Scars of Dracula (1970)

"He is evil. He is the embodiment of all that is evil. He is the very Devil himself.", 7 July 2006

When Paul Carlson (Christopher Matthews) goes missing, his brother Simon (Dennis Waterman) and friend Sarah Framsen (Jenny Hanley) trace his footsteps to try to find him. Their journey leads them to a small village full of inhospitable locals who will only tell the pair that Paul was last seen heading toward a nearby castle. Simon and Sarah set off for the castle unaware of the danger that awaits them. This is no ordinary castle. It's the home of Dracula. Simon and Sarah find themselves in a fight for their lives against the King of the Vampires.

Of Hammer's long list of Dracula films, Scars of Dracula is about average. It's nowhere near as good as Horror of Dracula, but it's a long way from being as bad as The Satanic Rites of Dracula. It's impossible to begin discussing any of Hammer's Dracula films without first mentioning Christopher Lee. In Scars of Dracula, Lee plays a more sadistic and evil version of the Count. In addition to the normal blood-sucking, this Dracula is not above the routine tortures of beating his servant with a whip, hanging a body from a wall, or sending his legions of bats to all but wipe out a town. It's these scenes that really make the film standout. But as much as I enjoyed the character of Dracula, as blasphemous as this will sound, it's one of Lee's weaker performances. Maybe I was reading something into his performance that wasn't there, but he came across as incredibly uninterested (which in reality he was). There's none of the menace in the eyes that I associate with Lee's Dracula. It's acting by-the-numbers as far as I could tell. It's unfortunately because Lee was always so good in the role.

Other highlights for me include Jenny Hanley as Sarah and the wall climbing scene. Hanley seemed like such a natural as the innocent, fragile Sarah. And she has some of the most expressive eyes I've noticed in a Hammer heroine. It's too bad she didn't make more films for Hammer. As for the wall climbing scenes, I believe it's the only one of its kind in any of the Hammer Dracula films. I realize that it's all done with camera tricks, but seeing Lee's Dracula climbing the side of the castle was a real treat.

Unfortunately, I found just as many negatives as I did positives in Scars of Dracula. First, the screenplay has a number of holes in it. All of the characters make it incredibly convenient for Dracula. Not once is Dracula forced to leave his castle to find a victim – they all conveniently come to him. And just how did Sarah get to the castle so fast? The same journey that took Simon and a local priest almost an entire day is covered by the distraught Sarah in a matter of what seems to be a couple of hours. Next, Simon and Paul felt too modern given the time period in which the film is set. Their mannerisms, speech, and look simply scream 1970. Finally, in the beginning of the film, Dracula is resurrected by a rubber bat drooling blood over his remains. If it's that easy for Dracula to come back to life, why didn't he use this method more often? Why go through all the hassle of a séance as in Dracula A.D. 1972 or the elaborate ceremony in Taste the Blood of Dracula? I seems like a lot of wasted effort to me.

6/10