Review of Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) by Sarfaraz A — 21 Mar 2011

An early incarnation of survival horror, the sequel to Hammer's classic Dracula pits four people against the dark overlord in his castle. Obviously, the circumstancs under which the four are "trapped" in the castle in the first place are ludicrous.

Someone told them not to go there, so they went, end of story. Now, they are at Dracula's mercy. What follows is an opera of scream queens and dodgy fight scenes, Dracula hissing (Lee refused to say his lines, he deemed them too awful) and determined priests talking of the undead.

While those movie follows the basic structure of all Dracula / Castle movies, the absence of a suitable Nemesis for Christopher Lee makes this movie below average. Peter Cushing is nowhere to be seen and there is nobody to replace him.

The cast (except for the priest) is very weak, bordering on silly and I found myself wishing for Dracula to finally get it over with and slaughter those bloody fools. The sets and costumes look as nice as ever, a Victorian fairy tale with lush colours.

All in all a must for collectors and connossieurs of classic horror and Hammer Horror, but on its own, not a good move. The ending is terribly scripted so do not look forward to that.HX.