“Who did this?!?!?!?”
When a mute altar boy discovers the body of a young woman in the bell of the local church, the locals begin fearing for their lives and the priest goes rogue in Dracula Has Risen From The Grave. While traveling through the area, Monsignor Mueller learns of the failings of the local priest and decides to help him. The priest tells the monsignor that Dracula has returned and people are too afraid to attend Mass. The Monsignor decides to exorcise and bless Castle Dracula to stop the vampire’s reign of terror. The rogue priest agrees to go with the monsignor to Dracula’s castle but will not follow him all of the way up the mountain. When Msgr. Mueller blesses the castle, placing a large cross upon the doors, a storm brews up and knocks the rogue priest down, causing his head to bleed. Unfortunately for everyone, the monsignor believes that his work is done. Little does he know that the rogue priest’s blood has awakened Dracula and now the count is out for revenge!
Dracula takes the rogue priest as his slave and forces him to lead him to the monsignor in order to get revenge. Unable to access his castle, Dracula takes up residence in the basement of a tavern while the priest gets a room upstairs. The count begins using and manipulating the lovely barmaid, Zena, to draw in the monsignor’s niece, Maria, so that he can take her as his bride in revenge for blocking off his castle. Standing in the count’s way is the monsignor and Maria’s boyfriend, Paul. The duo are quite the odd couple as Paul is an atheist and the monsignor is, well, a Catholic priest. They form an uneasy bond to take on the count. Who wins? Watch 1968’s Dracula Has Risen From The Grave to find out!
This film is considered to be one of the weakest entries in the Christopher Lee Dracula films. Personally I believe that it is very well done and deserves more attention than it receives. For starters, director Freddie Francis does a great job of shocking viewers with epic little moments throughout the film. One of the best, at least in my opinion, is the build up to and ultimate revelation of the dead girl inside the bell of the church. I also loved many of the wide shots that featured Count Dracula standing and peering out at his enemies and/or his slaves. Christopher Lee cuts quite the imposing figure in all of these shots and I thought that they were amazing.
The film’s cinematography, provided by Arthur Grant, is breathtaking at moments. The colors pop when they need to and are refrained at just the right moment. Also, take note of the framing of each shot whenever Dracula is involved in a scene. There’s a nice filtering touch that you’ll find in these moments. The music by James Bernard is great as well. You could hear a theme building around Dracula before, during, and after his appearance in a scene.
Then there is the cast, who all do wonderful jobs. Rupert Davies’ performance as Monsignor Mueller is full of anger, a bit of arrogance, and wisdom. He’s the perfect foil to the very likable and charming Barry Andrews as Paul. He’s one of my favorite characters in all of the Hammer films that I’ve watched so far. Lee does an amazing job as the count as expected and Ewan Hooper is great as the local priest who struggles between forced service to Dracula and his love for the Lord. Veronica Carlson is both sweet and seductive as Maria and, gosh, I can’t say enough about the wonderful Barbara Ewing as Zena, the ill-fated barmaid who has a crush on Paul and is used as a weapon against Maria. Ewing was so striking in this film that I ended up crushing on her a bit myself. Also, I want to give a nod to Carrie Baker. She portrays Gisela Heinz, the young lady who hangs from the bells of the church and whose coffin is stolen by the priest for the count to stay in during the daytime.
I also loved the promotional posters for this film, especially the American release poster pictured at the beginning of this post. It’s simple, revealing Veronica Carlson’s neck with two bandages strategically placed over her vampire bite wound. It’s a cool poster and I need to find a copy of it for my wall. I also loved the many lobby cards, promotional photos, and other posters for this film.
I really did enjoy this film. I don’t understand why so many people dislike it. It’s fun, has plenty of action, and includes some of the best acting performances that I’ve seen in a Hammer production. Sink your teeth into this film. You just might like it!
I hope that you enjoyed this post. We’re more than half of the way through Thirty-One Days O’Horror, and Halloween is just around the corner. Keep your eyes peeled for even more Hammer goodness this month!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 