DRACULA A.D. 1972

By 1972 the bloom was clearly off of the rose that was Hammer Studios. Beginning with THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957), the small British film company had produced a series of well-mounted Gothic horror films over  the years. The productions were marked by sharp color photography, literate screenplays, inspired directing, beautiful women, moderate amounts of onscreen blood and gore, and solid British actors and actresses, including two legendary genre icons, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

But as the studio transitioned into the 1970s, the old-fashioned Gothic horror films couldn't compare to the more modern, realistic horrors that were being displayed on movie screens in Great Britain and the United States. In an effort to (you'll pardon the expression) inject new blood into the studios' immensely popular and financially successful Dracula franchise, the decision was made to move the Prince of Darkness from his roots in the 19th century to the modern world. Thus, DRACULA A.D. 1972.

Any Hammer film that features Christopher Lee as Dracula, Peter Cushing as Van Helsing and the drop-dead gorgeous Caroline Munro, can't be a total bomb. These three Hammer stalwarts do their best with the material that was given them in Don Houghton's rather dodgy screenplay. Munro, however, doesn't get enough screen time in my book as she is dispatched rather early in the film as the first victim of the freshly resurrected Count Dracula.

The story revolves around a group of jaded, disaffected youths who are bored and looking for kicks of any kind. They're led by Johnny Alucard (and let's acknowledge here and now that any Dracula movie that uses the name "Alucard", is in trouble from the get-go), who is played by Christopher Neame as a sligthly less vicious thug than Alex (Malcolm McDowell) in Stanley Kubrick's A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971). The gang uses a Satanic ritual to bring the Count (who was killed in 1872 at the beginning of the film by Lawrence Van Helsing) back to life.

One of the members of the group, Jessica (Stephanie Beacham), just happens to be the granddaughter of current day Lorrimer Van Helsing. As the vampire murders start piling up, Van Helsing investigates and is ultimately caught in a race against time to save his granddaughter from the clutches of Dracula.

As said, Cushing, Lee and Munro are the good things about DRACULA A.D. 1972.  Among the bad things is the absolutely wretched musical score by Mike Vickers. It sounds like it was written and performed for a 1970s television cop show rather than a contemporary horror film. And Stephanie Beacham's hairstyle looks like the one Carol Brady (Florence Henderson) sported on THE BRADY BUNCH but with the addition of a mullet-like tail.

DRACULA A.D. 1972 was the next to last film in Hammers' Dracula series. It was followed by THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA (1973), which also had a contemporary setting. It was the seventh Hammer film to feature Dracula and the sixth to star Christopher Lee in the title role. It was also the first time Cushing played Van Helsing since BRIDES OF DRACULA in 1960 and was the first Dracula film to star both Lee and Cushing since the first (and infinitely superior) entry, HORROR OF DRACULA (1958).

Worth watching for die-hard Dracula fans but a far cry removed from the glory that was Hammer Films in its' prime.