Review of Dracula (1958) by Ronald F — 05 Aug 2013

After Hammer had a massive success with The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), it was decided for their next film they would take on another horror classic. A new adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula as their next film, made for a meagre £81,000, little did Hammer know that this would be their most popular franchise, spawning 8 sequels.

It begins in 1895, when Jonathan Harker (John Van Eyssen) travels to the castle of Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) posing as a librarian. But Harker has really gone there to kill Dracula, but he is unsuccessful, but his associate Doctor Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) arrives and discovers his colleague is a vampire.

He has to hide this news from Arthur Holmwood (Michael Gough) and wife Mina (Melissa Stribling), whose sister Lucy (Carol Marsh) is engaged to Jonathan. Lucy hasn't been feeling well, but she sleeps with the window open, where a tall, dark stranger comes to her bed.

.. It's a brilliant horror film, more gory than the Universal version in 1931, but Lee relishes the part, and it was his best portrayal of the character before it descended into self parody. It still holds up to this day, and for a film made on a shoestring, they are able to do so much and it's very effective and impossible to forget.