Horror of Dracula: Movie Review

9.5/10 

Ever since the 1920's, vampires have been a big part of cinema. Whether it was Nosferatu, or the Dracula played by Bela Lugosi, they were all great, and the monsters had become a cultural phenomenon. In 1958, the character of Count Dracula was portrayed in a way like never before, and better than anyone could've ever expected. "Horror of Dracula" was the first Dracula movie by Hammer, and it starred the legend himself, Christopher Lee. Not only is this the best vampire movie ever, it also happens to be one of my favorites over all. It is a dark, macabre, and masterful movie that has captured the world since its release. 

The movie begins with a narration, and it tells of a man named John Harker. As the narration goes on, Harker enters the castle of Dracula. John journeys alone at the castle, until he runs into a woman that says she is a captive of Dracula's. Soon after Count Dracula introduces himself to John, and shows him to his room. Even though Count seems normal at first, but things get a little weird when he locks John in his room. Harker just shrugs it off, and everything seems fine.  These beginning scenes are very interesting, and their is such a beauty to all of the sets and filming. It really makes one feel like they're really in the 1800's, because their is a very bright tone in the lighting that gives the complex feeling of the times. I also found the credit sequence to be awesome, because of the great look of the words, and some very intense background music. 

In just moments to come, the movie takes a very different tone.  John meets the young lady again, and tries to help her.  She then leans into him like she's going to kiss him, and bites him.  Now extremely shocked, John gets the idea that there is vampires.  This turns into a showdown between the three in the castle, and it is one of the greatest scenes in a classic movie that I've ever seen. I could really sense the tensity and pure anxiety that the characters were feeling, and it just had such a cool look to it. In the course of the movie, we then meet Dr Abraham Van Helsing, and a rivalry of good vs evil takes place like never before. 

The first thing that I really appreciate about this movie is the stereotypes it broke from being dry. First off, it was a film about the 1800's which, sometimes lag, and second, it's a film about the period from the 1950's. Regardless of these two factors, the movie is still very refreshing, and I never got bored at all. In fact, I actually found it to be even more engaging than later films on the subject.

The next thing that is very perfect about the film is the cast. For starters, Christopher Lee was absolutely born to play Count Dracula. He really had a way of being super dark, but also suave at the same time, and I have never seen anyone be able to pull this off before. I would go as far as saying that I like him even more than Lugosi.  I really thought that Peter Cushing fit the role of Van Helsing very well, because he had the qualities of a hero, yet he could be stern and dark at the same time. These qualities were absolutely necessary for the character, because he was never written to be a bright and happy person. Another member of the cast that was special was Carol Marsh as Lucy. The reason that I really liked her is that she definitely portrays fear in her first scenes, but she turns evil and seductive in just moments later. Michael Gough was cool as Arthur, because he really gave off the vibe of a cocky scholar that thinks he's better than everyone.  I thought this was funny, because then when he is in trouble with the vampires, he depends on everyone else. Melissa Stribling's character of Mina was the most stereotypical of everyone, because she wasn't shown as strong at all, yet a woman that needed the aid of a man at almost all times. This really shows the time period of the movie, because Stribling showed no remorse for it at all. 

The portrayal of vampires and their attacks was absolutely awesome in this movie, because they were very raw, and dark, and had a lot of shock value for their time period. You could really sense the bloodthirsty lust coming from every one of them, and it's totally convincing that the actors aren't full humans anymore. Even the vampire fangs looked pretty good, because they weren't overboard, but subtle as a way of boosting the realism.  I also liked that the movie stayed very true to the vampire legends, with the garlic, crosses, and wooden stakes, because it really gave a lot of the familiar nostalgia that made the movies awesome. Even though the idea wasn't done for the first time in this movie, I actually found it quite interesting that Dracula could seduce his future victims, regardless of the fact that he is a vampire. This movie really emphasized the erotic side of the story without even being explicit, because you could feel the sexiness from a mile away. 

The ending of this movie really blew my mind, because it is a full throttle showdown between two of the main characters. In this scene, there was an immense brutality that went along with it, even though it was bloodless for the most part.  These last five minutes really made up a lot of the movie for me, because they had all of the shock that I wanted in the movie, which raised my opinion of it very high. 

If there was one weakness to the whole film, it would be that it was too short. The 81 minute run time went very quick in my opinion, and I could have sat through even more.  While keeping it short and sweet didn't hurt the movie, I wish it could be changed somehow. 

Overall, this movie was really really amazing. It had such a fun vibe to watch, because it was truly as perfect as you can get in making a vampire movie.  It was shocking, clever, and one of the best horror movies I have ever seen. It is most definitely the best Dracula movie to start, and also probably one of the best of the 1950's. Definitely check it out, because you won't be disappointed.