Review of Scars of Dracula (1970) by Nelly D — 14 Jul 2005

This Hammer Dracula film is really out of synch with any of the other films in the series. Prior to this, Dracula has always been revived in a way that is somehow connected to his destruction in the previous film. Here, we see his cape on a balcony, a bat spits on it, and he appears. No hint as to how his remains were returned to his castle from where we last saw them. Dracula's manservant, Klove, is apparently alive again, having been shot by Francis Mattews all the way back in Dracula Prince Of Darkness. Not only is he played by a different actor, but his personality seems to be completely different. In Prince Of Darkness, he was very proper and polished like an english butler, but here he's more like the retarded janitor who sleeps in the boiler room.

As a standalone film, it's not bad. I definitely like it better than Dracula Has Risen From The Grave, though I seem to be in the minority on that point, and possibly solitary.

Christopher Lee still plays Dracula, the violence is scaled up slightly, and the story makes sense, even if it's a little thin. This one fits square in the middle as compared to the rest of the series.