“Do not meddle or you will have to deal with me.”
1973’s The Satanic Rites of Dracula is considered by most film critics (and star Christopher Lee) to be the worst Hammer film featuring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as Van Helsing and Count Dracula. Despite this, I enjoyed the film very much. It is by no means a favorite of mine, but to paraphrase a classic saying, “The worst Lee/Cushing Dracula film is still better than the best day of work.”
The film works best when viewed as a mystery thriller in my opinion. There’s plenty of horror and suspense, but seeing Van Helsing and his cohorts attempt to figure out who or what is pulling strings in a blood cult is more interesting than the actual face off against Count Dracula.
The plot is a tad goofy. Count Dracula has drummed up a cult that pulls in major players in society that he plans to ultimately use to spread a new variant of the bubonic plague. Why? Because the good count has grown tired of eternal life and wishes to watch everyone on the planet die whilst he starves to death. Thrown in for no apparent reason (other than to flash a bit of skin) are a gaggle of undead ladies that live in the basement of the cult headquarters. Although they are all chained up they manage to get their hands on a few potential victims. One of those victims is Van Helsing’s granddaughter, Jessica (Joanna Lumley). Her encounter with the vampire women is actually pretty tense. Also along for the ride are the human bodyguards of the cult. These guys all wear fashionable brown vests lined with what looks like sheep wool. It’s makes it easy to determine who they work for and that when they do show up, something is about to go down. The actual showdown between Van Helsing and Dracula is pretty decent. I’m especially fond of the death of one of the two characters. I’m pretty sure that you know who dies, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise.
The film carries over many of the characters from the previous film, Dracula A.D., 1972. Cushing, Lee, and Michael Coles all reprise their roles. Joanna Lumley replaces Stephanie Beacham as Jessica Van Helsing. The story take place in contemporary 1974 and features a score that fits right into the 1970’s. The action really is enjoyable and the gore is sufficient. There’s a bit of full frontal nudity as well, but this film did receive an R rating unlike many other Hammer films. There’s an edited version floating around out there but I’ve only seen the R rated version.
Again, I liked this film well enough but there are definitely a ton of other vampire films out there that top this one. You wouldn’t be wasting too much time on a rainy afternoon if you decided to sit down and check this flick out.
Thanks for reading my post. I’ll be reviewing plenty of other Lee/Cushing team ups, so keep your eyes peeled for them!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 