Ted-101 Review of Dracula: Prince of Darkness

Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)

Dracula's brain still contains the dust from the last film.

[4/10 · 8 February 2001]

For years after he played Dracula in "Horror of Dracula", Christopher Lee refused to return in the role. Little did we realize he was doing us a favor. In between, Hammer made two superb vampire films, "Brides of Dracula" and "Kiss of The Vampire". Lee should have stayed home a little longer. "Dracula, Prince of Darkness", is a bomb of the first rank. The film crawls forward with two unappealing English couples "touring" the forests and mountains in the area near Dracula's castle. Suzan Farmer is languid and pristine in her role, generating no sex appeal and less acting ability. Francis Mathews is tedious as a "Cary Grant" sounding hero who does his best to put up with a wife and friends he has absolutely nothing in common with. As usual, Andrew Keir is insufferable as a loud and pompous self-important priest named Father Sandor. Sandor isn't afraid of Dracula, or anything else for that matter, so why should the film audience be concerned either? The script and plot are awful. In scene after scene, Dracula is made to look totally inept and a complete fool. In the dead of night, Mathews and Farmer, who don't know a thing about vampires, find themselves trapped by Dracula, his female disciple, and a loyal servant in the castle. Yet, they manage to escape in a sequence which is completely absurd. Nothing can save this movie from itself. Terence Fischer's direction is mediocre, Lee makes lots of faces but we've already learned early on he's no match for Andrew Keir as Father Sandor, who can't be bothered being afraid of anything, and who likes bullying people around ... including the vampires.