Released in the US as The Horror of Dracula
1958
Directed by Terence Fisher
Sorry about the gap between this post and the last post. I got the dreaded "short wait" on Netflix for this one and couldn't find it anywhere else. Of course, I have seen about four Dracula movies for the list by now so I could probably just freestyle this review and you wouldn't notice.
That last sentence sounds like I am complaining. I am actually not; I am quite fond of the story; it is just hard to surprise me with the plot after seeing so many adaptations of the novel. However, this movie actually had some great twists and changed enough of the story to keep my interest.
This is the story, as we all know, of Jonathan Harker, Van Helsing, the Homewood family, and, of course, Dracula. In this adaptation, however, Harker is already fully aware of what Dracula is and has come to his castle to kill him. Hilarity ensues. Well, at least it does if you think the above picture is funny.
I really enjoyed this film. It was great seeing a Dracula movie in color. The whole story is a great opportunity to show some real gore (I mean the entire plot revolves around blood). Unfortunately, in the 20s and 30s we didn't get a lot of violence on screen. However, in this film, we get blood gushing out of women and some seriously crazy eyes.
Overall, a fun movie and probably the best Dracula film I have ever seen.
RATING: ****-
Interesting Facts:
Christopher Lee could not see a thing in his contact lenses.
Lee only received 750 pounds for his work in this movie.
