There is a beauty, style, and look to classic Hammer horror
films that only that studio contains. There are only a handful of times in the
history of cinema that a studio has defined themselves so steadfast, even when
they experiment, one can immediately tell who made it by the style and tone.
Hammer is one of those. For this latest franchise article, we were asked to
cover some of the major Hammer studio releases and it seemed only fitting to
start with the one that most people recognize: Dracula. Spanning multiple
decades, the Dracula series is often
times as iconic as the original Universal series and it certainly helped
solidify both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as genre cornerstones.
Truthfully, it was a pleasure to be asked to go back and watch this franchise
once again and write this series of articles. Not that my words do it much
justice, but even if I can inspire one to revisit the films, then I will have
done my duty.
Due to the length of this franchise, it only made sense to
split it up into multiple articles to prevent having one massive piece that
people will tire of reading by the time they reach the third or fourth film.
Since there are nine entries, it made sense to evenly split the articles into
three films each. For this third and final part of the article, we will be
covering the seventh, eighth, and ninth entries into the series.
DRACULA A.D. 1972
(1972)
Director: Alan Gibson
Notable Cast: Peter
Cushing, Christopher Lee, Stephanie Beacham, Christopher Neame, Marsha Hunt,
Caroline Munro, Janet Key, Michael Kitchen, Lally Bowers, Michael Coles
When it comes to Dracula
A.D. 1972 and heading into the final third of the franchise, one could
reasonably consider this portion the “gimmick” era. Considering how the quality
of the films and the repetition had started to wear thin by the previous entry,
Scars of Dracula, it’s almost
shocking that it took seven entries for this series to finally say ‘fuck it,
let’s embrace the gimmick.’ However, that’s almost exactly what this film makes
as a statement right away.
After introducing the film by showcasing the final battle
between Dracula, once again played by Christopher Lee, and Van Helsing, which
sees Peter Cushing return to the series for the first time since the second
film, it quickly abandons the now stale look and tone of the franchise to
embrace it’s “modern” London setting. Between the bombastic 70s rock score, the
use of the urban settings, and the youthful lingo that the main youth
characters use, this film is hitting its audience over the head with its interpretation
of hip 70s culture. Fortunately, this comes a relatively relieving breath of
fresh air after the last handful of Dracula
films. Sometimes it can be annoying, particularly with how many of the young
characters are introduced through a party crash which runs on far too long, but
the use of some great sets and a theme about a youthful culture that seems
disconnected from their own history makes the film feel different and, quite
frankly, rejuvenated.
It helps that director Alan Gibson really brings an eye for
visuals to help out Dracula A.D. 1972.
He finds a fun and stimulating balance between the use of the urban settings
and the Gothic tones that seep in, particularly in the Dracula resurrection
sequence, and continually gives the film a very cinematic feeling which is
great for when the pacing picks up. By the time that Cushing, playing Van
Helsing’s descendant jumps into the narrative, the director and plot has laid
enough groundwork to keep the action pulsating and the visuals stimulating
even when the film itself starts to meander into the formulaic territory.
Considering that Dracula
A.D. 1972 is essentially a reboot, which actively changes the chronology
and continuity of the series for its own benefit, it’s a fairly impressive one
that does re-energize the entire series. It has great visuals, some fun
performances, a new spin on the usual plot, and finds a sweet balance between
modernity and classic Gothic tones. The leap to 1972 London might seem like a
gimmick, but it works impressively. What makes this film stand out so much is
just how different the follow-up film is…
THE SATANIC RITES OF
DRACULA (1973)
Director: Alan Gibson
Notable Cast: Peter
Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Coles, William Franklyn, Joanna Lumley,
Richard Vernon, Barbara Yu Ling, Freddie Jones
Although Dracula A.D.
1972 was heavily critiqued as a low point for the franchise by critics when
it came out (I’m sure it’s obvious with how much I disagree on that point,)
it’s the sequel that might end up being one of the worst of the series in my
opinion. The Satanic Rites of Dracula,
which features a handful of returning characters from 1972, is a film with such a unique and interesting concept that it
almost had to fail. On paper, this film is a bold change of direction for the
series – far more than even its predecessor, but the execution of its idea is
so muddled, weak, and miscalculated that it ends up being a chore to work
through. It’s a shame really because the core idea is so interesting.
Mainly, The Satanic
Rites of Dracula feels like a script that was converted into a Dracula
film. From some of the research I’ve done on the film, this doesn’t seem to be
the case necessarily as truth. It certainly feels that way though. Inherently
that’s not a bad thing. Van Helsing, played once again by the always reliable Peter
Cushing, is called in to help investigate a new “blood cult” that seemingly has
ties related to a variety of very influential men in business, politics, and
the military. He returns to help his friend Inspector Murray, also returning
from the previous film, and they end up stumbling into this wild conspiracy
with tendrils into various parts of government and commerce.
Doesn’t sound like a Dracula
film? It doesn’t really feel like one either. The tone is far more leaning into
espionage thriller territory instead of the Gothic horror, which isn’t so
concerning considering that the film starts to incorporate vampires and Dracula
in the second half when it’s revealed that Count Dracula, once again powered by
Christopher Lee, is behind it all. What is concerning is that the film
completely mishandles the tone. Where the shift should have been a refreshing
and thoughtful gimmick, it comes off as confused and problematic issues arise
both in the narrative and the execution. The film spends entire acts and sequences
trying to desperately explain the plot to the audience through soul-crushingly
boring exposition and it plays out its twists in confusing ways. Dracula is
revealed to the audience at about the half-hour mark with no explanation to how
he survived or was resurrected from the last film and then at the end of the
second act there is a sequence meant to keep audiences in suspense as Van
Helsing discovers Dracula is behind it all. It actively ruined its own
narrative spin. This happens again and again. The film either overexplains
things to death or leaves them as massively confusing plot holes.
To make matters even worse, The Satanic Rites of Dracula is, quite frankly, really poorly
handled in terms of performance on almost all fronts. Outside of the usual
screen devouring performances from Cushing and Lee, most of the rest of the
cast feel like they are simply going through motions. It doesn’t help that the
script under develops most of them, but there really isn’t any memorable
performances here to help push the film up. Also, director Alan Gibson, who
struck a fantastic sense of balance with fantastic visuals in the previous
film, seems on autopilot here. Outside of a few key moments, this film is shot
like it has no voice and personality. The sets, lacking the urban meets Gothic
touch that worked so well in 1972, feel like mock up sets that aren’t finished
and there is a sense that this film was made on the cheap and with no time.
After such a strong statement to “reboot” the series, The Satanic Rites of Dracula comes out
tripping on its own feet and landing squarely on its face. It hits the
perplexing combination of being boring, confusing, disappointing, and actively
rage inducing all at the same time. Considering this would be the final Hammer
film that would see Lee as the iconic villain, one would hope that he would go
out in a blaze. Turns out, like the character, this film just kind of gets
stuck in its own bramble and lays down to die without much of a fight.
On the plus side, there is still one film left in the
franchise and it might be the wildest one yet as Hammer studios partners with
the Shaw Brothers to produce the wackiest Dracula
film yet…
THE LEGEND OF THE 7
GOLDEN VAMPIRES (1974)
Director: Roy Ward
Baker (Chang Cheh – uncredited)
Notable Cast: Peter
Cushing, David Chiang, Robin Stewart, Julie Ege, Shih Szu, Chan Shen, Lau Kar-Wing,
Huang Pei-Chih, Wang Chiang, Feng Ko-an, Hsu Hsia, John Forbes-Robertson
As you have probably gathered by now in this article, Hammer
was trying everything and anything with their Dracula series to sell tickets.
New settings, tones, and style were all game as the end drew near and it’s this
last entry that might be the strangest one yet. The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is absolutely gimmicky as the
legendary British studio teamed up with the legendary Hong Kong studio Shaw
Brothers to deliver this action-packed flick, but it’s so outrageous that it
almost works. The film is a weird mixture of styles, but it makes it a
fascinating watch even if the film itself is seriously flawed.
Jumping back down the timeline again from the 1970s, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires has
Professor Van Helsing, reprised again by Peter Cushing, heading over to China
to investigate a local legend of seven vampires that live outside of a small
village in a giant towering structure that’s filled with semi-naked women
writhing over a cauldron of boiling blood. Naturally, no one believes him and
the scholars and powerful individuals refuse to finance his expedition. No
worries because he has seven brothers, trained in martial arts and lead by
David Chiang, to lead him to the village and a wealthy European financier
looking to spark up her life with some adventure. Combine all of this in a
brisk film and you get some genre delight.
Continuing in the same vein as Brides of Dracula, it was nice to see Van Helsing presented as a
“vampire hunter” who wanders the world in search of different vampires from
different cultures. Truthfully, this idea could have made a fantastic series of
films of itself, if they had run with it, but alas this is the last of the
series and it ends on an entertaining note at least. There was a planned entry
after this film about a vampire in India, but poor box office killed that one.
Shame. That could have been awesome.
The pre-occupation of the series with Dracula is almost its
downfall at times and even in this film, Dracula seems forced into the plot.
Appearing at the opening where he assumes the guise of a Chinese vampire, it’s
Dracula that heads over to the East and kick starts these 7 Golden Vampires
(complete with gaudy gold vampire bat necklaces that must have weighed 20
pounds if they were made of real gold) that gets everyone in a tizzy. One has
to wonder if these scenes weren’t late additions as Dracula, not played by
Christopher Lee but by John Forbes-Robertson in Joker-esque caked on make-up,
only shows up at the very beginning and very end in what could be considered a
glorified cameo. Both sequences feel rather tacked on, but I guess Dracula
needed to be there to help sell tickets. Even if it didn’t work on a creative
or ticket-selling front.
The rest of The Legend
of the 7 Golden Vampires is a fun flick. Combining the stylistic tons of
Hammer and Shaw Brothers is a strange mixture, but it comes together in some
fun ways. The film careens from gabby characters chatting about history,
complete with an extended flashback to David Chiang’s grandfather trying to fight
off the vampires in a legend, to Shaw Brothers style martial art fight
sequences with weapons, fire, and Chiang punching out vampire-slave hearts.
Although Roy Ward Baker gets sole credit for directing the film, which is
apparent in many of the slower and horror-tinged moments of the film, the
fabled Chang Cheh also worked on the film and that influence is felt through
many of the action sequences. Most of the issues that arise in the film come
from too many characters in a script that’s just a bit too thin for its own
good, particularly when it comes to the dual romantic subplots that hardly
sizzle only to fizzle out at the end. Still, there is fun to be had and the
combination of Cushing and Chiang as leaders from each world (and each studio)
is fun to watch as silly as the film starts to become.
The Legend of the 7
Golden Vampires is a film that can be seen as both disappointing to Hammer
and Shaw Brothers fans as it has to compromise the style of both to get them to
mesh together, but ultimately this film is hardly the train wreck it might have
been. It’s silly and entertaining with just enough exploitation and a ton of
action to keep the brisk pace up for its rather hollow plotting.
Written By Matt Reifschneider
No comments:
Post a Comment