Was it The Brides of Dracula that didn't actually feature Dracula at all?
Yes, it was. Here's the list:
DRACULA (1958) Known as Horror Of Dracula in the US, to avoid confusion with the old 1931 Bela Lugosi Dracula which was on re-release. Christopher Lee as Dracula, Peter Cushing as Van Helsing.
BRIDES OF DRACULA (1960) Cushing as Van Helsing, no Dracula (a "Baron Meinster" played by one David Peel was the vampire). Stories clash as to whether Lee refused to play Dracula or he wasn't asked.
DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966) Lee as Dracula, Cushing only in a flashback as Van Helsing. Personal favourite.
DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (1968) Lee as Dracula.
TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA (1970) Lee as Dracula.
SCARS OF DRACULA (1970) Lee as Dracula. Perhaps the weakest.
DRACULA AD 1972 (er... you can figure out the year) Lee as Dracula, Cushing as Van Helsing.
THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA (1973) Lee as Dracula, Cushing as Van Helsing.
THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES (1974) Cushing as Van Helsing, John Forbes-Robertson (dubbed by Valentine Dyall) as Dracula owing to Christopher Lee running screaming from the room when shown the script. (I rather like this one)
Dracula is of course undead, but Van Helsing is a normal man so Peter Cushing plays various different generations of Van Helsings in the Hammer series as it moves through time. Throughout the series, Cushing is excellent (hell, he's excellent in anything) as is Lee when he's not gritting his teeth (metaphorically- wearing fangs is a bit restricting in that area) at the scripts.
plus
THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN (1969) A film starring Peter Sellers & Ringo Starr, in which Lee plays a very Dracula-like vampire (unnamed). Not Hammer. (See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpix0qgpOwA )
ONE MORE TIME (1970) A Sammy Davis Jr movie, in which Lee as Dracula and Cushing as Frankenstein have a one-scene guest appearance owing to Davis being a big fan of theirs. Not Hammer. (To save you watching this awful film, here is the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghAOsj6-VaA )
COUNT DRACULA (1970) Lee as Dracula, Herbert Lom as Van Helsing. Not Hammer. Not recommended either.
DRACULA AND SON (1976) Lee as Dracula. French horror comedy, Dracula Pere et Fils, not Hammer. I've only seen the English dub, which is terrible. Apparently the French version is ok.
Obviously many actors in the Hammer Dracula movies also appeared in the Bond series. A partial list includes Geoffrey Keen (TSWLM-TLD), Caroline Munro (TSWLM), Michael Kitchen (GE, TWINE), Christopher Neame (LTK), Joanna Lumley (OHMSS), Madeleine Smith (LALD) and Richard Vernon (GF). Plus Rory Kinnear's dad, Roy Kinnear. And a certain Sir.
Thank you so very much for that, Barbel. It's a great help!
I did buy the Hammer Films book by Marcus Hearn some years ago but I've barely had it open and it's not currently to hand. I also bought a copy of that book as a birthday present for a friend who is a bigger fan than me of the Hammer films. -{
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Thanks again, Barbel. I really must track these Hammer Draculas down ASAP. The only Hammer films I've seen to date are The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Devil Rides Out. I have both of them on DVD and I enjoyed both of them immensely!
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Thanks again, Barbel. I really must track these Hammer Draculas down ASAP. The only Hammer films I've seen to date are The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Devil Rides Out. I have both of them on DVD and I enjoyed both of them immensely!
Lucky you SM! You're in for a treat. May I suggest The Vampire Lovers and Twins of Evil. Suggest watching the Frankenstein and Dracula films in order. Enjoy!
"Any of the opposition around..?"
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
edited July 2018
OK, so only yesterday I bought The Hammer Collection 21 Disc Collectors' Box Set for £25 from my local CEX Exchange shop. I'd been eyeing it up for a while and finally decided to buy it. It has 21 Hammer films in it so I thought that it would be a very good way of getting to see more of the Hammer films beyond the mere two that I have already seen (namely The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Devil Rides Out).
So, just this morning I have watched Fear in the Night (1972) as I liked the sound of it from the enclosed booklet. The box set also has some lovely postcards enclosed of the more famous Hammer film posters. It was a good enough film, rather slow moving with no real gore (apart from a rabbit!) and the ending twist did really surprise me, I must say! It was more of a psychological thriller than a horror film per se I suppose. I know it's not one of the best from Hammer films, but it was an enjoyable enough way to pass an hour and a half. -{
I don't think I've seen it mentioned here (I get the feeling it is rather obscure among Hammer's back catalogue). What did others think of it exactly? I'd be curious to know.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,845MI6 Agent
I omitted to mention above that the box set contains the following range of 21 Hammer films:
The Nanny (1965) She (1965) One Million Years B.C. (1966) Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966) Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) Plague of the Zombies (1966) The Reptile (1966) The Witches (1966) The Viking Queen (1967) Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) Quatermass and the Pit (1967) Prehistoric Women (1967) The Devil Rides Out (1968) Vengeance of She (1968) Horror of Frankenstein (1970) Scars of Dracula (1970) Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971) Demons of the Mind (1972) Fear in the Night (1972) Straight on Till Morning (1972) To the Devil a Daughter (1976)
Perhaps I could get some recommendations on the best and worst of these titles? -{
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Well, "Quatermass And The Pit" and "The Devil Rides Out" would be my picks for the best, while "Horror Of Frankenstein" would be the worst.
"Fear in The Night" is a lesser effort, but Peter Cushing excels as always.
One Million Years B.C. is Raquel Welch in a fur bikini, you gotta prioritise that one.
She is with Ursula Andress, its an adaptation of the classic Rider Haggard lost world adventure, starring Andress as the 5000 year old sorceress Ayesha, with Cushing as the Victorian explorer and Lee as Ayesha's head priest … I didn't think it caught the feel of Haggards brand of fiction, but Andress has that classic, somewhat exotic beauty and imperious attitude that you'd expect in a 5000 year old sorceress. In the books the character is much crazier though, volatile and dangerous.
that set you bought sounds like one heck of a good deal. that's a pound a film!
BIG TAMWrexham, North Wales, UK.Posts: 773MI6 Agent
I omitted to mention above that the box set contains the following range of 21 Hammer films:
The Nanny (1965) She (1965) One Million Years B.C. (1966) Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966) Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) Plague of the Zombies (1966) The Reptile (1966) The Witches (1966) The Viking Queen (1967) Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) Quatermass and the Pit (1967) Prehistoric Women (1967) The Devil Rides Out (1968) Vengeance of She (1968) Horror of Frankenstein (1970) Scars of Dracula (1970) Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971) Demons of the Mind (1972) Fear in the Night (1972) Straight on Till Morning (1972) To the Devil a Daughter (1976)
Perhaps I could get some recommendations on the best and worst of these titles? -{
I've got the same box-set & it's great. If I had to be pushed I'd say I'm not as struck on their prehistoric films but I love Hammer overall for their consistent high quality. Cushing & Lee are so under-rated.
Hammer also made two Robin Hood films! Sword of Sherwood Forest with Richard Green, Peter Cushing and Oliver Reed and also Challange for Robin Hood with Barry Ingram, both fun films to wile away a couple of hours!!
I omitted to mention above that the box set contains the following range of 21 Hammer films:
The Nanny (1965) She (1965) One Million Years B.C. (1966) Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966) Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) Plague of the Zombies (1966) The Reptile (1966) The Witches (1966) The Viking Queen (1967) Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) Quatermass and the Pit (1967) Prehistoric Women (1967) The Devil Rides Out (1968) Vengeance of She (1968) Horror of Frankenstein (1970) Scars of Dracula (1970) Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971) Demons of the Mind (1972) Fear in the Night (1972) Straight on Till Morning (1972) To the Devil a Daughter (1976)
Perhaps I could get some recommendations on the best and worst of these titles? -{
I've got the same box-set & it's great. If I had to be pushed I'd say I'm not as struck on their prehistoric films but I love Hammer overall for their consistent high quality. Cushing & Lee are so under-rated.
I'm a big Hammer fan too, so much so that I write an entire book on the subject of British horror movies (available at your friendly local bookshop/Amazon - plug plug!).
I'd like to raise the flag for the second to last movie on this list, Peter Collinson's chilling psychological horror Straight On Till Morning. A little known part of the Hammer canon but an absolute treat.
Comments
Thank you so very much for that, Barbel. It's a great help!
I did buy the Hammer Films book by Marcus Hearn some years ago but I've barely had it open and it's not currently to hand. I also bought a copy of that book as a birthday present for a friend who is a bigger fan than me of the Hammer films. -{
Thanks again, Barbel. I really must track these Hammer Draculas down ASAP. The only Hammer films I've seen to date are The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Devil Rides Out. I have both of them on DVD and I enjoyed both of them immensely!
Lucky you SM! You're in for a treat. May I suggest The Vampire Lovers and Twins of Evil. Suggest watching the Frankenstein and Dracula films in order. Enjoy!
So, just this morning I have watched Fear in the Night (1972) as I liked the sound of it from the enclosed booklet. The box set also has some lovely postcards enclosed of the more famous Hammer film posters. It was a good enough film, rather slow moving with no real gore (apart from a rabbit!) and the ending twist did really surprise me, I must say! It was more of a psychological thriller than a horror film per se I suppose. I know it's not one of the best from Hammer films, but it was an enjoyable enough way to pass an hour and a half.
I don't think I've seen it mentioned here (I get the feeling it is rather obscure among Hammer's back catalogue). What did others think of it exactly? I'd be curious to know.
The Nanny (1965)
She (1965)
One Million Years B.C. (1966)
Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966)
Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)
Plague of the Zombies (1966)
The Reptile (1966)
The Witches (1966)
The Viking Queen (1967)
Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)
Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Prehistoric Women (1967)
The Devil Rides Out (1968)
Vengeance of She (1968)
Horror of Frankenstein (1970)
Scars of Dracula (1970)
Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971)
Demons of the Mind (1972)
Fear in the Night (1972)
Straight on Till Morning (1972)
To the Devil a Daughter (1976)
Perhaps I could get some recommendations on the best and worst of these titles?
"Fear in The Night" is a lesser effort, but Peter Cushing excels as always.
One Million Years B.C. is Raquel Welch in a fur bikini, you gotta prioritise that one.
She is with Ursula Andress, its an adaptation of the classic Rider Haggard lost world adventure, starring Andress as the 5000 year old sorceress Ayesha, with Cushing as the Victorian explorer and Lee as Ayesha's head priest … I didn't think it caught the feel of Haggards brand of fiction, but Andress has that classic, somewhat exotic beauty and imperious attitude that you'd expect in a 5000 year old sorceress. In the books the character is much crazier though, volatile and dangerous.
that set you bought sounds like one heck of a good deal. that's a pound a film!
I've got the same box-set & it's great. If I had to be pushed I'd say I'm not as struck on their prehistoric films but I love Hammer overall for their consistent high quality. Cushing & Lee are so under-rated.
I'm a big Hammer fan too, so much so that I write an entire book on the subject of British horror movies (available at your friendly local bookshop/Amazon - plug plug!).
I'd like to raise the flag for the second to last movie on this list, Peter Collinson's chilling psychological horror Straight On Till Morning. A little known part of the Hammer canon but an absolute treat.