Yes!!!! I was wondering when you were going to get to this masterpiece!!! Hammer's Dracula has always been my favorite! When I told my friends that I liked Hammer's Dracula over Coppola's, they thought I was crazy. Coppola's has all the special effects, big sets, etc. Hammer's Dracula is just special. The acting between Cushing and Lee is amazing. There's also that iconic scene of Peter Cushing making that mad sprint across the table, pulling down the curtains, and making a cross out of two candle sticks, driving Lee back into the sunlight that never gets old!! The final confrontation between them is gold! The tension, the suspense, the action, the music, and the special effects are fantastic!!! Also, love all the info and backstory you give us. Some people think Brides of Dracula is a sequel, but it's more of a Van Helsing story. Christopher Lee couldn't do it right away because of another commitment, so the character in Brides is supposed to be a disciple of Dracula. The real sequel was Dracula Prince of Darkness and love the fact that you brought up the no dialogue in that one. The screen-writer said he wrote it without any lines, because Dracula being brought back would be more like an animal. Lee said, the lines were so bad that he refused to say them. In my opinion, I think it made the movie better. Prince of Darkness has the best resurrection scene in the entire Dracula series. Like you said, he did the other films because he didn't want to be the reason that nobody working for Hammer Studios was out of work. Ralph Bates, who was being groomed to be Hammer's next big star, was supposed to take over the role of Dracula from Christopher Lee in Taste the Blood of Dracula. American investors however, wanted Lee in the role. So, Hammer had to renegotiate with Lee. That's why Lee has so few lines in that movie, he was just inserted into it. It would've been interesting to see what Bates would've done with that role. I wish they would've put a little more effort into the Dracula movies. The late 70's saw Hammer mix more violence and nudity into their films hoping to draw more fans. The Vampire Lovers, Twins of Evil, and Lust for a Vampire are good examples. Needless to say, Hammer Horror always has a special place in my heart. I never get tired of seeing one of their movies. On another note. I've learned that NECA is turning out a line of Hammer Horror Figures. They're starting with Christopher Lee from Dracula. You can see it online. It's supposed to come out q2-2024 whatever that means. I love collecting NECA Horror Figures and it's great to see Hammer get some love. Keep up the good work. You're turning out great content!! Now I'm going to watch Hammer's Dracula!!
As I said in the video, this may also be my favourite Dracula film and the legends that are Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing make it as good as what it is! Seeing these two together is such a treat! Thank you for sharing all that in depth information with us about Hammer and the Lee films! I still have more Hammer films on my list I need to see and I think after October I'll be making it my mission to check them off the list! And NECA is indeed releasing a Chrisopher Lee Dracula! Q2 means the second quarter of next for the release so between April - June! I'll definitely be picking him up! I hope you enjoyed today's video and that I did this masterpiece justice with my review!
Great episode on Hammer Film Productions, Liam! And I. like most people, always thought that Christopher Lee’s Count Dracula was much more horrific (with all the blood) than Bela Lugosi’s Count. But both are iconic. Hammer left an indelible legacy to the world of horror cinema. Looking forward to your next episode, Liam!
The Hammer movies were the first horror films I saw as a youngster, and they really gave me the willies! Cushing and Lee are incredible in these films, be it Dracula or Frankenstein (my personal favourites).
Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy are my top 3 Hammers! You can never go wrong with Lee and Cushing 🙌🏻 Enjoyed the numerous sequels for both franchises, although I admit Satanic Rites isn’t how I imagined Lee bowing out. Still find it odd to see him in the present day 😄
I completely agree, it's a pleasure to watch both of those men, especially together in the same film! I also really enjoy all the Dracula sequels in the Hammer line of movies, despite their arguable dips in quality, I'm entertained by them all!
Hammer purposefully strayed from the lore of the book because - as a relatively small production house they wanted to avoid any entanglements (or lawsuits) from Universal for "ripping off" what they had done in the 1930s. But that became a blessing because they were able to do whatever they wanted without holding to the constraints of a published work, and obviously it all worked out for the best. As good as Christopher Lee is in this film as well as many other films, I'm always drawn to Peter Cushing's performance because...well..Cushing is one of my favorite actors of all time (the other being Vincent Price) so I am quite biased in that regard. At any rate, this is indeed a superb film and I don't think even Hammer was able to match it's greatness in any of it's sequels. And as much as I like the vampire films, I have to admit the Hammer Frankenstein's' are where my love really lies. By the way if you're ever in the mood for something different and like the Cushing/Lee pairing in THIS film, check out Hammer's one stab at Sherlock Holmes with the insanely good "Hound Of The Baskervilles" from 1959. It features both of these great talents in a kinda/sorta horror film, but mostly a good old Sherlock Holme's mystery. But of course, that's for another time.
Me and my girlfriend are actually planning to watch the Peter Cushing Sherlock's Holmes movies soon starting with that one, I can't wait to see it! And Cushing is brutal in the Hammer Frankenstein films, an absolute fiend! Seeing Cushing and Lee together is such a pleasure, Cushing is perfect in the role of Van Helsing as I said in the video, he plays the role with so much conviction. A true master of his craft!
