Review – Dracula AD1972 (1972)

I think it’s fair to say that by the early to mid 70s, Hammer Studios output was slowly running out of steam. The idea’s were beginning to dry up, and cinema going audiences were slowly becoming tired of the endless stream of vampire movies which had been churned out, year after year, by Bray, Amicus, Tigon and various other studio’s. Time for one last ditch attempt to revive the genre.

I think the general idea was to bring the Dracula legend, kicking and screaming into the present day, and i reckon they did a brilliant job.

Dracula AD1972 begins in 1872. Christopher Lee, playing our favourite neck biter for about the hundredth time, is about to be vanquished yet again, by resident vampire hunter, Van Helsing, played again by Hammer stalwart, Peter Cushing. He’s eventually despatched in suitably novel fashion, impaled by a runaway cartwheel. Full marks for originality.

Fast forward 100 years to 1972, and a group of friends meet up at a houseparty in Central London. The group includes Jessica Van Helsing, yes you guessed it, a direct descendant of the vampire slayer himself, played by Stephanie Beacham, the gorgeous Caroline Munro as Laura, and the delightfully over the top Christopher Neame, as the leader of this band of hippy types, Johnny Alucard, who just happens to bear a striking resemblance to Dracula’s old disciple from 1872. The Stoneground are providing the music, and to be fair, they are rather good, as they play a couple of infectious tracks, including Alligator Man, which is pretty darned catchy. The party eventually gets out of hand and they all end up being kicked out by “The Fuzz”. They meet up the following day in a coffee bar, when Johnny, suggests a gathering at a local abandoned church, for a spot of Satanic activity, and wouldn’t you know it, the church also just happens to be the final resting place of not only the late Van Helsing but also the evil Count himself.

To cut a long story short, Dracula is resurrected during a black mass at the church, he claims his first victim after everyone else has fled the scene, and then embarks on a mission  to destroy the last of the Van Helsings, Jessica, and her grandfather Abraham.

Dracula AD1972, although dated now, is great fun to watch. Despite it’s very obvious shortcomings, the whole cast seem to be having an absolute ball with this movie. Christopher Neame seems desperate to channel Malcolm McDowell’s Alex in A Clockwork Orange, with his delightfully overblown performance, but the real star for me is Stephanie Beacham, in a very early role.

To say the movie wasn’t very well received would be putting it mildly. The critics, and cinema audiences alike were universal in their dislike for the film, which is a real shame as it has alot going for it. Unfortunately the pro’s outnumbered the cons, and despite it having a decent cast, a good soundtrack, and a fairly original approach to a familiar story, the film bombed spectacularly. Not even the first pairing of Lee and Cushing since the original “Dracula” in 1958 could save it. Sure, it has it’s faults but overall i thought it was a real hoot.