Hammers production is lush in quality and colour, with the powerful, aristocrat Count (Lee) meeting Harker in his castle in Transylvania, then later flees to England to stalk Harker fiance. Only, in seducing Mina and Lucy, he comes up against a formidable foe Van Helsing, wonderfully played by the late great Peter Cushing (the second pairing for the duo, the first Hammer's Frankenstein). They were super in their struggle, climaxing in their battle of good against evil swashbuckle style.

Lee was dynamically menacing, with courtly European grace and manners, and turned on the sensual magic that saw him soon recognised as a star world wide. The best of the Hammer Vampires, and despites Lee's often dismissal of the films and others for Hammers, it stands as a brilliant work.

At this price, it's a super bargain!


The Best Vampire Movie Ever!   May 17, 2000
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

My favorite horror movie of all time--probably my favorite film period--is this classic Hammer horror film. I like this picture so much because it captures the spirit of Stoker's novel better than any other version. Dracula is portrayed as a ruthless, sexual predator--he is not just a mysterious nobleman ala Lugosi or (even further off the mark) a tragic romantic hero ala Langella, et al. Christopher Lee makes the most out of his six minutes of screentime, and Peter Cushing is great as the heroic Dr. Van Helsing. I also like Michael (Alfred in BATMAN) Gough and the gorgeous Valerie Gaunt. James Bernard's music is terrific, the best ever in a horror picture; and can anything top the wonderful finale? Don't miss HOD!


Fine Dracula film with excellent Lee and Cushing   September 18, 2003
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Horror of Dracula, Christopher Lee's first performance as The Count, is surely among the finest versions of Bram Stoker's classic tale. Lee has amazing presence and style as Dracula and his is certainly one of the definitive portrayals of the classic character. Having just seen both this film and Tod Browning's classic 1931 Dracula film in close proximity, I am eager to compare and contrast them.

Browning's film is older and grittier and it benefits greatly from this. The raw, black and white photography gives it an incredibly eerie, creepy atmosphere which is missing from Horror of Dracula. Browning's film bore the influence of German Expressionism, particularly F.W. Murnau's classic Nosferatu. This sense of atmosphere, along with Bela Lugosi's knockout performance as the Count is what makes the 1931 Dracula great.

Hammer Films' Horror of Dracula from 1958 was filmed in Technicolor and has no trace of that German-Expressionist creepiness. However, Horror of Dracula has many advantages over the earlier film. For one thing, the performances are far better. Peter Cushing is perhaps the greatest Van Helsing ever, and Christopher Lee's Dracula is excellent. Horror of Dracula moves by faster and feels like a more cohesive whole, not to mention that the ending is far better than the ending of Browning's film.

Horror of Dracula is an incredibly solid variation on the story. Keeping in mind that it was made in the late '50s, I think most viewers will be satisfied. It's more enjoyable than the 1931 Dracula, but far less atmospheric. The performances of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee propel this fine film. I just wish that Christopher Lee was given more screen time. His Dracula appeared onscreen significantly less than Bela Lugosi's. He doesn't even speak at all in the second half of the film. Lee's powerful voice is one that demands to be heard.

The DVD is nice, but could be better. The picture quality is great for a 45-year-old film. However, the disc is seriously lacking in supplemental material. Christopher Lee is an extraordinary man to listen to, and any commentary track with him is worth listening to. Lee did a commentary for the forgettable Hammer film The Devil Rides Out, but none for the classic Horror of Dracula???? At the price point that Warner is selling this DVD at, there should at least be some decent extra features. However, extras or no, this film is indispensable for horror fans.


Definitive version of the Dracula legend   October 2, 2004
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

Terence Fisher's stunning 1958 adaptation of Stoker's famous novel is far and away the finest of several screen versions.

HORROR OF DRACULA has several points to commend it, all of which converge to make this a true masterpiece of horror cinema: First, Terence Fisher's strongly Christian mythological framework, rarely so brilliantly brought to the screen as it was here; second, Jack Asher's superbly atmospheric photography and lighting, bringing us the most memorable and carefully articulated images of vampirism of all time; third, Bernard Robinson's splendid sets; fourth, James Bernard's score, his most famous, complementing excellently Fisher's blend of fairy-tale, sexuality, horror and drama; fifth, Jimmy Sangster's intelligent script; and sixth, two sterling performances by relative newcomers to stardom, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

This film has haunted me since I first watched it at the age of ten, and it still weaves a powerful spell. Later versions have tended, perhaps inevitably, to be highly derivative, where the Hammer version set the tone for a whole genre of films, putting its stamp irrevocably on the face of Dracula and its surrounding mythology for almost half a century to come.