Dracula: Prince of Darkness Blu-ray Review

Four English tourists travelling the Transylvania countryside are enjoying some drinks and warmth in a small village tavern when a man of the cloth enters. It's clear that the regulars are weary of this boisterous giant, and even a little intimidated by him. Undeterred, Father Sandor – played marvelously by Andrew Keir – demands a drink from the barkeep and makes his way over to the fireplace where the visitors are seated.

After some introductions, Sandor learns the plans of the travellers and invites them to his monastery. However, it's a bit off the path of their plans, so they reluctantly decline. This doesn't bother the priest, but he does give them one stern warning in a fairly amusing exchange: don't go to the castle on the mountain. When one of the tourists mentions there's no castle on the map, the unfazed Sandor repeats the warning. Needless to say, after a series of events – both accidental and intentional – the group of city folk do indeed find themselves in the dwelling of the most famous Count in horror history.

There are two interesting things about Dracula: Prince of Darkness that stand out above all others. The first is the titular vampire – played by the fantastic Christopher Lee – doesn't make his first appearance until about 45 minutes into the film. The second is once the infamous vampire does show up, he never utters a line. There is a debate to this, as some say Lee hated the script so much that he refused to speak any of it, whereas screenwriter John Sansom claims there were never any lines for Lee to begin with.

With no sign of Dracula in the first half of the movie, that time is dedicated to getting to know the protagonists, and it's well spent. Father Sandor is my favorite as he's quickly established as a no-nonsense man of God who has zero tolerance for religious zealots that go around staking people willy-nilly (something we learn in the opening scenes of the film). The two married couples are also well developed, and the actors have a great synergy going on as they banter back and forth. Barbara Shelly does well with her role as Helen Kent, whose negativity and nagging is quite annoying at first, but she ends up being the one voice of reason with her insistence that entering the castle is a bad idea. Charles Tingwell is the yin to Shelly's yang as Helen's husband Alan. Clearly the man has grown accustomed to his wife's seeming inability to be happy with anything, and he doesn't seem to care much about her fears. Alan's brother Charles, on the other hand, seems to take a certain glee in bantering with Helen, and Francis Matthews' free spirit portrayal of the character is a bit infectious. Suzan Farmer takes the role of Charles' wife Diana, and it's clear that the character enjoys her husband's constant needling of her sister-in-law.

Christopher Lee is Christopher Lee of course, and even on a bad day he's a blast to watch. Yet, whatever the reason, his lack of dialog does hurt the film, even if director Terrence Fisher does a great job establishing both believable characters and a nice sense of unease with a wonderful, rich atmosphere from the moment the couples enter the castle. But it should be noted that regardless of lines, fine acting from the rest of the cast, or Fisher's skill at creating a rather nice build up to Dracula's reveal, Lee's involvement makes this film even more enjoyable than maybe it should be.

I should also mention Philip Latham and Thorley Walters as Klove and Ludwig respectively. Lathan's Klove is effectively creepy as Dracula's right hand man, in charge of securing the "guests" for the evening. While there are certainly a few of his lines that are unintentionally funny, I wouldn't want to be the guest of someone who has this guy as their houseboy.

Even though Christopher Lee is somewhat underutilized in Dracula: Prince of Darkness, there really is a lot to like about the film. Charles and Helen's back-and-forth banter and jabs (in particular Charles') makes for an enjoyable time passer until we get to who we paid to see, and every time scene-stealer Sandor shows up, you know it's going to be fun. Top that with Fisher's ability to deliver some great atmosphere well before we see Dracula and the rather novel final scene with the blood sucker and the protagonists and you have a yet another pretty damn good entry (or many) in the Hammer catalog.