Runtime: 85 minutes
Directed by: Terence Fisher
Starring: Peter Cushing, Yvonne Monlaur, Martita Hunt, Freda Jackson, David Peel
From: Hammer
You can’t have Spooky Season without at least a dollop of Hammer Horror, right? Years ago I saw 1958’s Dracula and most of its sequels; my hearing of bad things about the finale (The Satanic Rites of Dracula) have kept me away. Meanwhile, the only one in that series w/o Christopher Lee wasn’t viewed due to lack of availability rather than the lack of Lee. Finally, via Prime I can discuss this.
The strong Gothic vibes began right away w/ a carriage ride through a foggy moor with lead girl Yvonne Monlaur, a ravishing young beauty who is on the way to a teacher’s position in Transylvania. What misfortune then that she runs into a Baroness who has an adult son that is “cursed.” Things go bad for her so thankfully Dr. Van Helsing arrives in the beginning of the second act. Of course, Peter Cushing was the highlight of the film yet the first act was delightful in setting up Van Helsing’s arrival & presenting the main players.
The Technicolor cinematography, the mood/atmosphere, and the lavish sets made this a pretty good time. So was the climatic showdown between the Baron and the good Dr. It does introduce a piece of vampiric lore that was new to me but there have been many stronger, egregious examples of that so that didn’t bother me. Even if that lead vampire was no Dracula-nor Alucard-the vibes helped make Brides of Dracula a pretty good time.
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