as his bride as retribution towards the Van Helsing name. Lorrimore, with cooperation of Scotland Yard's Police Inspector(Michael Coles, who humors Van Helsing who speaks of a vampire's having caused the draining of blood from several female victims with the bite wounds as unusual evidence of mutilation, mainly because he's stumped at what else could possibly commit such a heinous crime with very few leads)will seek out Dracula's whereabouts in an attempt to not only save Jessica but rid the world once again from the evil that drinks blood.
It was cool seeing Munroe in a Hammer film, even if it was one of the lesser Dracula films of the series. The setting in(at that time)modern London as Van Helsing plots to save his daughter, with the lingo and styles of the hippies adds flavor to the Hammer series, but you could see the Dracula franchise running out of steam and ideas. Christopher Lee, if I'm honest, isn't in this particular film much at all, but when he does appear(mostly to order Alucard around or bite young birds he brings to the Master)he's just as menacing as ever. Good little showdown between Van Helsing and Alucard and especially the small church sequence at the climax pitting Van Helsing once again against Dracula with Jessica's life hanging in the balance. Still, despite how much I love seeing Cushing and Lee pairing off against each other as Van Helsing and Dracula, the Hammer series was simply tiring at this point. Still both actors bring their professionalism and charisma to the screen as always. But, even if the plot seems familiar, the pacing and style are first-rate.