their party is gatecrashed by the devious Lord Courtley (Ralph Bates) who arrogantly steals Hargoods’ girl. Angered at this, the three men question Felix about this ‘arrogant young puppy’ and he informs them that the girls are fascinated by him and that some would say that he is possessed of the devil. Intrigued by this, Hargood approaches Courtley and offers to buy him a drink at the Café Royal. It is there that Lord Courtley asks the question;
“Would you be willing to sell your souls to the Devil?”
Meanwhile, their children are living in their own circle, Alice Hargood is engaged to Paul Paxton whose sister Lucy is engaged to Jeremy Secker. Their lives are very uninvolving. Only Alice is unhappy because her father refuses to accept Paul as her lover and berates her in public for displaying herself like a harlot and sending her to bed without supper. None of the families are aware of their father’s depraved trips to London.
Spending 1000 guineas on a peculiar set of items from Weller, the three gentlemen embark on the most horrific night of their lives. Lord Courtley conducts a satanic ritual of blood. Sprinkling the curious powder that is Dracula’s blood into three goblets, he opens his hand with a dagger. As his blood touches the powder in the cups, the liquid swells and the cups runneth over. Courtley orders them to drink but the men are repulsed:
“You drink it! You drink the filth!”
Courtley does without hesitation and is taken with wracking pains. He screams at the men for help, but they beat him to death with boots and walking sticks. Swiftly exiting the old church, they vow never to speak of this again. But they have reckoned without the power of the black arts. Lord Courtley’s body is covered by a sand swept dust. As the dust breaks, we see that he has transformed into the vampire, Count Dracula.
“They have destroyed my servant. They shall be destroyed!”
Dracula immediately begins his onslaught on Victorian hypocrisy. Unfortunately, after this great resurrection sequence, he is further reduced to staring out from the blackness as his hypnotized servants destroy their parents. Originally there were no scenes written for Christopher Lee as Ralph Bates was supposed to rise from the carnage as a new Count for the seventies, but Warner Bros. had only agreed to finance a film that starred Christopher Lee. Lee decided to waive his fee for a percentage of the profits made in the USA, but Hammer wouldn’t hear of it.
The story itself is not uninteresting and moves at a fairly brisk pace. We learn that Hargood rules his family with an iron rod and has incestuous designs on his nubile daughter, Alice. When Dracula appears on the scene he interrupts a scenario where a drunken Hargood is getting ready to whip his daughter with a riding crop. The tables are turned as Alice rushes into the garden into the arms of the Count. At his command, she kills her father with a garden shovel. At his funeral, she entices her friend Lucy to take a coach ride to the old church where Dracula is waiting. The girl is vampirized almost immediately. Paxton – a great turn by Peter Sallis, the voice of Wallace of Wallace and Gromit fame – takes his fears to Secker who has studied the black arts and is well versed in the rituals of destroying the vampire. Paxton is convinced that Courtley has returned and the two men venture to the church. Once there, they find Lucy Paxton sleeping in a coffin. Secker finds a stake to put her at rest, but Paxton has brought a gun and chases his friend from the church after wounding him in the shoulder. As the sun sets, a sniveling Paxton decides to drive the stake home. Lucy awakes however looking more toothsome than usual and Paxton is staked by Lucy and Alice.
Secker revives in the churchyard and lumbers home while losing much blood. He hastily compiles a letter to be given to Paul Paxton, outlining the terror of Dracula and the ways to defeat a vampire. The letter also states
“Would you be willing to sell your souls to the Devil?”
Meanwhile, their children are living in their own circle, Alice Hargood is engaged to Paul Paxton whose sister Lucy is engaged to Jeremy Secker. Their lives are very uninvolving. Only Alice is unhappy because her father refuses to accept Paul as her lover and berates her in public for displaying herself like a harlot and sending her to bed without supper. None of the families are aware of their father’s depraved trips to London.
Spending 1000 guineas on a peculiar set of items from Weller, the three gentlemen embark on the most horrific night of their lives. Lord Courtley conducts a satanic ritual of blood. Sprinkling the curious powder that is Dracula’s blood into three goblets, he opens his hand with a dagger. As his blood touches the powder in the cups, the liquid swells and the cups runneth over. Courtley orders them to drink but the men are repulsed:
“You drink it! You drink the filth!”
Courtley does without hesitation and is taken with wracking pains. He screams at the men for help, but they beat him to death with boots and walking sticks. Swiftly exiting the old church, they vow never to speak of this again. But they have reckoned without the power of the black arts. Lord Courtley’s body is covered by a sand swept dust. As the dust breaks, we see that he has transformed into the vampire, Count Dracula.
“They have destroyed my servant. They shall be destroyed!”
Dracula immediately begins his onslaught on Victorian hypocrisy. Unfortunately, after this great resurrection sequence, he is further reduced to staring out from the blackness as his hypnotized servants destroy their parents. Originally there were no scenes written for Christopher Lee as Ralph Bates was supposed to rise from the carnage as a new Count for the seventies, but Warner Bros. had only agreed to finance a film that starred Christopher Lee. Lee decided to waive his fee for a percentage of the profits made in the USA, but Hammer wouldn’t hear of it.
The story itself is not uninteresting and moves at a fairly brisk pace. We learn that Hargood rules his family with an iron rod and has incestuous designs on his nubile daughter, Alice. When Dracula appears on the scene he interrupts a scenario where a drunken Hargood is getting ready to whip his daughter with a riding crop. The tables are turned as Alice rushes into the garden into the arms of the Count. At his command, she kills her father with a garden shovel. At his funeral, she entices her friend Lucy to take a coach ride to the old church where Dracula is waiting. The girl is vampirized almost immediately. Paxton – a great turn by Peter Sallis, the voice of Wallace of Wallace and Gromit fame – takes his fears to Secker who has studied the black arts and is well versed in the rituals of destroying the vampire. Paxton is convinced that Courtley has returned and the two men venture to the church. Once there, they find Lucy Paxton sleeping in a coffin. Secker finds a stake to put her at rest, but Paxton has brought a gun and chases his friend from the church after wounding him in the shoulder. As the sun sets, a sniveling Paxton decides to drive the stake home. Lucy awakes however looking more toothsome than usual and Paxton is staked by Lucy and Alice.
Secker revives in the churchyard and lumbers home while losing much blood. He hastily compiles a letter to be given to Paul Paxton, outlining the terror of Dracula and the ways to defeat a vampire. The letter also states
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