FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Dracula - Prince Of Darkness [DVD] [1965]

Dracula - Prince Of Darkness [DVD] [1965]
enlarge	Director: Terence Fisher Actors: Christopher Lee, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley, Francis Matthews, Suzan Farmer Studio: Optimum Home Entertainment Category: DVD List Price: ~~£12.99~~ Buy New: £4.70 as of 23/11/2009 07:59 GMT details You Save: £8.29 (64%) New (10) Used (1) from £4.00 Seller: findprice Rating: 9 reviews Sales Rank: 6479 Format: Anamorphic, PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 86 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5060034576877 ASIN: B000HEVTJA Theatrical Release Date: 1965 Release Date: October 23, 2006 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 9 1 2 Next » Dracula: Prince of Darkness October 7, 2007 Wayne Jefferies (UK) 19 out of 24 found this review helpful Dracula: Prince of Darkness. br / br /IMO, this is the best of the sequels, despite the only real drawbacks of the Peter Cushing not returning as Van Helsing, Christopher Lee having absolutely no dialogue in the film, whatsoever. Those who thought it was sparse in his previous appearance will not be pleased to note that he doesn't utter a single word! And yet such is the power of Lee's on-screen presence, that his outing as Dracula in this movie is still extremely effective! br /Fortunately, a pretty decent replacement for Cushing was cast, in Andrew Kier, who gives a robust performance as Father Sandor, is further augmented by a strong cast of unwitting visitors to Castle Dracula, via a carriage pulled by horses that refuse to go anywhere else, promptly disappear after depositing the carriages occupants at the castle! br /After this point, the film really starts to come into it's element. Once again, Hammer's lush set design is on display as the visitors look for someone within the castle, whilst James Bernard's music once again adds to the sense of foreboding, which suddenly builds to a fearful pitch as a tall, dark shadow suddenly looms in a doorway....... br /Enter Dracula's manservant; Klove, superbly played by Philip Latham, who in his own way could almost upstage his master for his cold, unsettling prescence. The spooky factor is magnified much more after the vistors bed down for the night, with the music accentuating Terence Fisher's camera as it almost prowls around the castle. The tension starts to rack up even further after one of the guests go to investigate some bumping noises, from the bedroom door he spies Klove dragging some sort of heavy trunk in the darkness. Mystified, he is lured out of his room to investigate, follows Klove down the staircase to a basement, into candlelit chamber containing various relics of Dracula, also his tomb....... And then curiosity kills the cat....... br /Or rather Klove does. Stringing the body up hanging upside down above Dracula's tomb, He then brings a box of ashes sprinkles them into Dracula's empty tomb, slitting the throat of his victim over the ashes, to perform one of the most famous scenes in the history of Hammer - the ressurection of Dracula! As the blood flows over the ashes, a mist forms, through we can gradually see a skeleton form, which slowly grows muscle tissue, eventually as the mist billows thickens, a hand arm is seen reaching out of the tomb...... This is an absolutely fantastic scene, which totally mesmerizes the viewer, is brought to a climax by James Bernard's slowly building score, as a thunderstorm begins. Next, the wicked Klove tricks his victim's wife, Helen into the cellar, we finally see the fully re-animated Dracula claim his first blood, i must say that Barbara Shelley makes an extremely beguilng rather sexy vampire. She'd have me in a second! br /In a confrontation at the castle, Francis Matthews' character; Charles gamely tries to confront Dracula with a sword, but the vampire with his super strength simply snaps the sword grasps Charles around the neck begins to choke him until Charles' wife accidently discovers the power of the crucifix, they manage to make their escape. Even though the Count is reduced to only hissing snarling, the dominating presence of Lee is still very effective in these scenes, it's interesting that Dracula has no interest in his recently vampirised bride. In a reflection from the original story, he stops her from biting Charles, flings her away when she goes to him. The Count it seems, is only interested in fresh victims! br /Meanwhile, Charles his wife (somewhat ironically called Diana) encounter Father Sandor again, (not to mention a character called Ludwig, who's clearly based on Renfield from the original story) he proceeds to share his knowledge of Dracula vampirism, warning Charles that Dracula will be after Diana. Eventually, after a failed attempt to get at Diana, Sandor's monks capture Helen, he stakes her, in a scene played very effectively by Barabara Shelley, after which, in a reflection of a similar scene from the first movie, we see Helen serenely 'at peace'. br /But helped by Ludwig, Dracula does manage to get to Diana, as Lee dons his now famous red contact lenses, we see the Count's mesmeric powers as he prevents Diana from screaming. This is immediately followed by another nod to Stoker's original novel, directly transposed from a scene with Mina, where Dracula makes her (Diana in this case) drink his blood from a self inflicted wound on his chest, after which she faints, Dracula makes off with her. This scene is another step forward in establishing Lee's Dracula as having a sexual/sensual element, that's touched on in the original film. br /Again in a similar vein to the first film, there's a frantic horse carriage chase back to the castle, with Diana Dracula, aided once again by Klove, are pursued by Charles Father Sandor, leading to the film's finale where Dracula is trapped on the ice, is eventually engulfed by the running water underneath, after Sandor's gunshots break up the ice. br /IMO, Dracula: Prince of Darkness is the most successful most dramatic of Hammer's Dracula sequels. It successfully recreates the gothic atmosphere once again, an excellent cast go a long way to making up for the lack Cushing/Van Helsing. Even so, it would've been nice if they'd given Chris Lee even a few lines! For me, the mute Dracula does detract slightly from Lee's excellent characterization in the first Hammer film, but even so, there's such a high overall enjoyment factor for this sequel, that i can't give it any less than 9/10. THE LETHAL COUNT IS BACK October 15, 2008 JESSICA'S DAD (Trichur East, Kerala State, India) 2 out of 4 found this review helpful Dracula, prince of darkness was directed by Terence Fisher, who had guided Christopher Lee through his first performance as the blood-thirsty count. Yhis film was the first NOT to feature Dracula's nemesis Van Helsing(played by Peter Cushing). Instead vamoire-fighting expertise was supplied by Andrew Kier in the role of Father Shandor. Like Van Helsing, Shandor despises blind superstition, but recognizes the forces of evil and respects their power. Dracula, Prince of Darkness, is in many ways a different sort of film from Hammer's, Horror of Dracula. Rather than jumping right into the expected vampiric activities, this film, takes its time introducing and developing its new characters before the revival of Dracula. Along with Shandor, the film's featured characters are two vacationing British British couples, newly-weds, Charles and Diana(Francis Mathews and Suzan Farmer) along with Charles' elder brther, Alan and his wife Helen(Charles Tingwell and Barbara Shelly). Despite Shandor's warnings, the holiday-quartet, find themselves, stranded near Castle Dracula at night. A driver-less coach appears and on boarding it, they find that they are unable to control the horses, who bring them directly to the castle, where they encounter, Klove(Philip Latham), an eerie "servant" of Count Dracula. Once Dracula is introduced, the pace of the film picks up, and a number of thrilling vampiric encounters ensue. While much of this footage is similar to material in Horror of Dracula, variations and some novel ideas do crop up. Even Dracula himself, is is a bit different. Most obviously the lining of his cloak has been changed from black to red. The most interesting of the film's new material is drawn from Bram Stoker's original,'Dracula', novel. Thorley Walters plays an insect-eating character named Peter, who is obviously based on the novel's Renfield. And Dracula summons Diana to vampirism by baring his chest, cutting himself with his fingernail, and drawing the girl to him, to taste the wound: a sequence lifted almost exactly from the original work.. The film also uses Stoker's premise that a vampire cannot cross a threshold uninvited, and coverts Stoker's idea that a vampire cannot cross running water into the premise that running water is fatal to the vampire. one of the most effective Dracula movies ever made!!! June 18, 2008 S. J. Pinder (Cornwall,UK) 3 out of 7 found this review helpful on my first viewing i have found this film to be surprisingly effective and is by far one of the best Drac films that i have ever seen. br /Christopher Lee gives a stunning performance...and the fact that he has absolutly no dialogue at all in this film adds to its enjoyment and makes it a very unsettling experience which is why i love it so much. br /i found it to be better than the original Hammer film and the best one hammer ever did. br /Christopher Lee is a fanGtastic actor,long may he reign in the film industry. A fine sequel August 20, 2007 S J Buck (Kent, UK) 12 out of 17 found this review helpful This is the second Hammer Dracula film to feature Christopher Lee in the title role. Although Peter Cushing sadly does not reprise his definitive role as Van Helsing this has much to offer. br / br /The film starts with a replay of the final few minutes of the first Hammer Dracula (aka The Horror of Dracula), which is perhaps the greatest moment in the history of Hammer films. From there it develops quickly, with two couples ending up staying at Castle Dracula. Some well known faces make up the rest of the cast including Francis Matthews, Barbara Shelley and Andrew Keir. This film was made eight years after the original and its quite surprising how much more violent and gory it is. br / br /The film was directed by Terence Fisher and you always know with a Hammer film that if he was the director you would get a quality film. He also directed Curse of Frankenstein, The Devil Rides Out, Hound of The Baskervilles, Brides of Dracula and of course the original Dracula (all worth buying). Add this to James Bernard's great score and you have a fine horror film that has stood the test of time really well. Hilarious Hammer ham - Perfect for an after pub nibble October 27, 2007 Lou Knee (England) 2 out of 16 found this review helpful I kid you not, this movie had me in stitches in parts, largely thanks to the screenplay, which was beautifully awful (It was so bad, Lee refused to speak a word of it all the way through, as he tells you on the excellent interview in the extras). Most of the usual vampire slaying cliches are in use here, but the main man gets his cummuppance via a different method here, to the more usual one, which makes a nice change, I must say. Atmospheric, as ever, well directed with strong visual scenes, with lurid colour photography and great set design. Alas it has no Van Helsing, which weakens it somewhat against the first film, but this is an enjoyable, entertaining, if very hokey ol' fright film. Showing reviews 1-5 of 9 1 2 Next »

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