Dracula – Prince of Darkness
By John Sheridan, Blockbuster.co.uk

Horror extraordinaire Christopher Lee’s second outing as the Dark Prince and Hammer at its best. Dracula – Prince of Darkness opens ten years after the events of the earlier 1958 film, Horror of Dracula and is regarded as one of the finest portrayals of Dracula on film.

Charles and Alan Kent and their wives Diana and Helen are on holiday in the Carpathian Mountains, it is their first trip outside of London. They intend to climb the mountains and tour the local towns. When they stop at a local pub for some refreshments, they are introduced to Father Sandor, an eccentric monk who travels with a rifle and carries with him, warnings to stay away from the area as all they will encounter is ‘fear and death’.

Disregarding the monk’s warning, the two couples recruit a local coach driver and the following day, they continue on with their visits to local towns. Unfortunately for them, late in the day, their coach driver refuses to drive any deeper into the forest and strands the two couples out in the wilderness. Initially they resign themselves to the fact that they will have to spend the night in an abandoned shack but an empty horse drawn carriage arrives which takes them to the grand but eerie Castle in the distance known as Castle Dracula.

Once inside Castle Dracula, the two couples find a table all prepared for them and are eventually introduced to Klove, Dracula’s man servant who appears and informs them that his master has been dead for ten years but left clear instructions that his castle must always be prepared to receive guests. The two couples enjoy the count’s hospitality and then they go to bed. During the night, as the couples are in their respective rooms, Alan is lured out of his room and ends up down in the basement of the castle with Klove, he is murdered by Dracula’s servant and his blood is used to revive the Prince of Darkness.

Now the evil of Dracula has been unleashed on the world, and his brother has been killed, Charles decides that the only course of action open to him is to kill the Count. First however, he must save his wife and survive the night.

The Verdict:
Like other Hammer Horror films, once started, this film moves at a tremendous pace and is sure to keep both fans of Hammer and newcomers (like me) to the Hammer films, on the edge of their seats. Gripping stuff. Add to your list now.

This title has been rated 34 times.