The Satanic Rites Of Dracula on DVD, Horror, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing

Description:

In 1974, Professor Lorrimer Van Helsing investigates a satanic cult on behalf of Scotland Yard, only to discover a plot by Count Dracula to commit global genocide.

Actors: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Michael Coles

Year Of Release: 1973

Running Time: 87 minutes   Color

Language : English

(Manufactured On Demand , Region 0.)

This DVD will play in DVD players worldwide 

POSTAGE : Free In Australia. Rest Of The World at Table Rate

Australia : All Orders Of Two Or More Dvds Are Upgraded To Tracked Shipping.

Rest Of The World : All orders shipped with Tracking

Delivery times for tracked shipping are halved compared to untracked shipping

Australia 7 to 15 days : Overseas 18 to 22 days

COMBINED POSTAGE : ONLY CHARGED FOR FIRST DVD ALL OTHERS IN A MULTIPLE ORDER ARE POST FREE

All Dvds Come In A Dvd Case With Color Artwork And Printed Disc.

ALL DVDs ARE AVAILABLE ON Mpeg4 DOWNLOAD FILE

Testimonial:

The accepted wisdom regarding the Hammer Dracula pictures is that they started great, tailed off to good, and, by the time the 70's rolled round, were stinkers. Well, sorry friends, but this time the accepted wisdom is wrong.

Personally, I have never been a great fan of Vampire films in general and Dracula in particular. The vast majority of the Hammer fang flicks bore me rigid (I like the Frankenstein's though - especially 'and the monster from Hell'). And I've always thought that Chris Lee was far better employed in other roles. But 'The Satanic rites of Dracula' represents the best of Hammer and Lee.

For me, one of it's major strengths is that Dracula remains implied rather than seen until the last third of the film. Instead, we view the sinister workings of his organization and it's minions. Lee appears after the first 30 minutes, in a short and ineffective scene in which he emerges from a puff of smoke to claim a kidnapped damsel, and then disappears again for another 30. This brief, unsatisfactory piece of business was presumably inserted to reassure punters who were worried that half an hour had elapsed without presenting the title character. Personally, I'd cut it to make an even better film.

The withholding of the chief vampire manages to build up a real sense of atmosphere and some genuine foreboding, which pays off well in the great little sequence where Cushing's Van Helsing finally confronts the Count, who has been operating under the funky moniker of D.D. Denham. A simple but very effectively staged episode with Pete n' Chris on top form.

The film as a whole is well shot and cut by ex-'Avengers' man Alan Gibson, who creates an effectively bleak and chilly atmosphere through good location work (a seemingly deserted London and Dracula's spooky country retreat) and some well designed interiors (hidden, seedy MI5 offices and Dracula's business headquarters). The tone and 'feel' of the picture is nicely established by the opening credits sequence. Again, simple but effective.

There are good performances by Cushing, Lee, William Franklyn, Freddie Jones and Michael Coles. Even Joanna Lumley. A modicum of 70's cheese, as evidenced by the vampire brides sequence and John Cacavas' cool 'chicka-wah' score, enriches, rather than taints, the whole experience. And some choice lines of fruity dialogue raise an occasional delighted grin. I've seen the film numerous times over the past 11 or 12 years and for me it never palls.

Along with 'Captain Kronos', definitely one of Hammers best.