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Dracula A.D. 1972

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"Dracula A.D. 1972," starring Christopher Lee as the titular vampire, is one bizarre film. It starts with a prologue set in the 1800s: Lee's Dracula is shown in battle with his nemesis Van Helsing (Peter Cushing). As the title indicates, the main body of the film brings Dracula into the 1970s, where he battles Van Helsing's descendant (also played by Cushing). Also along for the horror is a young Stephanie Beacham as the second Van Helsing's lovely granddaughter.

The film tries to blend traditional vampiric horror with 70s style youth culture: thus the elements of sex (discretely), drugs, and rock 'n' roll permeate the film. To early 21st century viewers, the swingin' music, outrageous mod clothes, hairdos, and wannabe hip slang ("Weird, man. Way out") of the young cast may come off as more campy than anything else, but it does make the film fun.

Lee is compelling as Dracula: articulate and elegant, yet feral. Unfortunately, his screen time is sparse; his amounts to little more than a small supporting role. The real star of the film is Cushing as the 20th century Van Helsing. The classy Cushing projects real intelligence and ability as his character. He brings total conviction to every scene, and has solid chemistry with Beacham (although I think his hands come a little too close to her bosom in a couple of scenes--watch it, "Grandpa"!). "Dracula A.D. 1972" may be far from the best of the many Dracula films, but Cushing and Lee make it worthwhile.

I find it amusing that many fans absolutely gush over "Taste the Blood of Dracula," yet completely dump on this one, when they're basically the same film. A group of friends, bored with their lives, decide that performing a black mass ritual that will literally raise Hell sounds like a fun new way to get kicks, and just happen to resurrect a thoroughly pissed-off Count Dracula in the process. That's the premise of both movies, and both movies carry it off nicely.

"Dracula A.D. 1972" admittedly contains some awkward moments, most notably the absurd and insulting scene in which the brilliant Prof. Van Helsing has to write the name 'Alucard' down on paper and study it before making the all-too-terribly-obvious connection to his family's arch-nemesis, but these are nit-picks. It's a beautifully-photographed, slickly-produced and generally well-acted piece, featuring both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee at the height of their game. The '70s pop soundtrack, much-maligned, is actually quite effective and suits the movie. It's fast-paced, entertaining fun, and isn't that all any genre film really needs to be?

If you love Hammer Horror as I do, appreciate the work of the legendary Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and/or just have a nostalgic appreciation for movies of this very bygone era, please ignore the bad press and give this classic film a chance.

Very interesting entry in the Hammer Dracula series...by this time, they were generally running out of ideas, and decided to put the Count in a contemporary setting. But they went way overboard with the "mod" 70's hippie scenes...these are right out of "Austin Powers", and that character would have fit right in helping Van Helsing fight off Dracula. Aside from that, Cushing and Lee have typical powerful performances which carry the film. And the incredible women, like Munro sure are easy on the eyes. Dracula vs. Powers could have been the title to this, but the film moves at a good pace if you can stomach 37 year old hippies trying to act like teenagers. It is a lot less boring and slow moving than some of the other Hammer Dracula films. All in all, a film well worth watching if you love Hammer or basic cheesiness.

that tag line above is taken from the theatrical trailer that comes with this DVD. actually the trailer itself is a very nice appetizer for the movie and I'm glad it was included with the disc. the film itself begins with a flashback to the year 1872, one hundred years before the main body of the story begins. from the first frames of dry leaves blowing along a carriage path in London's Hyde Park a careening coach appears in view with a struggle aboard involving the evil Count Dracula vs. the honorable Professor Van Helsing. when the carriage capsizes the Count is left fatally wounded with a pierced wagon wheel spoke entering his heart.
The Professor dies in the accident but as the Count is reduced to ash a young assistant comes along to scoop up an amount of the ashes which he buries in a churchyard not far away.
we are then taken to modern times (1972)and a party at a posh London home.
the party is highlighted by the rock group Stoneground but apparently some hippy flotsam and jetsam have slithered onto the scene much to the distaste of the lady of the house! these slithering but groovy young people that have made themselves welcome at the party include Jessica Van Helsing the great granddaughter of the Professor. Also part of the group is Johnny Alucard(Dracula spelled backwards), a descendent of the assistant who had gathered the Counts' ashes 100 years earlier. As an aside, it was a treat to see Sal Valentino, the leader of Stoneground singing Alligator Man at the party. Sal used to be in the Beau Brummels. He kind of sounds like Dr. John when he sings. But anyway, after the party is shut down by the men in uniform via complaints from the Grande Dame, the crew dash off for drinks at a coffee bar called The Cavern. It is here that Johnny tries to lure his friends into a ritualistic 'black mass' that he will conduct that night, much to everyone's nervous apprehension. Everyone that is except Laura from the group played by Caroline Munro who finds it all quite exciting and cheerily suggests "it could be a giggle". well, later that night as they all gather inside a darkened candle-lit gothic church set for demolition(de-sanctified) Johnny begins his black magic, casting a deep spell upon them and building up to an unholy sacrifice. Laura volunteers and to everyone's horror is soon dabbled with blood and ashes from the 100 year old Count. Everything goes very badly very quickly and the friends flee from the scene too scared to answer Laura's cry's for help. Johnny, you see, has taken his heritage to heart and to rise 'the master' up from the unsacred ground is his mission, and poor Laura is his pawn. And yes, the master does emerge from the depths and eyes the present of Laura that Johnny has prepared for him. A word here about the performance of Christopher Lee as Dracula. Watching the actor's very expressive face was wonderful to watch. Merging from calm and steady to bloodthirsty lust to frightening aggression and even later as he falls under attack and is fearing for his life(or, unlife, i suppose)is a study of the actors repetoire of facial expertise. The next day all the friends meet again at The Cavern very worried about the absence of Laura. Johnny assures them she's just out of town. No one buys it and sure enough Laura is found dead outside the grounds of the old church. The Inspector from Scotland Yard eyes the corpse of a girl with seemingly all the blood drained out of her. He seeks out someone he believes can help with this gruesome murder, the grandson of Professor Van Helsing(Peter Cushing). Van Helsing gets on the case right away and is especially concerned as the dead girl was in his granddaughters circle of friends. I think i'll leave it at that and conclude by saying this is an excellent thriller from the early 1970's.

Changes in directors, budgets, and vision at Hammer Studios had its effect. This is an odd entry in the Dracula series. It blends familiar gothic elements with a "modern" setting. After a pulse-pounding prologue, showing the Victorian-era Dracula impaled on a broken carriage wheel, the action fast-forwards 100 years to 1972. Bored with sex, drugs, and rock n' roll, a motley crew of aging British hippies resurrect Dracula in a de-sanctified church. Dracula decides to settle old debts by taking Van Helsing's granddaughter as his bloody bride. This is a fine opportunity to see legendary Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee perpetuate their long running battle of good vs. evil. Mist-shrouded scenes of Dracula in the ruins of the profaned church are visually effective. Lee's towering, menacing presence in the flowing black cape adds to the fun. His feral lust for the blood of young women is frankly sexual. Instead of typical Hammer heaving bosoms in Victorian bodices, we have substantial cleavage in '70s gauche courtesy of Stephanie Beacham, Caroline Munro, et al. Sex and the vampire are never far apart, regardless of the era. The penetration is of the fangs in the neck variety, but we get the idea. Peter Cushing looks emaciated and gaunt. As Van Helsing, he uses superior cunning to foil Dracula's supernatural power. Their climactic confrontation recalls the showdown from "Horror of Dracula." Some groaning humor lightens the mood. Johnny Alucard is Dracula's mod disciple. His name spelled backwards is significant. A street scene focuses briefly on a restaurant called "London Steak House." The film falls short of classic Hammer standards. Even so, Hammer Horror Heads and classic horror collectors will be pleased with this flick. ;-)

Its About time for this to come out to DVD Now the whole Hammer/Dracula Series is out on DVD This is not the only Hammer Film coming out this year or DVD this is Bieng released along with "Love At First Bite" Another Great Dracula Film and a New Boxset containing 8 Hammer Films including "Brides of Dracula" and The Hammer Version of "Phantom of the Opera" this movie belongs in your Hammer Collection next to Dracula: Prince of Darkness "oh by the way I Wish they would Bring that DVD Back into Print"

A Dracula Movie Will done and Well Made Christopher Lee As Dracula At his Best For every Horror Fan get this movie

Do You remember the wonderful Hammer horror films that came out of Britain in the sixties and seventies? If you do what did you like the best about them? Was it their first rate production values, the incredible gothic atmosphere or the numerous classic British actors who starred in these productions like: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Oliver Reed? If you were a young teenage boy at the time like I was you certainly did appreciate all the above, but they weren't the reason. When you talk about Hammer horror you're talking about the most beautiful, buxom actresses of the century.

'Dracula A.D. 1972' was no different, there were four lovely ladies in this film, the two most well known being Stephanie Beacham and my personal favorite Caroline Munro.

Basic stuff here, Dracula (Christopher Lee) rises from the grave once again, this time in modern day London and seeks revenge against the ancestors of Van Helsing (Cushing and Beacham), the man who last put him in the grave.

Enjoyable, well done, but all in all predictable. And as already mentioned lots of pretty woman being terrorized by the horrible Christopher Lee to keep the young boys interested.

This has got to be one of the cheesiest movies that Hammer ever made and it's great! You take a bunch of young people playing at being hippies,add a bit of reconstituted Dracula and voila you have this movie! I think the whole idea of this movie,Dracula coming back to 'life' in modern times, is very interesting and well done. It captures the age in which it takes place perfectly. I am a huge Hammer fanatic and this film is in my top five of all time favorite movies from that studio.I have been waiting forever for this movie to be released on DVD.

The people who think it is insipid have got to be deaf,dumb, and blind.

I've always had a particular fondness for Hammer Studio's 1972 Vampire epic "Dracula A.D. 1972". It seems to be a film that always creates feverish dabate among horror movie fans as to its merits, in particular of it being the first Hammer Dracula movie to use a modern setting for its story. I always believe that as the most prominent member of the group referred to as "the undead", then it is a logical step to show Dracula eventually in a modern setting. Criticised for supposedly showing Dracula out and about in "mod" 1970's London, in actual fact Hammer Studios rather cleverly never allow Dracula during the course of this story to leave the Gothic confines of the ruined church of St. Bartocks, a setting more in keeping with the period most Hammer Dracula's are set in. Inspired no doubt by the great success of American International's 1970 modern vampire tale "Count Yorga Vampire", Hammer Studios in one of their last efforts in this genre have taken a different approach to their previous Dracula stories that of course will upset many fans of the genre. One of the great joys of "Dracula A.D. 1972", however is the reteaming of horror veterans and frequent Hammer Studios co stars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Significantly here Peter Cushing also returns to his famous role of Professor Van Helsing for the first time since "Brides of Dracula", in 1960 and as usual brings his dignified playing to this vastly different 1972 effort greatly increasing its dramatic appeal.

Before the modern story of "Dracula A.D. 1972", unfolds we are treated to a thrilling prologue set in 1872 exactly 100 years before our present story unfolds. We find Count Dracula and Professor Van Helsing locked in a deadly battle on top of a runaway coach on a lonely road in Hyde Park. The carriage crashes and Dracula is impaled on part of one of the broken carriage wheels and expires. However Professor Van Helsing also dies from his wounds just as a mysterious young rider (Christopher Neame),appears along the road on horseback. Taking the signet ring that has Dracula's seal and pouring some of Dracula's ashes into a glass vial this young man then proceeds to bury some of Dracula's ashes in the same church yard were a few days later Professor Van helsing is laid to rest. The story then moves a hundred years into the future to the modern London of 1972 where the open fields have been taken over by skyscrapers and the Church of St. Bartocks, the resting place of both Van Helsing and Dracula is a ruin ready for demolition. The action focuses on a group of well heeled Chelsea teenagers who seem to have plenty of money and are bored with your average amusements. Headed by the mysterious Johnny Alucard (Christopher Neame again), who no one seems to know much about, the group also includes Jessica Van Helsing (Stephanie Beacham), who just happens to be the great grand daughter of the original Professor Van Helsing and her boyfriend Bob (Philip Miller). Searching for new highs Johnny suggests as the ultimate thrill that they hold a Black Mass in a ruined church however Johnny has other plans of his own for the evening. The ceremony succeeds in raising Dracula from the dead who then proceeds to kill Laura (Caroline Munro) one of the group memebers. Fleeing the scene the rest of the group are mystified as to Laura's disappearance until a few days later when her mutilated body is found on the demolition site. The police are alerted and when other women start dying with the same marks the police bring in vampire expert Professor Van Helsing the descendant of the original famous vampire hunter to investigate. Professor Van Helsing becomes convinced that a vampire sect is at work and that Johnny Alucard (Dracula spelt backwards), is at the centre of it. Johnny in actual fact has become a disciple of Dracula who is now intent upon destroying the family of Professor Van Helsing. Having already changed Bob into a vampire Alucard manages to lure Jessica to the closed pub where the group normally drinks and kidnaps her. Professor Van Helsing closes in on Alucard however and confronts him at his apartment where in a duel to the death he manages to kill Johnny under the running water of a shower. Tracing Dracula to the ruined church the professor engages in one last battle with the deadly prince of darkness which sees him staked in a pit that the professor has set up as a trap for Dracula. There the professor is reunited with his granddaughter as they witness Dracula crumble to dust before their eyes on the sharp stakes.

Dismissed by many as the sad last gasp of Hammer Studios Vampire efforts, "Dracula A.D. 1972", was successful enough however to lead on to a follow up the following year titled "The Satanic Rites of Dracula". I personally feel alot of the production values within this film are first rate, from the superbly staged fight sequence in the period prologue to the splendidly eerie ruined church set, and of course the vividly sinister "raising from the dead" sequence when Dracula is brought back to life. Thses are a match to anything else in the Hammer Dracula series. Despite Christopher Lee's growing dissatisfaction with the role and his reluctance to perform in this film his Dracula is still an arresting and sinister creature at times both elegant and deadly. Peter Cushing has the greater screen time and his Van Helsing really picks up from where he left off almost 11 years previously. His terrific playing of a memorable literary character is the real strength of "Dracula A. D 1972" and here even manages to bring something new and interesting to the vampire legend in his discussions with the police chief where he alerts him to the fact not mentioned before, that in fighting vampires the old standby of garlic to ward them off is often not effective. Criticism can justly be directed at the fact that the "teenagers" of the story are really 30 year olds and that alot of the "hip" dialogue was even dated by 1972. However I feel they are small concerns when you look at the whole production and in a way those "dated", elements now have a fun kind of nostalgia about them. At this time Christopher Neame was being groomed as the successor to Christopher Lee in Hammer's vampire cycle and he does indeed have a sinister presence about him on screen that works well however vampire topics were coming to a close as a basis for films and his grooming didn't result in his taking over Christopher Lee's mantel as the horror king of Hammer productions.

Is "Dracula A.D 1972", the worst of Hammer's Dracula films or a refreshing change to a cycle of films already becoming stale? I think the jury will be permanently out on that subject. No where near as memorable as Hammer's first classic vampire film "Horror of Dracula", from 1958, it should be I think taken on it's own merits and individual good qualities. It is always a joy when veterans Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee team together on a horror story and despite his lack of interest in this particular script Christopher Lee still gives his dastardly best to the role of the infamous Count Dracula here. All horror buffs should at least take a look at this effort sometime. Enjoy!