Review of Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) by Van R — 06 Oct 2010

Hammer Films figured out a way to bring Dracula back from the grave, something that eluded the suits at Universal Pictures back in the 1930s. Bela Lugosi never repeated his role as the undead fangster until he was far past his prime in "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948) and Universal struggled with its lackluster sequels to recapture the horror. Mind you, Christopher Lee didn't just automatically return to the Hammer franchise. In fact, Lee did not participate in either "Brides of Dracula" or "Kiss of the Vampire." Finally, he did return for Terence Fisher's "Dracula, Prince of Darkness." The difference between "Dracula, Prince of Darkness" and "Horror of Dracula" is that Dracula never utters a syllable in this sequel. Sadly, Peter Cushing isn't back for this installment; he would return in "Dracula AD 1972" (1972). Instead, Cushing's character has been replaced by Father Sandor (Andrew Keir of "Blood from the Mummy's Tomb") but neither Keir nor his thunderous voice is as compelling as Cushing's Van Helsing. Naturally, Lee rises above his muted character with a dynamic performance and some of the best ugly faces that he could make as the ultimate fangster. Reportedly, Lee so disliked the lines that had been written for him that he refuses to say them. The ending is as imaginative as his re-emergence.

"Dracula, Prince of Darkness" opens like an odd cliffhanger serial with the last scene of "Horror of Dracula" rerun so the sequel can pick up where it left off. Peter Cushing kills Dracula by exposing him not only to daylight but also crossing candlesticks to form a cross. Dracula is reduced to powder. Charles Kent (Francis Matthews of "The Revenge of Frankenstein"), his wife Diana Kent (Suzan Farmer of "The Devil-Ship Pirates") and Charles' brother Alan Kent (Charles Tingwell of "The Desert Rats") and his wife Helen Kent (Barbara Shelley of "The Gorgon ") are warned by a rifle-toting clergyman Father Sandor (Andrew Keir) to go nowhere near Dracula's castle. Sandor doesn't make believers out of them, and circumstances make it wholly easy for our victims to reach Castle Dracula. Once they arrive, they find a table set for four and their bags have been unpacked and their rooms made ready by a mysterious custodian named Klove (Philip Latham of "Force 10 from Navarone") who seems to take care of everything at the castle. Helen doesn't like the place. She prefers the woodcutter's cabin that they saw. Later, she likes it less when her intrepid husband gets nosy and decides to investigate a suspicious noise during the night. Alan saw Klove dragging around a huge chest along a hall and follows him. He doesn't get far before Klove sneaks up behind him and strikes him over the head. Alan never regains consciousness. Klove has him strung up by the heels and dangles him over Dracula elaborate coffin. Klove brings out the ashes of Dracula and spreads them in the coffin. Afterward, he slashes Alan's neck so that the blood drips from the corpse suspended over Dracula's coffin. Eventually, a cloud of white smoke gathers and obscures the coffin. Dramatically, Dracula's left hand with his distinctive ring emerges and crawls about like a spider.

Meantime, Klove fetches Diana on the pretest that Alan has run into trouble. Charles and Diana manage to escape from Dracula and wind up at the monastery where Father Sandor lives. Sandor tells Charles that they must kill Dracula. He explains that Dracula can only be killed by sunlight, running water, and/or a stake through the heart. Sandor impresses on Charles that a vampire cannot enter a dwelling unless it is requested to enter. What Sandor doesn't know is that a former Dracula minion Ludwig (Thorley Walters of "Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace"), who is under close eye, allows the fangster entrance. Dracula gets inside the mission and abducts Diana. Father Sandor and Charles race after Dracula's horse and wagon. Sandor assures Charles that if they don't beat Dracula back to his chapter, Diana will die. Our heroes take a short cut and head off Dracula. Dracula's coffin slides down an embankment and onto an iced over mote. Charles tries to kill him, but the sun vanishes. Sandor accidentally shoots at Dracula, but his bullet misses and cracks the ice. Without a moment's loss of time, Sandor shoots up the ice when Dracula and Charles are struggling. Several more shots follow and the ice cracks and Dracula dies in a watery grave.

Terence Fisher conjures up a lot of suspense and lenser Michael Reed designs many interesting shots, especially a close-up of Christopher Lee in the crypt so you can only see his face. "Dracula, Prince of Darkness" is an above-average entry in the franchise.