The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)

The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)

Directed by: Alan Gibson

Starring:  Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Coles, Joanna Lumley, Barbara Yu Ling

Tagline:  There Is No Hope Left

Format:  NTSC Region 1 DVD Private Collection







(out of 5)

     The last two entries in the Hammer Dracula series with Christopher Lee playing Dracula aren't up to par at all with the previous films and all but I still love them.  Alan Gibson's Satanic Rites of Dracula paints yet another evil picture of the Prince of Darkness and his quest to destroy the world through spreading a mutant strain of the bubonic plague.  There's only one thing to stop Dracula's scheme and yes once again it's Dr. Van Helsing played by Peter Cushing.  Cushing and Lee together on the screen is always a treat for me as I love almost anything the two men are in.  Having them together is just icing on the cake.  This film does not have the old time gothic atmosphere of the earlier ones but for me it was very much enjoyable from the get go in a sort of 70s satanic cult style as their were a lot of these kinds of films during this time because of people's fear of the cults.  I'm sure our facebook experts on satanic worship will go on about why this so far from what "real" satanic cults are like but it's a movie number one and number two I've done enough research on the subject to know that anyone who says such things are full of poo poo. 

     In this film Dracula has set out creating a sort of blood cult with hopes of distributing disease throughout the world using a politican, a soldier, an industrialist, and a land owner.  The film starts out with an undercover policeman escaping from the cult's mansion after being beaten and tortured for days.  The policeman dies at the hospital but not before giving up some information on the cult including some photos generated from the man's watch.  The photos are of the four men in league with the cult leader who at the moment is still a mystery although we all know exactly who it is. 

     As the film continues Dr. Van Helsing and the team of British policeman continue to investigate the cult and even end up inside the mansion's basement in search of their female assistant who had been kidnapped.  They find her and many other girls locked and chained up in the basement either to the walls or inside coffins.  This scene for me was very creepy and unforgettable.  Back when vampires were vampires and not sparkling teenaged heartthrobs. 

     As a huge fan of anything Hammer even the later sex filled cheesefests I would have to give this one a moderate rating but in the end I still say it's highly recommended.  It just doesn't have the atmosphere and great writing the earlier Hammer productions provide but by no means forgettable like I've read many times.  For one thing the movie stars as I said both Lee and Cushing and that's enough for me.