Product Details

• Actors: Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Andrew Keir, Francis Matthews, Suzan Farmer
• Directors: Terence Fisher
• Format: Color, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• VHS Release Date: September 10, 1997
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1564427099
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,314 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #8 in	Video > Classics > Classic Horror & Monsters > Vampires
  #15 in	Video > Horror > Widescreen

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video
For many years after becoming one of the definitive movie Draculas in the 1958 Hammer Films classic Horror of Dracula (in which he was pitted against Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing), Christopher Lee refused to reprise his role as filmdom's most infamous vampire. He finally returned to the role in this belated 1965 sequel, once again directed by Hammer studios veteran Terence Fisher. It's not as effective or as intelligently written as the earlier film, but it has become a minor classic in its own right for horror connoisseurs, notably due to the combination of eerie atmosphere (a Terence Fisher specialty) and violence that was, by mid-'60s standards, quite bloody and graphic. Indeed, the story begins when Count Dracula's servant revives his master by hanging an unsuspecting victim over the tomb containing Dracula's ashes and draining the blood from the unlucky fellow so it can trickle into the tomb and restore life to the remains of the undead vampire! It's this kind of unholy communion that was a trademark of Hammer horror, and Dracula: Prince of Darkness continues with all the requisite ingredients--including a group of tourists who arrive at the count's secluded castle just in time to feed his insatiable bloodlust! True horror fans will appreciate the performance by Hammer regular Barbara Shelley, widely considered to be one of her best. So, file your fangs and enjoy Lee in his most famous and immortal role! --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gothic Masterpiece, March 1, 2004

By	mikkel carlsen (Aarhus, Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dracula - Prince of Darkness (DVD)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Note about the DVD, May 21, 2005

By	Ham Tyler - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dracula - Prince of Darkness (DVD)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dracula: Prince of Darkness , April 25, 2005

By	A. Ross "indy31" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dracula - Prince of Darkness (DVD)

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.