Review of Dracula (1958) by Jacob M — 11 Oct 2013

"I am Dracula and I welcome you to my house. I must apologize for not being here to greet you personally, but I trust you've found everything you needed.".

Starting in the 1950's, Hammer Studios, an independent British production company, dedicated themselves to make their takes on famous classic horror stories that were already acclaimed in America. After making their mark with The Curse of Frankenstein, the studio decided to tackle Dracula next. And while I haven't seen the version that literally started the horror genre, the 1931 American version with Bela Lugosi as the famed vampire, I found this Hammer remake to be dark, suspenseful, and extremely creepy.

The film begins where Jonathan Harker (John Van Eyssen) arrives at the castle Transylvania to work as a librarian, but notices something is wrong with the host, Count Dracula (Christopher Lee). When he realizes the count is a vampire, he ends up becoming a victim. Afterwards, Dracula heads to London to rank up more victims, particularly those related to Jonathan. It's up to vampire hunter, and doctor, Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) to stop Dracula's attacks on the innocent.

The film also features Michael Gough as Arthur Holmwood, the main guy related to Jonathan, Carol Marsh as victim Lucy, and Valerie Gaunt making a small appearance as "the vampire woman.".

Let me make things clear. I am not the greatest fan of the horror genre, particularly modern horror. But films that I do enjoy in the genre are those dedicated to telling excellent stories and not overdoing on the scare and gore level. And Horror of Dracula fits my criteria of the perfect horror film. It manages to develop the Van Helsing character before he starts to take down the vampire, and it also manages to make Dracula a villain not to root for, which is what should happen in films of pure horror. There is a little but of gore, and when I say gore, I mean blood shown on Dracula's victims, which was something considered gross for 1958, and led to heavy censoring in Britain, but unlike gore shown in today's horror, this gore was not overdone and was actually stuff I can actually take in and not have it forced down my throat.

While I was initially disappointed that this film was not in black-and-white, the color cinematography actually helps the film, though I would have loved it even more had it been in b&w, but color's just fine. The score is insane, filled with creepy sounds and delivers in the suspense department.

For a horror film, particularly one from Britain, the casting is excellent. Peter Cushing delivered well as Van Helsing, and manages to be excellent in his acting while being awesome at the same time. While it took a while for me to adjust to seeing Cushing play the hero, cause like many, I'm known to seeing Cushing in his most famous role, Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars, but like in Star Wars, Cushing is simply brilliant. Michael Gough was also impressive as Arthur, and I loved the dedication of his character to save his family from Dracula. You don't see this in horror today! And as for Christopher Lee playing Dracula, the decision is brilliantly executed. While Lee says all his dialogue in the first five minutes, Lee manages to dominate the role by his screen presence alone! He didn't even have to speak in this film in order to steal the picture! Lee manages to be creepy, give me goosebumps, and kill off victims like he was born to do it. Being raised on Lee playing roles as Saruman in Lord of the Rings and Count Dooku in the later Star Wars films, I felt refreshed to see this incredible villain actor in his beginning years. Lee and Cushing would star in many other films together, including Dracula sequels and other Hammer horror films. Their chemistry here is excellent, particularly in the climax where they're chasing each other throughout the castle.

Horror of Dracula is a brilliant, scary, and terrifying horror film, telling a perfectly executed story without overdoing it on gore and scares. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are both brilliant as Count Dracula and Van Helsing, and make good refreshers if you want to see them in films that are not Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. Because I loved this film I can't wait to see the version that defined the horror genre forever, the 1931 American version.