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starring: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling, Carol Marshdirected by: Terence Fisher
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780790706801
Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
ISBN: 0790706806
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Release Date: December 13, 1993
Running Time: 82 minutes
Sales Rank: 19294
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: May 08, 1958
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
After Hammer Studios' tremendous success with The Curse of Frankenstein, they struck a deal to adapt Universal's catalog of classics and set their sights first on Dracula. Christopher Lee removes the monstrous makeup from the earlier film and makes his entrance as an elegant, confident, altogether seductive Dracula, a frightening figure of flashing eyes and erotic allure. Peter Cushing, with his hawklike profile and piercing eyes, turns his rationalist intensity to Van Helsing: man of science as crusading vampire hunter. Director Terence Fisher and screenwriter Jimmy Sangster make a few changes to Bram Stoker's tale; gone are Renfield, Transylvania, howling wolves, and transformations into bats. The Count is an old-world aristocrat firmly ensconced in a castle in England and Van Helsing a crusading vampire hunter who plots his demise with an elaborate plan. This is the first film to really mine the erotic appeal of vampires: Dracula seduces Mina and Lucy like a devil tempting good to the dark side through sex--more suggestive than explicit, but daring for 1958. Lee is electric as the ferocious Count, despite his limited screen time, and Cushing turns Van Helsing into a virtual swashbuckler of a hero, leaping and diving through the climax like an aging action hero. Cushing reprises his role in The Brides of Dracula, while Lee absented himself from the series until 1966's Dracula: Prince of Darkness. --Sean Axmaker
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - One of Hammer's finest!
"Horror of Dracula" may not be a faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic Gothic vampire tale, in fact far from it, but it is a fine take of Stoker's novel.In this version, Jonathan Harker goes to Dracula's castle at the beginning under the guise of a librarian, but he actually knows what Dracula is and his purpose is to destroy him. Unfortunately, he is killed by Dracula and the vampire goes to London to prey upon Harker's fiancee, Lucy Holmwood [yes, they changed the names too], and later on ... Read More
Rating: - Christopher Lee's Greatest Horror Role
This film marked a new beginning for vampire movies being in color and actually showing stakings. Christopher Lee was savage and yet sexual in his approach to his victims, combining the suaveness of Bela with a beastial attitude. "Dracula" as this film is known in the UK, was a great success for Hammer Films and led to six sequels. The cast is well chosen and they play their roles to the hilt. I believe this is the best Dracula movie ever made. I highly recommend it to anyone.
Rating: - THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS
Horror of Dracula
SAW THE MOVIE, ONCE AGAIN, FROM MY DAD'S COLLECTION. CHRISTOPHER LEE IS CINEMA'S GREATEST COUNT DRACULA. SCENE AFTER SCENE STAYS IN THE MEMORY: HARKER(JOHN VAN EYSSEN)ENTERING THE TOMB OF THE SLEEPING VAMPIRE WOMAN, AND DRIVING A STAKE INTO THE BEAUTIFUL CREATURE'S HEART; AS THE STAKE ENTERS, A WELL OF BLOOD GUSHES INTO THE CAMERA AND, TERRIFYINGLY, SHE IS TURNED INTO A HIDEOUS OLD CRONE, AS DEATH FINALLY OVERTAKES HER. HARKER LOOKS UP IN TRIUMPH, ONLY TO FIND THAT THE SUN HAS ... Read More
Rating: - Classic Hammer Horror!!!
This British-produced film, the first Dracula film from Hammer Studios, is brilliantly directed by Terence Fisher and is a true classic in the long-standing tradition of Hammer Horror. The story is slightly different from the original novel and also from the Bela Lugosi 1931 version, in that the budget only allowed for the story to take place basically within the same area of land. Arriving at Castle Dracula, Jonathan Harker (John Van Eyssen) meets the Vampire Prince (played wonderfully by Christopher ... Read More
Rating:  - A Bloody Good Tale
In the 1950s, the classic horror monsters of old had been abandoned in favor of the more trendy atomic monsters. Most of these new monsters were giant bugs or lizards, which naturally have no personalities or psychological motivations for the destruction they caused. Many of the actors who were featured in the classic horror films had passed away, Boris Karloff being the great exception. And no one had seen the likes of vampires, werewolves, or zombies for some time. British audiences, who had no taste ... Read More
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