Scars of Dracula (1970)

Directed by:
Roy Ward Baker

Entry six in Hammer's long-running Dracula series, this follows HORROR OF DRACULA (1958), THE BRIDES OF DRACULA (1960; which some don't even consider part of the series because of the absence of both the Count and star Christopher Lee), DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966), DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (1968) and TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA (1969). Time-lapse-revived by a rubber-bat-on-a-string that spits blood onto his ashes, Count Dracula - looking paler and bit more undead than usual - is back in action and immediately gets to work terrorizing a small village. After a young lady turns up dead, a tavern owner (Michael Ripper) organizes a group of men to sneak over to Dracula's castle for revenge. They trick not-too-bright manservant Klove (Patrick Troughton in a crazy wig) into opening the gates, force their way inside and proceed to burn the castle down with torches and powder kegs. But Dracula has a surprise or two in store for them. Not only does he survive the attack, but he's also sent a legion of rabid vampire bats into the village while the men were away to slaughter all of the women in a church.

Not far away in the neighboring village of Kleinenberg, Sarah Framsen (Jenny Hanley) finds herself torn between the Carlson brothers; the older and more mature law student Simon (Dennis Waterman) and the younger heartthrob Paul (Christopher Matthews), who is extremely popular with all the ladies and always seems to be getting himself into trouble. Because Paul is off messing around with the Burgomaster's daughter, he ends up arriving late for Sarah's birthday party, and soon after gets chased away by the Burgomaster's guards. After leaping into a carriage, he's swept off somewhere into the countryside. One thing leads to another and Paul finds himself at the foot of Dracula's castle, where a mysterious, dark-haired woman named Tania (Anouska Hempel) invites him inside to spend the night. Paul obliges, but gets second thoughts once he meets the Count. Unfortunately, he's stuck there. After allowing himself to be seduced by his hostess (who claims she's being held prisoner there), Paul awakens the next day to find Dracula standing at the foot of his bed with a knife. He stabs Tania to death and then promptly disappears. Trying to escape the castle, Paul finds himself locked inside of Dracula's chamber with no way out.

Since Paul hasn't returned to Kleinenberg, Simon and Sarah show up in the village looking for him. Getting little help from the locals, aside from talkative young barmaid Julie (Wendy Hamilton), who's new in the area and refuses to get swept up in local superstitions, means they're both off to Castle Dracula for a terror-filled night. After they're saved by her cross necklace and a little help from Klove (who's fallen for Sarah), the two manage to escape, head back to the tavern, get booted out again and again find themselves back at the castle for the big finale, getting a little help from a reluctant local priest (Michael Gwynn) in the process. Said finale involves a huge, coincidental stroke of luck to take out the red-eyed vampire count. But never fear, he'll be back again in DRACULA AD 1972.

Undemanding and entertaining, the whole film looks fantastic just like most of Hammer's other films. As a matter of fact, this is perhaps the most visually stylish of all the series, particularly when it comes to lighting. The art direction and cinematography are both top notch and good use is made of matte paintings and models to give the castle a grand scale. Most of the performances are quite good as well, with special mention going out to Troughton, Waterman and Hamilton. Unfortunately, none of that means we haven't already seen this same story numerous times before.

This entry is very much a segue into more 'adult' horror for Hammer. It has more violence than their previous vampire films and even shows a female ass (cheers, Delia Lindsay). Of course, it's downright chaste compared to other vampire films from other countries made around 1970, but it still shows signs of the studio at least trying to keep up with the times. There's a surprising amount of blood in this one, too, which is a welcome addition to their tried-and-true formula. There are impalements, stabbings, some gory vampire bat attacks and a sequence where Klove dismembers a corpse with a cleaver and dissolves the body parts in acid. Moments like these keep the series humming along.

★★1/2

Monster Club, The (1980)

Directed by:

Roy Ward Baker

Review coming soon.

★★1/2

Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

...aka: Five Million Years to Earth

...aka: Mind Benders, The

Directed by:

Roy Ward Baker

Workers at the Hobb's End Underground Transport unearth skeletal remains that seem to date back five-million years. They also hit a strange non-metallic plate that ends up being part of an alien spacecraft. Perplexed by the substance, which is harder than diamond and resistant to the 3000 degree flames from a blow-torch, some conflicting experts are called in to investigate. Derelict apartments across the street from the excavation site have strange claw marks on the walls. A hidden compartment on the ship also houses some dead, medium-sized, horned, green, insect-like creatures. But it's really the ship itself that poses the strongest threat. And what is lying dormant in all of our minds. The military, of course, continually butt heads with the scientists and call the whole discovery a hoax (a "German propaganda item" from World War II). But Professor Bernard Quatermass (Andrew Keir) thinks otherwise and proposes a theory that offends just about everyone involved; managing to question both creationism and evolution. Quatermass comes to the conclusion that millions of years ago, aliens landed on Earth, removed primitive apes and took them back to their home planet (which may have been Mars) for experimentation. They continued to do so, each time making them more intelligent until man was eventually born… He could be right, but not necessarily. The government definitely is on the wrong track and open up the site to the general public. The dormant evil is unleashed and those exposed to it become mindless and violent. Buildings collapse, fires start, citizens go on a rampage and London will eventually be completely leveled if Quatermass and chief archaeologist Dr. Roney (James Donald) can't stop it. Barbara Shelley co-stars as Barbara Judd, an assistant who has visions of an alien colony and becomes possessed, eventually getting socked in the face by Quatermass himself! Julian Glover is the close-minded militarist who's fried into a crispy critter.

All four of the principal actors are excellent in this intelligent, thoughtful and multi-layered science-fiction film, which raises an impressive number of interesting questions. And it's not without a sense of humor. The "Hammer Collection" DVD has both the UK and US trailers ("It could happen in your lifetime!"), plus the science fiction episode of the ho-hum 1990 WORLD OF HAMMER TV documentary series (narrated by Oliver Reed), which covers the titles DICK BARTON STRIKES BACK, THE DAMNED (aka THESE ARE THE DAMNED), FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN, QUATERMASS 2, QATP, QUATERMASS XPERIMENT, SPACEWAYS, X THE UNKNOWN and a few others.

★★★1/2