Dracula, Prince of Darkness

In honor of Bram Stokers birthday, even though he's been dead for years and doesn't know how people still celebrate his birthday (unless he's a vampire and still around), I had to watch a Dracula movie for November 8th.

Synopsis:

Two couples go on vacation to the Carpathian Mountains.  There they are warned against going anywhere near the Castle Dracula.  Somehow they end up there anyway and one couple is killed and bring Count Dracula back to life.  It is up to the last couple, and a bunch of monks, to kill Dracula once and for all.  (It's never once and for all, by the way.)

Review:

This is a Hammer Film.  While they are not completely bad, per say, Hammer Films can only be so good.  This is actually one of the better ones.  Third in the Hammer/Dracula series, Christopher Lee reprises his role of Dracula.  Funny thing is, he doesn't say a word.  After doing some research I found that the reason for this was that when Mr. Lee was given the script he told Mr. Hammer, "I'm not saying any of this."  Kudos to Mr. Lee for that, but the lack of speech actually gives some menace to his character.  The other actors play their roles well also.  I especially like the woman how plays Heather. She does well in conveying her fear and later as one of the undead.

The story line is not as bad as it could be (If you've seen any other Hammer Films you know I'm right).  But this one keeps it interesting.  The sets are all nice and somewhat elaborate.  Enough so that I want to live in Castle Dracula.  But, like other Hammer Films, everything is so bright and colorful it's a bit distracting.  As far as the costumes and locations are concerned it's fine, but when you get to the effects it makes them unbelievable and a bit cheesy.  And we all know Hammer was never known for their cheese.

Kid safe:  I would let kids watch this.  Like I said above, any blood looks like it's made from Tempra paint and not scary.  (You know Tempra paint.  It's the paint they give kids in elementary school art class because it's so cheep you can buy a gallon of it for $1.)  Any of the violence is insinuated or overly dramatic and worse in any cartoon that is out today.

IMDB link:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059127/