Seen in the 2007 British Film Institute restoration (on Warner Archive), Hammer Horror’s take on Bram Stoker, the follow-up to their game-changing CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN/’57, surely reps the company’s high-water mark in the genre. There’s real dread, real suspense in director Terence Fisher’s cinematic vision, utilizing vivid TechniColor now looking sharper & more refined. Just as much effect stems from Jimmy Sangster’s tightened narrative and geography*, along with an emphasis on sex that’s built into the script and buttressed by Christopher Lee’s vampire swagger & blood-sucking hormonal appeal. Dracula’s bites, love-hickeys that penetrate. Mostly busty woman, but he’s equally drawn to Jonathan Harker’s tasty neck at first. And, unlike later Hammer Horror, forward momentum never giving way to spinning wheels as Michael Gough’s skeptical husband & Peter Cushing’s doctor/avenger bring battle-worthy team play against this supernatural beast.
DOUBLE-BILL: Ridiculous & slow as molasses in winter, Universal’s Tod Browning/Bela Lugosi DRACULA/’31 remains memorably odd & essential.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Pity to lose dear, bug-besotted Renfield, but without Dwight Frye to play him . . . ?
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