Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Freddie Francis

Writer:

Anthony Hinds (writer)

Release Date:

6 February 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Horror

Tagline:

You just can't keep a good man down!

Plot:

When his castle is exorcised, Dracula plots his revenge against the Monsignor who performed the rites...

Plot Keywords:

Dracula | Coffin | Cross | Pub | Hanged Girl

Cast

Christopher Lee	...	Dracula
Rupert Davies	...	Monsignor Ernest Mueller
Veronica Carlson	...	Maria Mueller
Barbara Ewing	...	Zena
Barry Andrews	...	Paul
Ewan Hooper	...	Priest
Marion Mathie	...	Anna Mueller
Michael Ripper	...	Max
John D. Collins	...	Student
George A. Cooper	...	Landlord
Christopher Cunningham	...	Farmer (as Chris Cunningham)
Norman Bacon	...	Mute Boy

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) (2004) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (video rating) (1993) | Germany:16 (DVD release) | West Germany:16 (VHS rating) | Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:G (certificate #21909) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Trivia:

This was the very first movie to receive a rating from the MPAA in 1968.

Goofs:

Plot holes: Scenes in the day following Maria's seduction / attack include her being visited by her guardians (in daylight) and Paul studying in his room (at sunset). Between these is a scene in the sewer, in which Dracula's empty coffin is seen and a figure (presumably Dracula) passes the street-level grating, blocking out the light. This strongly implies that Dracula is returning to his coffin during daylight hours. Whilst this would certainly be acceptable behavior for Bram Stoker's original character (who was merely inconvenienced by sunlight), it is a serious continuity error in the Hammer series, which established (in "Dracula" - 1958) that any exposure to sunlight will decompose a vampire to dust.

Quotes:

Max: The truth? What do you want with that? If you want to be a succes in life forget the truth.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)

Dracula is back!

Sporting the ultra camp title - "Dracula Has Risen From the Grave", this is a solid entry in Hammer's Dracula series. What I love about Hammer is that they aren't afraid to take an existing story and play around with it to create something new. Even if the idea behind is less than brilliant and most studios would have shied away, Hammer approach it with gusto, and the results are always good natured, easy viewing that's hard to dislike. This film follows Count Dracula as he is resurrected shortly after the priest, Ernst Muller, exorcises his castle. Dracula doesn't take this sort of behaviour lightly, and so decides to take on revenge on the holy man - by taking his niece as his bride!

Dracula is one of the greatest characters ever to be written and portrayed on screen, and it's also one that Christopher Lee has become famous for playing. Unfortunately, Christopher Lee doesn't have a great deal of screen time in this flick; but every moment he is on screen is a highlight and, as usual, he does well with the role and proves that he is the only man other than Bela Lugosi to do it right. Freddie Francis (Dr Terror, The Creeping Flesh) directs this film and succeeds in creating a morbid and fascinating atmosphere that bodes well with the subject material on hand. The film is stylishly shot, and features some of the best use of lighting ever seen in a Hammer film. The camp style that the studio is famous for is here by the bucket load too, and that can only be a good thing. This is hardly Hammer's finest hour, however; the film is relatively slow to start, and the story isn't the most inventive ever to come from the studio - but Hammer fans will enjoy it, and I would have no qualms with recommending this as a decent waste of your time.