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Harker applies for and accepts a job at Castle Dracula cataloguing
the ancient and extensive library, but his true intention
is to put an end to the master vampire's evil. The count is
extremely cordial, the perfect host, but on only the first
night a young woman pleads with Harker to get her away from
the castle where she is being kept prisoner. He agrees to
help. However, the woman is not what she seems; baring fangs
she attacks him, before the primal creature that is Dracula
intervenes. Harker now bares the marks on his neck and realises
he only has so long to rid the world of the fiend or become
like him. Harker writes to his friend and scholar Van Helsing,
who travels to the village to help, but Dracula has turned
his attention toward Harker's fiancee in retribution for his
agression...
All
the way back to 1957 for this one, Christopher Lee's first
and quite possibly best outing as everyone's favourite creature
of the night. Certain scenes stick quite closely to Bram Stoker's
original novel: Harker and his diary narrative, the power
of the crucifix,
Dracula lying in his coffin with soil from his homeland, the
fiancee being visited at night, etc. Poetic licence is used
to edit the remaining concept into what at only 79 minutes
is a pretty short (if tight) feature. But it doesn't matter,
because quite simply this is great stuff.
Lee
is just superb here as Dracula. The first glimpse of his dark
form at the top of the stairs is exquisitely done, and he
switches from the perfect formal gentleman in one scene to
the quintessential representative of evil (in both looks and
manner) in the next. He naturally takes command of every scene
in which he makes an appearance, putting over a sense of strength,
power and ancient knowledge which you can't imagine many other
actors even attempting. Peter Cushing makes the perfect light
to Lee's dark. His character is believable in that he continuously
instructs others around him, but finds himself almost overwhelmed
by the brute strength of Dracula, relying only on his personal
steadfastness.
Horror
of Dracula has genuine emotion and bags of tension. The
sense of time running out as night falls hasn't been captured
to quite this effect since Richard Matheson's excellent novel
I Am Legend.
This
is definitely one of the best products to have left the Hammer
stables. What are you waiting for? Go buy it!
Ty
Power
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