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DVD Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave is the third Christopher Lee Dracula film from Hammer Studios. While trying to rid the former Dracula's Castle of evil after the mysterious death of a local girl, the Monsignor inadvertently raises the dark prince from his deathly slumber. Once awaken from the grave, the parched prince only has one thing on his mind, the yummy taste of blood which he fiendishly extracts from the local maidens. Though a little weak in plot, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave still comes off as a strong vampire film, delivering the goods on the gothic visuals, eerie sets, and Lee's performance. --Rob Bracco
Among the countless horror figures the film industry exploited throughout the years, there is no doubt that Dracula is the most popular and immortal icon of them all. From Max Schreck to Bela Lugosi to Christopher Lee to Gary Oldman, and more recently resurrected yet again in Wes Craven's Dracula 2000 and in the upcoming Van Helsing; Dracula has steadily grown to be the most popular vampire and horror character of all time. Yet, no matter how many more Dracula versions will continue to exist in the future (seeing Hollywood's continuous fascination in milking every last drop from a franchise); I will always remain to cherish two particular versions of Dracula in my heart. And these are Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee. I don't think I need to expand on the greatness of Lugosi, as every respectable horror movie fanatic should know who he is and what he contributed to the vampire genre for several years to come. In the case of Christopher Lee, he managed to become a horror legend back in the 50's, 60's and 70's thanks to his Dracula Hammer films. And I dare say that every inch of success he obtained was well deserved; given the fact that he created one of the most charismatic vampires in cinema history. In my book, no Saruman or Count Dooku would ever come close to the coolness that was Count Dracula.
Dracula has risen from the grave is actually the fourth film in the whole Hammer series (which can boast of a total of eight entries), and one of the seven films out of all these to feature Christopher Lee. Ironically enough, the producers had no choice but to make the second instalment, Brides Of Dracula, without Lee; the reason being that Lee himself was afraid of type-casting at the time. He seemed to eventually change his mind over time since he then came back for no less than six sequels. Many fans of these movies seem to agree that Dracula has risen from the grave is the last real good entry into the series. It is actually a very good film in its own right, made back in the days when atmosphere was preferred to false scares and suspense was preferred to giving petty theories on why Dracula acts the way he does. This is as a matter of fact one of the main gripes I have with several modern versions. Remember the ending to Dracula 2000 and all that Judas Escariot nonsense? Many horror movies nowadays try too hard to construct an interesting story, and seem to forget that their primary reason of existence should be to frighten the unsuspecting viewer as effectively as possible. The Hammer Film producers were definitely aware of this, and Dracula has risen from the grave is living proof. The film doesn't give us any information on Dracula's background and evil origins, partly because it's a sequel and partly because this was the way many horror movies were approached back in the days. As soon as Dracula is out of his grave he immediately jumps into action, without any clear motives except for the fact he wanted to seek some sort of revenge on the Monsignor that tried to exorcise his castle. This is actually quite secondary to the whole premise though. All we need to know is that he's Count Dracula and he's an evil force. If we acknowledge just that, we are almost guaranteed to enjoy the movie. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, and I think it even helps to make the entire Dracula mystique all the more frightening. One of the golden rules I've learned from my experience in watching horror movies is that the less you know about the villain, the more scary the movie will turn out to be. Just compare Halloween to its sequels as one example.
Surprisingly, this movie also featured a recurring sexual element in it; and it's one of the first movies responsible to introduce the concept of the seductive vampire. There is absolutely no form of nudity in it; yet the film still fells strangely erotic in some places, particularly evidenced by the clothes worn by the female bartender and the sensual face expression of a female character lead when she's bitten by Dracula. The film manages to be sexy without feeling the need to include sex, also partly thanks to the natural beauty of Veronica Carlson, whom director Freddie Francis successfully exploits every angle of her charm to full effect.
The film's flaws are quite minor, and they usually have to do with some plot-holes or continuity errors. For example, it is never explained why Dracula didn't order the priest to take off the crucifix attached on his castle the first time he sees it. Instead, he decides to leave it there for no apparent reason; and when he goes back to the castle at the end of the film, he quickly orders Maria to take it off herself. This factor should be quite noteworthy since it will eventually influence Dracula's fate. Another thing I noticed happens during the chase scene between Dracula and Zena. This scene should've taken place at night; yet the shots seem to jump from dark night to early dawn continously. And I never fully understood where the first victim hidden in the church bell came from, since Dracula was still sleeping for over a year when the bell ringer finds the body.
Such trivial inconsistencies shouldn't nonetheless stop you from enjoying such a well-made vampire movie. When you hear James Bernard's haunting score in the opening credits, when you see Christopher Lee light the screen with his presence, when you experience a movie filled with such eerie atmosphere; you know you have just found a long- forgotten little gem.
One of the Decent Ones in the Series. . . But not the Best
Sequel to "Dracula Prince of Darkness" this one takes place one year after the events of the last one.
We Begin with a priest making a discovery of a body of a woman stuffed in the belfry of the local church in the town below Castle Dracula. A Monsignor bewildered that nobody is in church goes to the Priest who is scared out of his wits because at sunset the shadow of the castle touches the church so to make the towns people feel better the two holymen march up to the castle with a huge cross to seal the doors so that his sprit can never leave again however the priest stays behind and gets lost and falls down a hill on to a frozen stream under the ice is Count Dracula from the events of "Prince" the priest hits his head and blood seeps in to the ice and soon Dracula Has Risen From The Grave
It's Hammering Time
"Dracula Has Risen From the Grave", was probably the best of Hammer Studio's Dracula sequels. The film was hurt considerably by the lack of Peter Cushing, who was in the pseudo-sequel, "The Brides of Dracula." However, in its favor was that Lee's Dracula was no longer expected to turn in an actual acting performance, but to serve only as a presence, an almost animal presence at that. This is where he was only expected to hiss and bare his fangs constantly, in a Sir Francis Varney sort of way. By now the orgiastic reactions of the victims were wearing thinner than their negligees.
My main reason for enjoying "Dracula Has Risen From the Grave," was that it was so lush. The night scenery was awash in deep blues and reds. The houses were full of realistic Victorian clutter. The movie covered some of the religious sensibilites of Bram Stoker's original novel, where they read the Prayer for the Dead over those they staked. So having an atheist hero who couldn't pray was an interesting sub-theme, as well as his eventual conversion, because of his having to fight an evil he never knew existed. Even the scene where Dracula wrenched a stake out of his own heart was significant, because it echoes a myth I read where a vampire actually thanked the villagers who staked him for, "...providing me with a post to fight off the dogs with... ." Uninformed critcs cried foul over this scene at the time, because the only legends they were familiar with were the versions provided by Universal Studios.
The only major drawback in the film was in the actresses. Starting with "Brides of Dracula," the actress were looking more and more like young women of the 1960's and less and less like the 1890's. Negligees, hairstyles, and even eye make-up were clearly for the hoochy factor, not realism.
"Drac" is back once again in this fourth installment of Hammer's Dracula films starring Christopher Lee. Under the guidance of Satanic Priest Lord Courtley, three middle-aged professionals seek to add more spice to their love lives by dabbling in rituals to the Dark Prince. After drinking the blood of the Count, the pleasure seekers kill Lord Courtley, inadvertently awakening Dracula who is dead set on avenging his Priest's murder. Though not on par with Hammer's original "Horror of Dracula", Taste the Blood of Dracula does take all the key elements from the original (beautiful heroines, picturesque settings, gothic ambiance, and Lee as the "Count") and somewhat successfully "cheeses" it up for audiences of the '70s. Those wishing to expand their cheesy '70s Dracula experience... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Christopher Lee Director(s): Peter Sasdy DVD Release Date: Released the 27 April 2004 Usually ships within 24 hours
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After Hammer Studios' tremendous success with The Curse of Frankenstein, they struck a deal to adapt Universal's catalog of classics and set their sights first on Dracula. Christopher Lee removes the monstrous makeup from the earlier film and makes his entrance as an elegant, confident, altogether seductive Dracula, a frightening figure of flashing eyes and erotic allure. Peter Cushing, with his hawklike profile and piercing eyes, turns his rationalist intensity to Van Helsing: man of science as crusading vampire hunter. Director Terence Fisher and screenwriter Jimmy Sangster make a few changes to Bram Stoker's tale; gone are Renfield, Transylvania, howling wolves, and transformations into bats. The Count is an old-world aristocrat firmly ensconced in a castle in England and... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Terence Fisher DVD Release Date: Released the 01 October 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This is one of the Best Hammer Dracula Movies in the Series Great Sets,Good Story,Fine Casting with some Good and Bad Points
First the Good
1. Dracula Has Never Been played any Better than Christopher Lee
2. The Castle in this one is The Best Looking One Out of the Whole Series
3. The Coolest Scene in the Movie is where Dracula climbs up the Wall to the upper window
Now the Bad
1. In "Taste the Blood of Dracula" Dracula is Destroyed in London
Here we Begin in Transylvania and yet were supossed to believe this is where He was Last Destroyed
2. The Bat looks too Fake and in some Scenes you Can see a String Hanging in off the Wings
3. Is the Klove in this movie supossed to be the Klove who... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Roy Ward Baker DVD Release Date: Released the 07 August 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Peter Cushing delivers his most cold-blooded portrayal of the mad Baron in his fifth turn as Dr. Frankenstein. Abandoning his latest experiment after a drunk stumbles into his secret lab (upsetting a severed head) he hurriedly finds new lodgings with a sweet young thing (Hammer glamour babe Veronica Carlson) whose boyfriend (Simon Ward, in his film debut) works in the local sanitarium. Frankenstein blackmails the lovers into complicity with his latest experiment, resorts to kidnapping and murder for his subjects, turns accomplice Ward into a killer, and even rapes Carlson in a coldly brutal scene. The goriest film of the series kicks off with a flamboyant beheading with a scythe (seen only as a spray of blood across a window) and is full of bloody brain surgery, conveniently... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Peter Cushing - Veronica Carlson Director(s): Terence Fisher DVD Release Date: Released the 27 April 2004 Usually ships within 24 hours
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"Hammer Horror Series" presents some of the studios best films from the early sixties period, though they might not be the most familiar to Hammer fans. A few, in fact, might come with baggage attached, but this collection dispells some of that baggage. In particular, Hammer's "Phantom of the Opera" has suffered more abuse over the years than any other of its films. The hard truth is, it's pretty good. The reason it has such a bum reputation might be because most people first saw it on television, which seriously impaired it. In it's proper aspect ratio, and with the extra scenes filmed for American TV left out, it's really pretty good. Not perfect, but pretty good. The biggest liability with the film are the horrendous opera sequences. "Evil of Frankenstein" has similarly been... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Herbert Lom - Heather Sears Director(s): Terence Fisher DVD Release Date: Released the 06 September 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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