Scars of Dracula (1970)

 

In my experience, all (or mostly all) of the Hammer films that feature Dracula are either excellent or pretty bad.  Again, this is only my opinion, you can have yours as well.  Scars of Dracula would fall into the pretty bad range except I get to see good old Patrick Troughton (one of my favorite doctors from Doctor Who) as Klove.  Klove is this films version of Renfield.  The first thing I noticed about Scars of Dracula is that it moves very SLOWLY.  Dracula is of course played by Christopher Lee who looks to be sleepwalking for most of the film.  As in the norm with most Hammer films of this era the scenery and sets are excellent.  The creepy atmosphere, however, is a bit lacking for me in this one. 

 

 

I have read some things about this film possibly being a reboot of the Hammer Dracula films.  The producers were not sure if Lee was going to continue making the films so Hammer Studios had to begin to think about life after Lee.  Either way if either is true one thing is certain, Scars of Dracula needs some help. While I did appreciate all the close-up shots of the crucifix that Jenny Hanley (The Devil’s Widow and The Flesh and Blood Show) wore for her part of Sarah Framsen.  It was a very nice crucifix!  Scars of Dracula takes place in Kleinenberg where the remains of Dracula lie in his castle.  A vampire bat comes and drools blood over his ashes and soon Drac is back baby! 

 

 

Christopher Matthews (Scream and Scream Again and See No Evil) is Paul an all-around scamp who will sleep with whatever woman shows the slightest bit of interest in him.  After getting accused of rape, he flees and ends up being rescued by Klove who takes him back to Dracula’s castle.  At first, he is welcomed and taken care of but after one of Dracula’s concubines tries to feed off of him Dracula kills her and keeps him hostage.  Paul’s brother Simon, who is portrayed by Dennis Waterman (Fright and Man in the Wilderness), and his fiancé Sarah; you remember her, she has the nice ah... crucifix go searching for Paul.  The trail leads them to Dracula’s castle but the only catch here is Klove, who is Dracula’s right-hand man, has a thing for Sarah.  His crush on the young lady may hamper his ability to make decisions that will work hand in hand with Dracula.  Thanks to Patrick Troughton being along for the ride, this ekes out three vampire bats out of five.  I guess this one falls into the middle somewhere, unusual for a Dracula film from Hammer Studios.