The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)

Lee and Cushing - One Last Time, 5 February 2005

Hammer's Dracula series started with a bang. THE HORROR OF Dracula is one of the best Dracula movies ever made. Hammer followed it with a number of sequels, including Dracula: PRINCE OF DARKNESS which some feel even exceeds the original.

Hammer's Dracula run with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing ended with THE SATANIC RITES OF Dracula (SROD). It should have been fun to see Lee and Cushing reprising their roles one last time. But, it's not.

What went wrong? Several factors make SROD the worst of the series:

1. The modern setting. With very few exceptions, Dracula is better played as a Gothic/historical drama.

2. Age. By the time SROD was made, neither Lee nor Cushing was a young man. There are scenes where the aging Cushing is roughed-up and I actually worried about Cushing the man, not Van Helsing the character.

3. Script. Dracula with a death wish? Sure!

4. The ending. Without giving it away, I'll just say the new means of dispatching Dracula in SROD is, well, goofy. Dracula basically walks right into it.

This is not to say there aren't good moments (the vampire brides in the cellar, the office meeting between Dracula and Van Helsing), but they are too few and too far between.

It's too bad that a series that started out with such a bang went out with a whimper.

4/10