1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die- Horror of Dracula

#353 - Horror of Dracula (1958)
Starring: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Michael Gough
Directed by: Terence Fisher


Plot Summary: Jonathan Harker arrives at the castle of Count Dracula to become his new librarian. Once he makes himself at home, his true motivations are revealed: that he is a vampire hunter sent to kill Dracula. Harker succeeds in killing one of Dracula's brides, but fails to kill Dracula and is turned into one of his minions. When Dr. Van Helsing arrives looking for Harker, he finds him lying in a coffin as a vampire. He stakes Harker through the heart and returns to deliver the news to his fiancee Lucy, her brother Arthur, and his wife Mina. Unknown to Dr. Van Helsing, Dracula has targeted Lucy as a revenge plot to replace the bride that Jonathan took from him.


In the world of modern horror, it's very common to run across remakes and reboots. Every famous horror franchise has been remade, rebooted, or given an endless number of ridiculous sequels. We've seen it with iconic monster films, '80s slasher films, and all types of possession and exorcism films, but it all had to start somewhere. In many ways, Hammer Horror films were the first commercially successful horror films to reboot characters that were at one point synonymous within their own franchises. Hammer Films specialized in adding color, blood, and sexuality to films that were based on the classic Universal Monster films, including Frankenstein, The Mummy, and Dracula. Hammer Films also liked recycling actors in many projects, including Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. While they had already starred in The Curse of Frankenstein, it was Horror of Dracula where both of these iconic horror actors had a chance to shine, deliver memorable performances, and distance itself from the iconic film starring Bela Lugosi.

Christopher Lee stars as one of the most iconic figures in horror history, Count Dracula. Initially, Dracula isn't scary when we first see him. The most he has is a somewhat icy demeanor, but is still very polite. However, all it takes for him is to have some blood on his fangs and his eyes open wide to become absolutely terrifying. I think another effective element of Lee's portrayal is that he barely speaks. How do you distance yourself from legendary Dracula voice made famous by Bela Lugosi? Simple, you keep your Dracula menacing by having him say as little as possible, and it's VERY effective.

The real MVP of the movie should be Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing. Cushing brings a lot of depth and quirks to Van Helsing that really works in the character's favor. I love little instances of him listening to his own research, taking notes, serving as a medical doctor and a psychiatrist throughout the film because they really boost Van Helsing's established brilliance. The man of science becomes a man of action whenever he feels hot on Dracula's trail, to the point where this lanky genius becomes a legitimate tough guy that is able to contend in a battle with the world's most legendary vampire. Cushing is able to play Van Helsing as both a doctor and a hunter and roles them into one truly awesome character.

Perhaps the most negative factor of how good Lee and Cushing are is that they make a lot of the supporting performances inferior. There are really only two side characters I'm invested in. The first is Jonathan Harker, played by John Van Eyssen, because we follow him as the main protagonist for the first part of the film (before Van Helsing is introduced). The second is Arthur, played by Michael Gough, who assists Van Helsing in stopping Dracula. The biggest significance in Gough's performance is the knowledge that he would be best known as Alfred in the original Batman movie franchise of the '80s and '90s (another iconic "bat man"). Other than Jonathan and Arthur, many of the other characters are bland and forgettable.

Hammer horror films had a much different tone in its films than the Universal Monster films and it shows. For starters, they were in color, had a strong amount of blood for the time, and had overly sexualized female characters. If anything, Horror of Dracula serves as the gateway for more modern retellings of classic horror icons (which is both a good and bad thing depending on the horror remakes). I truly believe that the ongoing legacy of horror remakes can be attributed to this film thanks to its use of suspense in atmosphere, its updated content, and the best depiction of the epic rivalry between Dracula and Van Helsing as played by two titans of terror in Lee and Cushing.


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

A lot of the content in Horror of Dracula can nowadays seem tame, but in 1958, it was very cutting edge, shocking, and influential to modern horror films. I'd recommend this film to all horror fans to see at least once for the different interpretation of an on-screen Dracula film, and for the iconic performances from Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

Horror of Dracula and movie images are copyrighted by Warner Bros.