My feeling when watching "The Satanic Rites of Dracula" (1973), is always one of disappointment at a lost opportunity.
"Satanic Rites " is a near miss. Please don't misunderstand me :it is not a bad movie, in fact, it is a huge step up from it's predecessor, "Dracula A.D.1972 , in every sense. However, with just a little more imagination , it could have been ,not only a great genre entry , but may have taken the Dracula franchise in a whole new exciting direction.
The central concept is very promising, instead of simply having the Prince of Darkness nibble maidens necks, TSROD takes the Dracula myth a stage forward to it's logical conclusion. Here we see the Count as the Anti-Christ , ( although this idea is never explicitly stated ), seeking to visit annihilation upon mankind. Even more interesting is his intended method of achieving his goal. He employs a group of corrupted Establishment figures, to act as the "Four Horsemen of his own created Apocalypse", spreading a plague across the Globe. A suggestion is even mooted that a jaded Dracula would welcome his own demise when he ceased to have the blood of the living to feed upon.
This intriguing plot is extended by having Dracula pose as a property developer, a metaphorical blood-sucker ; D.D. Denham.
Sadly , this is as far as the interesting developments go. The idea of Dracula as Satan Incarnate, is side-lined for well-staged, but conventional, action involving vampires in the cellar of a country house and climactic pyrotechnics . Worse , in order to conform to then-contemporary audience tastes, we get an uncomfortable blend of horror movie and police thriller , with a hint of James Bond and The Avengers.
Alan Gibson's direction is much more assured than it was in "Dracula A.D.1972, and the performances are more than adequate. As one would expect, Lee and Cushing play it for all it is worth. Michael Coles Detective Inspector Murray is good enough to suggest he would have merited a gritty TV cop show of his own and Joanna Lumley makes a spirited replacement for Stephanie Beacham as Van Helsing's Granddaughter .
Of it's self, "The Satanic Rites of Dracula" is fairly entertaining, and an interesting cinematic artifact of the period. Still , if only Hammer had exercised a larger measure of ambition , they might have initiated the cycle of "Satan Movies " that were to dominate the Horror Genre in the 1970's .
"Satanic Rites " is a near miss. Please don't misunderstand me :it is not a bad movie, in fact, it is a huge step up from it's predecessor, "Dracula A.D.1972 , in every sense. However, with just a little more imagination , it could have been ,not only a great genre entry , but may have taken the Dracula franchise in a whole new exciting direction.
The central concept is very promising, instead of simply having the Prince of Darkness nibble maidens necks, TSROD takes the Dracula myth a stage forward to it's logical conclusion. Here we see the Count as the Anti-Christ , ( although this idea is never explicitly stated ), seeking to visit annihilation upon mankind. Even more interesting is his intended method of achieving his goal. He employs a group of corrupted Establishment figures, to act as the "Four Horsemen of his own created Apocalypse", spreading a plague across the Globe. A suggestion is even mooted that a jaded Dracula would welcome his own demise when he ceased to have the blood of the living to feed upon.
This intriguing plot is extended by having Dracula pose as a property developer, a metaphorical blood-sucker ; D.D. Denham.
Sadly , this is as far as the interesting developments go. The idea of Dracula as Satan Incarnate, is side-lined for well-staged, but conventional, action involving vampires in the cellar of a country house and climactic pyrotechnics . Worse , in order to conform to then-contemporary audience tastes, we get an uncomfortable blend of horror movie and police thriller , with a hint of James Bond and The Avengers.
Alan Gibson's direction is much more assured than it was in "Dracula A.D.1972, and the performances are more than adequate. As one would expect, Lee and Cushing play it for all it is worth. Michael Coles Detective Inspector Murray is good enough to suggest he would have merited a gritty TV cop show of his own and Joanna Lumley makes a spirited replacement for Stephanie Beacham as Van Helsing's Granddaughter .
Of it's self, "The Satanic Rites of Dracula" is fairly entertaining, and an interesting cinematic artifact of the period. Still , if only Hammer had exercised a larger measure of ambition , they might have initiated the cycle of "Satan Movies " that were to dominate the Horror Genre in the 1970's .