Review of Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) by Christina C — 28 Sep 2008

An enjoyable and atmospheric entry into the Hammer Dracula canon, with Christopher Lee as hypnotic as ever in the title role.

By this point, the campness has been amped up from "Horror of Dracula", but the film does have more sombre scene-setting moments combined with a lighter overall feel.

The plot gets going quickly, with a nice little shocker at the very beginning of the film. The final confrontation takes its time in coming, and when it does, ends rather abruptly - but the preliminaries are so much fun. The sexual undertones are now firmly overtones, with both women seemingly entranced by the Count.

Lee, as ever, owns the whole thing - he quite literally rises above the hokey plot, making his Dracula graceful and dignified in most scenes (and those in which he hisses like a loon therefore more unnerving in relief). The film is cleverly edited to avoid showing Dracula moving (like that tricky getting-out-of-the-coffin-gracefully manoeuvre) - he just seems to "appear", and when he does move it's either imperiously and slowly, or slightly speeded up in more urgent scenes to give him that sense of supernatural strength and brutality.

The rest of the cast acquit themselves suitably - the floozy is appealing, the hero is full enough of bravado, the not-so-virginal heroine sweet, the locals wary, the wise old priest ... wise. The standout other than Lee is Ewan Harper playing the younger priest as a quivering mess of cowardice. Mention finally has to be given to the music, which goes perfectly with Lee's performance: loud and in-your-face, but imperious and ominous.

Overall, this was an entertaining film which provided a great showcase for Lee's unforgettable title character.