Blut für Dracula (1966)

Blut für Dracula: Directed by Terence Fisher. With Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Andrew Keir, Francis Matthews. Dracula is resurrected, preying on four unsuspecting visitors to his castle.

“The first direct sequel to the studiosu0026#39; u0026quot;Draculau0026quot; (after the Dracula-less sequel u0026quot;The Brides of Draculau0026quot;), this is standard stuff for them, but typically well done. Director Terence Fisher is in fine form as always, the look of the film is perfect, James Bernardsu0026#39; score is thunderous and insistent, the ladies (Barbara Shelley and Suzan Farmer) are ravishing, and Sir Christopher Lee is a force of nature as the bad Count. His screen time is quite limited, but effective. He has no dialogue here – heu0026#39;s a feral beast who basically just hisses. Van Helsing is not to be seen here, but his stand-in, a tough, knowledgeable, and authoritative monk named Father Sandor (Andrew Keir) more than makes up for that.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe focus is on a quartet of vacationers made up of two couples: Charles (Francis Matthews) u0026amp; Diana (Ms. Farmer) and Alan (Charles u0026#39;Budu0026#39; Tingwell) u0026amp; Helen (Ms. Shelley). Theyu0026#39;re stranded in the wilderness by a frightened coachman who dares not venture too close to Draculasu0026#39; castle. A horse and carriage pick them up and bring them to the house, where a faithful servant, Klove (a creepy Philip Latham) shows them some hospitality. Charles and Alan donu0026#39;t really question things (even though they should), but Helen is scared. And rightfully so. That night, Klove puts into motion the means of resurrecting Dracula from the dead. Two of the quartet must then rely on the services of Father Sandor in dispatching Dracula.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Dracula: Prince of Darknessu0026quot; moves forward very well and delivers a respectable amount of chills and thrills. The atmosphere is potent, in the Hammer tradition, and the story leads to a fairly action-packed climax and a novel means of u0026quot;killingu0026quot; Dracula, which Hammer would do with each entry in their series. The very engaging cast also includes delightful Thorley Walters as Renfield-like, easily manipulated character Ludwig. This sequel is unique for Hammersu0026#39; Dracula franchise for its 2.35:1 aspect ratio; the excellent widescreen cinematography is courtesy of Michael Reed. The highlight has to be the commanding performance by Keir, who proves to be just as worthy a Dracula opponent as Peter Cushingsu0026#39; Van Helsing is.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFollowed by u0026quot;Dracula Has Risen from the Graveu0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSeven out of 10.”