Review of Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) by Stefan G — 30 Mar 2015

Although this film directly continues from the story of the first Hammer Horror Dracula film, and generally presents itself in the same style, this by-the-numbers sequel does little to arouse the same thrills that made the first film great in the first place.

In this regard, the biggest problem is that the story and characters seem so haphazardly assembled that it kind of takes out of the film. Then again, horror films have rarely been accused of being clever.

At the very least, the film moves at such a balanced pace that the film doesn't feel like too much of a contrived, overcooked sequel. The characters (barring Dracula) may be uninspired, but their performances actually make up for plenty of the flaws in the film's writing.

The film does, however, have quite a palatable atmosphere, and the gothic visuals, once again, are used to good effect. However, that doesn't make up for a general lack of satisfying thrills from a generally tired and almost incoherent sequel that seems to only exist for the purpose of capitalizing on the then-lucrative Hammer formula.