Review of Dracula (1958) by Anthony L — 20 Jul 2011

Hammer studios has become a cult icon in horror movie making, recently the studio mades its comback after something like 30 years, however it had occured to me that I had never actually seen a Dracula movie produced by Hammer, this was ridiculous! how had I missed an opertunity over my 20 odd years of movie watching of watching one of these lavish and glorious movies in this iconic series?

Well to rectify that I got my self a copy of Dracula (Horror of Dracula USA)and couldn't have been more thrilled with this 50 year old classic, especially when Cushing and Lee (Van Helsing and the count) have their spectacular show down at the movies exciting climax (possibly the best ending of any movie!?) These two heavy weights of theatrical standing, Icons of horror and cinema in general, Its like the pairing of Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro in Heat or Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in X-Men in modern movie terms...

This particular take on Bran Stokers famed Novel gets closer in feel than previous incarnations, despite discrepancies and changes (of which time and money couldn't afford) this version of the classic tale is no worse off for it, in fact its far more effective a take then say Francis ford cappola's 90's take, which was a stickler for authenticity...

Summing up Dracula in a few words: definitive, classic and head and shoulders above the many sequels and apdaptions on Bram Stokers gothic fairytale...