Review of Dracula (1958) by Byron B — 02 Nov 2013

The previous couple decades had been dominated by Universal as the horror producing studio. Hammer made a couple Frankenstein pictures just slightly earlier than Horror of Dracula, and yet it surprised me that only two years had passed between Universal making The Creature Walks Among Us and Hammer making this. The torch was passed. For the next couple decades Hammer dominated the horror genre. Though this film is still relatively free of excessive sex and blood, it feels like a whole new era in horror.

As the synopsis here says, "[this] is far closer to the letter (and spirit) of the Bram Stoker novel." There are still some liberties taken with Stoker's novel, primarily in regards to Harker being colleagues with Van Helsing and taking a more active role in trying to stop the well known vampire. The color photography, the British (European?) locations, and Cushing and Lee make this well worth a watch. Cushing's and Lee's performances with more action packed fights are the best representations of the battle between Van Helsing and Dracula. Adding Arthur (Gough) to assist Van Helsing strengthened the story, so that it isn't a battle of old men. The women are luscious. The blood looks like it is colored a bit too brightly. The end is a thrill.