Horror of Dracula (1958)

Director: Terence Fisher
Writer: Jimmy Sangster (screenplay), Bram Stoker (novel)

A damned nobleman and vampire, Dracula, travels from his home in Klausenberg to London to wreak havoc and satisfy his bloodlust.

The first largely successful film from the great English film studio Hammer, Horror of Dracula established a new level and style for the horror film. Gone are the deep shadows and awkwardly long takes of Tod Browning's 1931 classic, replaced by lush, if not lurid, colors and a gothic atmosphere. While the story remains only slightly changed, the approach of director Fisher is what sets Horror of Dracula apart from its predecessors. By the time this film was released, the Golden Age of American Horror had long since come to a close. The Universal monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy, the Wolfman, etc.) had denigrated into slapped-together, camp-filled shells of their former selves. Honestly, when a monster meets Abbot and Costello, it's about time to hang up the fangs. The Hammer cycle of classic monsters, however, proved to be enormously successful and lucrative, eventually making Hammer the most financially successful studio in British cinema history.

One of the many fascinating elements of Horror of Dracula is the approach to the supernatural material in the plot. Several times, Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) will either refute or debunk the tried-and-true vampire myths with which we're all so familiar. He's a hardened scientist who only believes what he can see and test. There are a few moments of levity, like the good doctor's scenes with Arthur Holmwood (Michael Gough) and their homoerotic undertones, stemming from the sexual repression that seems so prevalent in Victorian-era British works. Like the werewolf, the idea of vampirism in this context is really more of a metaphor, best portrayed by Mina Holmwood (Melissa Stribling). At the beginning of the film, she acts like the standard, straight-backed Victorian English wife. One can imagine that what little intimacy between the two is most likely performed fully clothed in one of their separate rooms. After her encounter with Dracula (Christopher Lee), she acts more sensual and seductive around her husband. As such, the status quo must repress these unnatural sexual urges in their women. Pity, Mina becomes more attractive when she's lustful.

After Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee is possibly the most recognizable Dracula in cinema history. While Lugosi has that Hugarian accent and mysterious air, Lee elevates Dracula's aristocratic aura to its true and deserved elegance. He comes across not as frightening but approachable, refined without being elitist and quite intimidating with the right lighting. Peter Cushing, in my mind, is the ultimate Van Helsing. His cold, English rationalism makes him more believable foe for the Count's equally cold sense of impending doom.

The narrative of Horror of Dracula is a little different from Browning's film or most other incarnations and is a welcomed change. Instead of Helsing having to convince Harker of vampirism, he's already a protégé of Helsing's and in Klusenburg, under the auspice of a private librarian, to kill the Count at the start of the film. In this film, Helsing has to convince Holmwood that Harker's death (nope, not the hero here) is the result of the Count's vampirism. But iconic story elements are still intact like Lucy demanding the garlic flowers be removed from the room and her coming back from the dead.

But it's not all doom and English gloom, there are humorous moments like the aforementioned homoerotic relationship between Holmwood and Helsing and their scenes with the Customs Official and the Undertaker (my favorite character in the whole film). A fun and interesting take on the Dracula legacy and one of the greatest vampire films ever made. Though my knowledge and experience in Hammer films is significantly lacking, this film alone makes me want to plumb the depths of their catalogue of films.

Recent books of note:

The Hammer Story by Marcus Hearn and Alan Barnes
Hammer Films – A Life in Pictures by Wayne Kinsey
A Thing of Unspeakable Horror by Sinclair McKay