DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (1968) – Because my podcasting partner Troy named this as one of his favorite Hammer films I decided to revisit it and found it to be extremely good. I had good memories of it from past viewings but it turned out to be even more entertaining than I thought it would be. Director Freddie Frances might be reprimanded for his use (overuse?) of oval colored gels for certain scenes but I found it added wonderfully to the mood of gothic horror. The story moves along briskly and the entire affair feels solid and dependable – like a well crafted tale meant to be enjoyed for decades to come. I had forgotten that this is a direct sequel to DRACULA- PRINCE OF DARKNESS with the surprise benefit of Christopher Lee actually deigning to speak dialog in the titular role this time out.
The cast is good, Veronica Carlson is gorgeous, Drac is vicious and even if the revenge plot is a little silly the film plays very well. The graphic death of Dracula in this film is one of the best destruction scenes the character ever met onscreen too. Fantastic stuff! This was just what I needed for a Halloween-time Hammer horror.
DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (1968) – Because my podcasting partner Troy named this as one of his favorite Hammer films I decided to revisit it and found it to be extremely good. I had good memories of it from past viewings but it turned out to be even more entertaining than I thought it would be. Director Freddie Frances might be reprimanded for his use (overuse?) of oval colored gels for certain scenes but I found it added wonderfully to the mood of gothic horror. The story moves along briskly and the entire affair feels solid and dependable – like a well crafted tale meant to be enjoyed for decades to come. I had forgotten that this is a direct sequel to DRACULA- PRINCE OF DARKNESS with the surprise benefit of Christopher Lee actually deigning to speak dialog in the titular role this time out. 
The cast is good, Veronica Carlson is gorgeous, Drac is vicious and even if the revenge plot is a little silly the film plays very well. The graphic death of Dracula in this film is one of the best destruction scenes the character ever met onscreen too. Fantastic stuff! This was just what I needed for a Halloween-time Hammer horror. 
2 comments:
I'm really glad you took another look at this. And that screenshot at the end... Maybe I'll watch it again tonight.
That final shot is a classic. The entire final sequence is pretty amazing stuff.
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