Customer Reviews

Dracula - Prince of Darkness

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For owners of high-definition televisions, be warned that this is merely presented in widescreen format and NOT anamorphic widescreen format.

Because this is out of print, some private sellers are asking for exorberant amounts for this. Be forewarned. I purchased it from a seller who offered it at a reasonable rate. I'm trying to complete my Hammer Films collection and "Dracula: Prince of Darkness" is a must. (I'm not a big fan of the "Satanic Rites of Dracula," but it's nice to have that, as well.) But I thought it was enhanced for widescreen televisions before I bought it and I was wrong.

I give this four stars because Anchor Bay didn't offer these films in anamorphic widescreen. While that is very disappointing, I'm still happy to own it.

This is a very good film from Hammer. My issue is with the print they used for the anchor bay DVD release. The color is off. When they have shown this film on Turner Classic Movies, they show a different print. The color is deeper and richer. If you check the end of the film, the print used on cable was originally distributed by Warner-Pathe. The print on the DVD was originally a 20th Century Fox Distribution.
Anchor Bay(or SOMEONE) should release the Warner-Pathe version on DVD. It is a big improvement visually.

The 4 star rating is for the quality and presentation of the DVDs, not the movies themselves. I am a huge Hammer fan and I am building up a collection. These seemed like a deal I couldn't pass up, so I will pour out the facts about this new set so you can make an informed opinion. For reviews of their plotlines, actors and the rest, it would be best to look up these movies by their seperate titles or at the links given below by this website.

The good news about the DVDs:
*Two movies at a good price!
*Chris Lee (and others) commentary on Prince of Darkness!
*Large nice quality poster postcards inside of both films! They have the chapter stops on the other side of them.
*5 minutes of Behind The Scenes footage on Prince of Darkness with commentary by Chris Lee (and others!)
*House of Hammer short called "Dracula and the Undead," mainly clips from Hammer films with vampires in them but very cool, never seen a scene from Vampire Circus, so now I want to check that out!

*Both movies are gloriously uncut!

The Bad News:
*Widescreen ratio is smaller than average, which is disappointing. More so on Prince of Darkness...I think Satanic Rites was bigger, more the standard letterbox form.
*Films tend to jump a little. I have no idea if this is the original print of the film, the DVD or my player...or a bit of all three. It doesn't happen often enough for me to really complain about it since I have VHS versions of these which are much worse as far as film quality. Scenes "skip" a 1/3 second or so, such as in Prince when the woman gets out of the carriage. Happens about 5-6 times in the whole set.
*Hammer extra on Satanic Rites is the same "Dracula and the Undead" on the other DVD. So you get the same show twice. I guess that is ok if you are lending one of the DVDs out...but I would think they could have put on another House of Hammer.
*Holders for the DVDs tend to smack into each other and since they are both double sided DVDs (not one sided,) I worry about them getting scratched. They do come off the center without much effort, compared to the Midnite Movie ones you basically have to pry off, almost breaking the DVD in the process!

Overall, a good effort. 4 Stars. Could have been 5 if there had been commentary on both films, no jumping of the frames and two different Hammer specials. But for the price, you really can't beat it. I would highly recommend this for anyone wanting to get a taste (heh) of what Christopher Lee's Dracula character is like and wonderful insights into the world of Hammer Films.

This is the third and best instalment in Hammer's Dracula-series, it ignores the second one and continues where the first one left off. Actually, knowledge of any of the other movies is not required at all, each one of them a ritual reviving the important elements, this one being the most ceremonial. The main theme seems to be the disproportion between rationality and sexuality, the former represented by Victorian morals, the latter by the vampire, stoic nobleman and hissing animal in one, he comes off as a diabolic high-priest of passion. Thus the beautiful Barbara Shelley, who enters Dracula's castle together with her boring husband, is transformed from uptight pedant to sexy vamp in lingerie, the actress mastering both roles accordingly. The scene in which she begs the heroine to let her in because "it's cold out here", sniveling like a child, but truly menacing at the same time, is one of the iconographic highlights of the genre.

Dracula: Prince of Darkness is an oddity in the progression of the Hammer movies. It follows the formula religiously, of course, but it is radically distinct from The Horror of Dracula. By removing the film from the confines of Victorian England and by changing the savant into robust Andrew Kier rather than slender Peter Cushing, Dracula: Prince of Darkness FEELS different from The Horror of Dracula even though it really isn't different at all. This is the third of Hammer's Dracula films and the second to star Christopher Lee (Lee declined a part in Brides of Dracula, fearing that he would be typecast). Lee cements his position as Lugosi's heir to the part here, despite having no dialogue. The screenplay reportedly had Dracula uttering lines like, "I am the apocalypse!" which Lee refused to speak aloud on film (and really, who can blame him?). Lee's cultured voice was a rich part of his performance in the first film. Its absence here is disappointing, but Lee's PRESENCE still dominates the film. Despite minor flaws, a classic slice of Hammer Horror history.

Eight years after Christopher Lee first donned his cape as the Lord of the Undead, Hammer Studios released this second entry in its series of "Dracula" films. "Dracula -- Prince Of Darkness" premiered in 1966 and provides an ample amount of blood-curdling scares and Gothic touches that places it right next to its predecessor, "Horror Of Dracula" (1958), as a fine example of how a horror movie should look.

Christopher Lee's portrayal of the king of all vampires in "Prince Of Darkness" is every bit as chilling and effective as his first Dracula performance in "Horror". And the "resurrection" scene (in which Dracula rises from his ashes) is a most unsettling and disturbing scene, especially given the eerie-looking actor that was utilized to perform the resurrecting. This faithful "servant" of Dracula looks like he, himself, would have made a fairly convincing "Count Dracula" in his own right.

This film was shot in color, and uses light and shadow (and the color red) to its distinct advantage during the course of its ninety-minute feature running time.

This double-sided DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment (released in 1998) offers up a Widescreen version of the film (2:35:1 aspect ratio), with a Dolby Digital Mono soundtrack (in both English and French).

Side 1 of this disc contains the movie; while the opposite side has a few interesting Bonus supplements. Here's a brief look at the Special Features.....................

>> Feature-length Audio Commentary Track, with four actors who starred in "Prince Of Darkness", including Christopher Lee.

>> Theatrical Trailers (two for this film).

>> An episode from a program called "World Of Hammer", all about vampires (which features movie clips from several Hammer vampire flicks, including "Prince Of Darkness").

>> A 4-minute "Home Movie", showing behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage with Christopher Lee on the set of "Prince Of Darkness". This silent film footage is augmented by explanatory audio commentary featuring Lee and others. This home movie is short, but quite interesting nonetheless.

>> Thick cardboard insert, which has as a Chapter List on one side (13 chapters) and a replica of an original "Prince Of Darkness" poster (or lobby card) on the other side. Nicely-done insert.

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Any Christopher Lee DVD collection would not be complete without a copy of "Dracula -- Prince Of Darkness".

In 1895 two english couples on a trip in the Carpathians find themselves stranded at an eerie castle. They do not know it but they are at Castle Dracula. Count Dracula's manservent Klove has been waiting for this, it seems his master has been dead for 10 years. One of the guests becomes a victim and reconstitutes Dracula. The next day the other couple go in search of Alan & Helen Kent, Helen has become a vampire and Charles is no where to be found.

They seek the help of Father Sandor and he helps them combat the Count. The final is a thrill when Sandor shoots the ice around Dracula. The Count is consigned to the moat, destroyed by running water. Father Sandor replaces Dr. Van Helsing in this one.
Barbara Shelly gives the performance of a lifetime as Helen Kent.

Although this film holds a nostalgic pull for this particular viewer, (having seen it in its original stateside release at a Drive-In)an honest assessment today compels us to admit that the film is a study of a studio in decline.

True, the film is not without its assets, not the least of which is the veteran cast, with the lovely and always dramatically compelling Barbara Shelley pretty much walking off with the picture. Suzan Farmer, as always, is charming, and very easy on the eyes.

However, Bernard Robinson's art direction, (though adequate) doesn't begin to approach his earlier work, (particulary in "Brides of Dracula," "The Man Who Could Cheat Death," and "The Kiss of the Vampire"--and Robinson's genius is of a type that the work 'adequate' sits uncomfortably upon). Curiously, Mr. Robinson was back at the top of his game months later when he designed the plushy, "Plague of the Zombies."

The cinematography is compromised by grainy film stock, poor color, (as noted by film historian Leslie Halliwell), often rushed lighting, and a cumbersome and unnecessary use of wide screen. Terence Fisher filmographer, Wheeler Dixon, has noted the deficiencies in Michael Reeds's lensing on this project. In any case Mr. Reed nowhere equals the beautiful compositions he had managed on "The Gorgon," all of which makes the absence of Jack Asher particularly evident.

That the aforesaid technical credentials are lacking bears ample testament to the studio's drastic mid 60's cost cutting strategies, and the artistically regrettable, but imminent move away from Bray studios.

Moreover, the commercial objectives are baldly evinced here--the film screams "Formula."

Despite these shortcomings, and since this film was one of the last shot at Bray, it does bear compensatory traces of former glories. Thus we fully appreciate the hapless quartet's posthumous toast to Count Dracula, whilst the armorial flags above them billow in a ghostly breeze and the underscoring throbs unnervingly.

And Miss Shelley, as a vampiress, descending the staircase in a diaphanous gown goes a far way on the asset side of the ledger.

Mr. Lee for his part, does his usual hissing and cape waving. Too much is made of his lack of dialogue here. After all he has only a few lines at the beginning of "Horror of Dracula," and a few lines in this film's successor, "Dracula Has Risen From the Grave." So why on earth people feel the absence of such scanty phrases damages this film, who can say?

This picture would have been far better had it been done five years earlier. That said, it is a masterpiece compared to the dreck the eviscerated Hammer would be foisting on the public just five years later.

Strangely, this film is referred to often as "the sequel" to Horrors of Dracula, when actually Brides of Dracula was the second in the series. Then it became know as the "prequel to the sequel"...whatever, it's one of the best of the Hammer vampire cycle and a great film for Lee - Cushing fans.

Hammer in it's early days tended to be shortsighted. In the first pairing of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in Frankenstein, they ended up having Cushing dump Lee's monster into a vat of acid. Super ending - but it literally stopped Lee from returning in a sequel. Cushing did go on to reprise Frankenstein in a series of Films. And it looked like Hammer had repeated the same mistake at the end of The Horrors of Dracula. Wonderful ending of Lee turning to dust and the wind carrying him away...only, they once again stopped any hope of Lee returning in the next film. Cushing went on to make the critically acclaimed Brides of Dracula, many often site as the better film, but it lacked Lee and that lack really hurts the film. David Peel just did not have the power and presence Lee did in the cape!!

So Hammer put their thinking caps on and 8 years (and Lee refusing to put on the cape) they came up came up with a way to bring Lee back to "life" for a the sequel. Okay, a little stretch, but it worked! Hammer made sure never to kill of Lee "permanently" again!! The box office pairing of Lee and Cushing was magic.

Two English couples traveling through Transylvania end up spending the night at the Drac's Castle. Lee's servant brings the Count back to "life" and he is off and up to old tricks. The film is super, Hammer at top form with Terrence Fisher as director. Just a SHAME they kept Dracula mute with no lines.

Prince Of Darkness is technically the third Hammer Dracula film, the second being Brides Of Dracula. This seems to play out a bit like a direct sequel to Horror Of Dracula considering the film begins with the finale of that film. Ten years after Van Helsing put the kabash on Dracula, the community is still living in fear, so much in fact that it's now standard practice at funerals to pound a wooden stake through the corpse, bite marks or not. Four sightseeing travellers come through Dracula's old stomping grounds and are warned to stay away from his castle, so naturally this is where they end up. They're lured there by a Dracula disciple who plans to use them for both Dracula's resurrection and lunch. After Drac comes back, and wipes out one of the couples, a deadly game of bat and mouse ensues as the remaining couple try to destroy Dracula with the help of a vampire killing priest. Good stuff. Lee once again turns in a heavy performance without uttering a word(but hissing and yelling once in a while). Not as good as the first film and Van Helsing's presence is missed, but a very good Hammer flick nonetheless.
Satanic Rites is the last we'd ever see of Lee as Hammer's Dracula. Folks are split on this one. Dracula's still in early 70s London, but it's quite different from Dracula A.D. 1972. No hippy kids, no Stoneground, no "far outs", "groovies", "dig the music kids" or running from the "fuzz". It deals with Dracula(who apparently has been resurrected yet again, but we really don't know how this time) running a big operation that plans on manufacuring a virus that'll bring about a second Black Plague on the earth. Apparently Dracula's tired of his existance and wants to go out with a bang. Guess who's on board to stop him? Van Helsing's back too, and he's gonna save the entire world by whippin' some vampire ass with the help of the police inspector from the previous film as well as his grandaughter(this time played by Joanna Lumley). Satanic Rites has a bit more blood and breasts than the early films. It isn't fantastic, but I certainly wouldn't say it's as bad as some try to make it out to be. It's certainly better than alot of the vampire crap on the new release wall of your local video store, that's for sure. And of course both Lee and Cushing excellent and keep it interesting.