Saw this at a WalMart for $11.

Hm.

Was it part of a bargain display or am I going to have to hunt for it?

But these are the existing DVDs, right? Top of head cropped in HOD and all that, what?

Right. They have risen from the grave - and passed the savings on to you!

LOL! I needed that. :)

I'm glad a five-year-old is in charge of Warners' design department.
"Film Favorites Draculas" ? Adorable.

"Draculas"? Sounds like some European millionaire family.

"And in showbiz news, playboy industrialist Peter Draculas was seen table hopping at SkyBar..."

Let's count ourselves fortunate they didn't spell it Dracula's.

It looks to me that what it's trying to say is "4 Film Favorites-4 Draculas", although I would have put "Draculas" on the left, if that's the case. Never mind that there's really only 1 Dracula (but in 4 movies).

Naturally no pun intended, Richard? :lol:

Never mind the lousy titles or packaging, I'm glad to have this brought to my attention. I've got HoD in a Warner box (as well as SCARS OF DRACULA) but I've been meaning to pick up the other three some day. They're $10 each locally and then only in a two-for-one type sale so this is a really good deal. I'll be adding this to my next R1 order. I can't recall off the top of my head, were there just 5 Hammer/Lee Draculas?

Victor

I think there's seven total, the missing one's being:

DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS
SCARS OF DRACULA
SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA

It should have been:

"4 Film Favorites for Draculas..."

or

"Dracula's 4 Film Favorites..."

Thanks Terry,

I've got SCARS, HORROR and PRINCE OF DARKNESS (from the Warner/Optimum boxed sets). I'd forgotten about SATANIC RITES.. It's not available here and it's possibly out of print in the US. I must look into getting it somewhere. According to IMDB there were some cuts made before release:

I wonder if there are any plans for a Warner release soon?

Victor

THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA on Google Video

There it is, letterboxed no less, but I still haven't gotten through much of it yet. The nude sacrifice is there.

The 4 Drac Pack would be a great gift if I knew some Lee Dracula Monster Kid virgin looking to take the plunge. How many people fit that description?

It's $10 right now at the Virgin Megastore, along with the other WB 4 Movie discs.

"If I had a Haaaammerrrrrr...."

THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA has been widely bootlegged, and is available on a number of movie multi-packs. All seem to come from the widescreen, AB release.

I think they ought to have called it HAMMER DRAC FANGPAK!

Have you heard Christopher Lee's interviews? These are not Dracula's favorite films! :)

THE HORROR OF DRACULA (1958)
***1/2. One of the greats although a bit overrated. It is that last vampire movie to affect all vampire movies.


DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966)
**1/2. This is likable enough but much ado about nothing. May be the first to add blood to get an instant Dracula. Great beginning.

DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (1968)
**1/2. Better than the previous film. Good visuals abound yet not much going on either. Great ending.


TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA (1969)
***. Much better. This time Dracula pits families and family members against each other. One problem. Where is Dracula? Dracula is also treated like a Lovecraft entity more than before. Features better duel imagery than the previous movies.


THE SCARS OF DRAULA (1970)
***. Terrible reputation but it works as folklore pastiche. This time Lee actually does things found in the book. A good print really helps.

DRACULA A.D. 1972 (1971)
***. Come on. It’s good. You like HORROR RISES FROM TOMB, THE DEVIL’S NIGHTMARE, SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN but this one gets no love. Not perfect but it does feature Peter Cushing, Black Arts, and Stoneground. This works in a sort “Orpheus Ascending” sort of way. Good beginning.

THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA (1973)
***. This is a lot of fun. Lee and Cushing play against each other quit well this time. It has a krimi vibe. You’d think that Dracula is Dr. Mabuse with all of the police investigations. It starts off like a spy story. Dracula has aplans on spreading a plauge like disease. This is like the previous entry only with more action. Easily the most underrated of the series. I actually felt sorry for Dracula this time. It is also the only time you'll hear lee imperinate Bela Lugosi.

Also

UNCLE WAS A VAMPIRE (1959) Like you I haven’t seen it.

THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN (1969)
**1/2. Cinema Pop Art. Well if you love the 60s than you’ll like it. It has a mod vibe that is fun. Like so many movies from those days it throws in everything including the kitchen sink. The satire is too heavy handed for its own good. Lee has a walk. Actually everyone is a walk on.

ONE MORE TIME (1970) Like you I haven’t seen it.


CONDE DRACULA (1971)
***. Underrated. This is full of striking visuals, good music, and it includes a genuine performance from Lee and Herbert Lom. The Gothic mood is compounded by the shadow play of props and surrealist style. Directed by Jess Franco, the movie has problems but that has more to do with the budget. Franco makes what he can out of it. Cliff noted but it pays off as a visual adaptation.

VAMPYRE (1972) This is a documentary about CONDE DRACULA unseen by me.

PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1976) This is a French comedy about a family of vampires. Unseen by me.

VLAD TEPES: IN SEARCH OF DRAULA (1977)
***. A documentary that by now this may come off as dated. The theory that Vlad Tepes was Dracula has lost favor over the years. Still it is one more excuse to see Lee as Dracula and Vlad the Impaler. Was once on TV staple is a hard find nowadays.

And without Lee

THE BRIDES OF DRACULA (1960)
***1/2. This is a really good fairy tale version of the story. This time Van Helsing fights the spawn of Dracula. It is full of subtext and sexual depravity. It also features a creepy rising from the grave sequence. Lee does appear but from footage recycled from HORROR.

THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES (1974)
***. Good fun. The bad reviews have no idea what they saw or did they? The restored version is considered the better of the two. It is fun to see Cushing at it again this time in China. If only Lee could have been on board. Perhaps he was bored? If only Hammer was able to make some of the films they wanted made ala DRACULA IN INDIA. As is this is a fun example of continental cinema. Full of action and horror, why dislike it?

Agreed on SATANIC RITES. This may actually be my favourite*, due to its fractured narrative style, SWEENEY-like action sequences and (at last) a glimpse into the troubled psyche of the Prince of Darkness. The nudity and gore don't exactly hurt either, and John Cacavas (KOJAK, HORROR EXPRESS) supplies a very memorable score.

The SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES followup was to be called KALI-DEVIL BRIDE OF DRACULA:



* EDITED TO ADD: Favourite of the Hammer Dracs, that is. Easily the best Dracula adaptations are the BBC's COUNT DRACULA (1977) and Werner Herzog's NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE (1979). But SATANIC RITES is the most fun.

Jonathan, say WHAAAAAAT?

CONDE DRACULA gets three stars to DRACULA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS' two and a half?

Ooh, do I not agree with you on that one! I admit it took me a few years to appreciate D,POD, but between the wit and menace of the ever-ready servant Klove and the transformation of Babs Shelley into the archetypal female vamp in diaphanous gown, I love this flick.

CONDE DRACULA! Good intentions do not a good movie make, nor can Spain double for England. And PLEASE de-cobweb your candelabras, Count.

Whoa, partner! Who hasn't seen both classic Davis/Lawford pairings, Salt & Pepper and One More Time?!?

I actually like OMT for the same reason I like the early 70s Hammer Dracula pictures - they're just too crazy not to love! OMT was actually directed by Jerry Lewis, and considering all the innovations that he's so quick to take credit for, it's lazy, lazy bit of direction. The Lee/Cushing cameo is a perfect example; Sammy is creeping around this massive estate in the British countryside, pulls a book off a shelf in the library and a secret door opens up! He looks in to find a Frankenstein-ish lab set with Lee and Cushing standing there (in full Hammer costume - they may as well have just left Bray Studios without stopping in wardrobe to change). What could have been a funny bit is ruined by Lewis just hosing the scene down with a zoom lens like a sniper who can't decide which target to go for.

Where you been?! ;)

This played late night tv on the east coast at least once or twice in the early eighties (I'm inclined to think it was WVIA 44, PBS). It's stoopid, but Lee looks awesome decked out by the Italians.

That's the opening of D, POD you're thinking of.

I think the opening of DRACULA A.D. 1972 is just about the best setpiece in any Hammer horror movie. The rest of the film doesn't live up to its eye-opening prologue, but how could it?

I notice Cushing's face in that KALI promotional art. Oh, how I'd love to have seen that!

UNCLE WAS A VAMPIRE is actually available from Movies Unlimited in a dubbed VHS. I watched it last Halloween and it's fun and stoopid, as Jeff says. Funny how I've seen this but none of the Hammers except HOD. I'll be picking up the new disc for sure.

Do you mean DRACULA AND SON? I have this on VHS but haven't gotten around to watching it. You can still find semicheap copies on places like half and ebay.

The girl in it is hot. (That's actually true of every movie mentioned here.)

Yes, artist Tom Chantrell would often incorporate "known" faces into his Hammer promotional art, even when the actual cast list might later change - so his pre-production posters occasionally provide an interesting insight into the casting process*. Whether Cushing had actually signed for KALI at the time Chantrell was asked to produce his poster I don't know for certain, but he'd obviously be part of any financing deal Hammer would have intended to set in place.

* Back when DEMONS OF THE MIND was still called BLOOD WILL HAVE BLOOD, Chantrell produced a poster illustrating then-intended star Eric Porter (HANDS OF THE RIPPER), later replaced by Robert Hardy.



Likewise, Chantrell's original art for TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA doesn't feature a likeness of Chris Lee since in those early stages, Hammer were intending to circumvent their troublesome Transylvanian and go with an unknown. Differences were later ironed out and Lee (begrudgingly) became part of the package. An early version of his QUATERMASS AND THE PIT art featured the first TV Quatermass, the late John Neville, in place of later-signed star Andrew Keir.

Fascinating examples of Tom Chantrell's work for Hammer (as well as UK quad images for pretty much every Hammer title) can be seen here:

http://hammerhorrorposters.com/

That's obviously James Lipton. :lol:

"I'm not dead, actually."

Don't trouble me with your fancy "facts". Isn't the world complicated enough without them? :)