Review of Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) by Paul S — 01 Jul 2005

Some people hate this film, others grudgingly acknowledge that it's better than the last two or three films in Hammer's Dracula series, and some, like me, actually enjoy it. I seem to be alone in that I enjoy it more than even Horror Of Dracula. I won't argue the superiority of this film over that one, because when fans of the first film argue for their favorite, the supposed flaws of this film are the very reasons that I prefer it over it's predecessor. Horror Of Dracula jumps right in and moves at a fast pace, letting up only long enough for Van Helsing to explain to the other characters what is going on. While it would be wrong to say that Horror Of Dracula doesn't use suspense, Prince Of Darkness [b][i]relies[/i][/b] on suspense and atmosphere for the whole first half. It opens with a replay of the closing fight scene between Van Helsing and Dracula before moving on to the story. We quickly learn that ten years have passed since Dracula's destruction, but the locals are still wary. A family of english tourists is warned by a monk to stay away from castle Dracula. We already know that they will end up there, but we're unsure of how. Even if they do, what harm is there, Dracula is dead, isn't he? We saw him reduced to dust before our very eyes. But we know he is there, somehow. He's on the poster, he's in the trailer, his name is prominently displayed in the title. He's there, but how? Anticipation is what makes this film so fun. We know that this family is destined to encounter Dracula and set off another series of tragic events, and it's fun to watch them dragged along by fate, and to see their feeble attempts to resist what we already know will happen.

Fans of the first film should be pleased to know that once the count does finally make his appearance about forty-eight minutes in, things begin moving much more quickly, with Dracula ruthlessly pursuing his prey, even to the walls of a monastery, then once again flees back to his castle for the final showdown, at least as exciting as the first time.

Andrew Keir steps in for Peter Cushing, which some people seem to have a problem with, but it's nice to see a different kind of foe for Dracula. Francis Matthews meets Dracula here eight years after his encounter with Frankenstein. This is a different kind of film than the first one, that should be judged on it's own merits rather than compared to what came before.