Dracula – Nächte des Entsetzens (1970)

Dracula – Nächte des Entsetzens: Directed by Roy Ward Baker. With Christopher Lee, Dennis Waterman, Jenny Hanley, Christopher Matthews. A young man, Paul Carlson, is on a trip and spends the night at Count Dracula’s castle. He is murdered. After some time has passed, the young man’s brother Simon comes to the small town where all the traces end to look for him.

“As far as the Hammer Dracula films go, Scars of Dracula is among neither the best or worst of them, if anything itu0026#39;s bang in the middle in my opinion. Horror of Dracula is the best of the series(as well as being one of Hammeru0026#39;s classics), with Brides of Dracula and Dracula: Prince of Darkness being the best of the follow-ups, but Scars of Dracula is better than all the Hammer Dracula films that followed.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf Scars of Dracula can be summed up in one phrase, it would be u0026#39;decent but could have been much more.u0026#39; The story has its great parts certainly and kudos to the film for incorporating details from the book which few of the sequels did. It however does drag quite badly and has too much padding that had very little to do with the film. The script is at best mediocre and at worst shoddy, some parts are far too talky, and thereu0026#39;s some silliness, vaguely explored ideas and sometimes tedious melodrama(like Dracula Has Risen from the Grave but worse).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe special effects do look dreadfully fake, especially the bats that look laughable even by todayu0026#39;s standards. Scars of Dracula generally is not a bad-looking film at all, but it was at this point where the Hammer Dracula films started getting cheaper in comparison to the earlier films. While the acting is fine on the whole, Dennis Waterman did nothing for me, he is incredibly bland and while he looks and sounds right at home in 1970s London he looks and sounds completely out of place here.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eScars of Dracula has some highly atmospheric sets(especially Draculau0026#39;s castle, which is like a character all by itself), is very stylishly shot and has wonderfully moody lighting. Roy Ward Bakeru0026#39;s direction is decent, having the right amount of suspense and style if never erasing memories of Terrence Fisher, whose direction had more colour and atmosphere. James Bernardu0026#39;s score booms with intensity without being intrusive, while also having a rich lushness without becoming too sentimentalised. Scars of Dracula is very high in atmosphere, with a great sense of dread and suspenseful mystery throughout, itu0026#39;s also one of the the goriest and most violent of the series but not in a way that feels cheap or excessive. There are some memorable scenes, with the standouts being the powerful opening, the visually striking scene of Dracula climbing the castle walls and Draculau0026#39;s demise, which is one of the most memorable of the series.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWith the exception of Waterman, the cast do a solid job, even if the antagonists make a better impression. Christopher Matthews is reasonably likable in the screen-time he has, and Jenny Hanley is charming and natural as well as displaying a scene-stealing cleavage. Michael Ripper brings crusty and poignant demeanour to a character that could easily have been forgettable, and Michael Gwynn is good as the Priest. Klove and Dracula however steal the show. Patrick Troughtonu0026#39;s Klove, sporting some very memorable eyebrows, is skin-crawlingly creepy, and I did find myself rooting ever so slightly for him. Christopher Lee has more screen-time and dialogue than the rest of the Hammer Dracula films featuring him, which is great considering that generally his screen-time and amount of dialogue were lessoning with each instalment, and he absolutely relishes that in a powerful and positively blood-curdling performance. Some have said that he was losing interest and that he considered this film the worst of the series, but it didnu0026#39;t come over that way to me, besides Lee was too great and conscientious an actor to show that.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall, decent but could have been much more; Hammeru0026#39;s fifth Dracula film out of eight ranks right in the middle personally. 6/10 Bethany Cox”