Starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Michael Coles, William Franklyn, Freddie Jones
Directed by Alan Gibson
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
Lorrimer Van Helsing is brought in to assist the authorities in investigating a house where several British officials have been participating in satanic rites, and finds Count Dracula is involved.
Lee, Cushing, Coles, and director Gibson return for another modern day Dracula film after Dracula A.D. 1972, with the focus less on the "satanic rites" of the title, but a scheme by the Count to decimate the Earth. Lee is his usual foreboding self and even gets to do a Bela Lugosi impression, while Cushing has some memorable scenes showcasing the character's fiery determination. Van Helsing's granddaughter is recast with Joanna Lumley, who certainly looks beautiful, but lacks the personality Stephanie Beacham brought to the role in the previous film. I liked the mystery angle of Don Houghton's story, but thought Gibson's direction of it gave the film a more plodding pace than previous efforts, and found many of cinematographer Brian Probyn's camera setups lacking in building excitement or suspense. John Cacavas' score has a wonderfully evocative main title, but I was a little disappointed by the rest of it. The climax of the film which has Dracula largely subdued by a disappointing new idea for a vampiric weakness is also disappointing, but it's still Cushing and Lee, and there's some memorable images and scenes, and I wouldn't want to be trapped in that basement with all those vampire ladies.
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