Hammer Horror : The Dracula Films Ranked

A darker, more gothic take on the Classic Monsters that Universal Studios made popular, British movie Studio Hammer Films has always held a place in my heart for making scarier versions of my favorite characters. Here  I made it a point to watch all of their Dracula films, most of which star Christopher Lee in the title role. The atmosphere of these movies plays a huge role, and while they are more sensual than the Universal films, they are not as lurid as my memories made them..  So here are all 9 films ranked in order. 

9-The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires - 1974

This was a sad end for the franchise as it's a kung-fu movie, little to do with Dracula, who, in the movie, is not Christopher Lee; what was Peter Cushing thinking? Julie Ege was underutilized in this movie.

8- Satanic Rites of Dracula -1973

I appreciate the concept here, but the execution was off, and it felt too much like a true crime thriller at times. Dracula as a CEO worked for me, but too little Dracula and too much buildup.

7-Bride's of Dracula-1960

Nothing really to do with Dracula at all, more focused on Van Helsing; the vampire's a goof in this one, but the sets are great. 

6-Dracula- 1958 

Was pretty solid, though Cushing's Van Helsing steals the show, as Lee was just getting used to the cape. Cool mood that separates this film from Universal, though Lee might have been too British here. Closer to the book than Bela  Lugosi's. 

5-Dracula AD -1972-

Modern Day Dracula works better than many of the films, though it suffers from too much build-up and not enough Dracula until the final 20 minutes of the movie. Stephanie Beacham stands out in this one.

4-Dracula Has Risen From the Grave-1968

Prince of Darkness just edged this one out; Barbara Eden from I  Dream of Jeannie is in this one. The rooftop scenes are darker in this movie and set the mood. The end is another ridiculous death for him. 

3-Dracula Prince of Darkness -1966

Lee is more settled into his role, though he plays a more feral version of the resurrected title character. Not just throwing candlesticks at people, but has more power, making him scarier. A greater sense of dread runs throughout the movie; however, it does have one of the silliest endings. 

2-Taste the Blood of Dracula-1970

The more occult elements in this were ahead of its time, and it is clear this movie was getting an R-rating; he has a marginally less silly death, and it's a more violent film than the previous ones with a sense of dread creeping up from its shadows. But it does follow the formula the Hammer uses for these films, where it's the first half of the movie establishing the why of what is going on. 

1-Scars of Dracula- 1970

All of these have a bit of silliness here; it's the bat. But the cast and vibes work well. Perhap the tension was not as high as it's the looking for a lost brother thing, and Dracula is less invested and rightfully feels less threatened, though he is more allergic to crosses in this one. In some way more accurate in his power set, though, and Lee feels most at home in the role here, as he has played him differently in almost every movie. Jenny Lanely is great in this one and puts her step toward the top tier of Hammer Girls.

Film Review : "Feed"

 I am alwaqys looking for a good vampire movie, so the trailer for this movie excited me.It is different than the trailer leads youto beleive.The bulk ofthis is in some part due to one of the film's strengths in how it deviates from what you normally expect from a  vampire movies as it takes a twist on the lore. However this twist is clearlyinfluenced by one of my favorite vampire book series Brian Lumley's "Necroscope", Granted the lore is on the surface based on the Irish legends of the Dearg-due.According to the robots of   Google Gemini, Marco Van Belle claims it is influenced by Bram Stoker's Dracula, whichc is almost as funny as when Coheed & Cambria said they had never heard of Rush.

Sure I might have preferred a Necroscope movie, but this one works well enough. Itis a shame that this movie went straight to streaming services as it is a better movies than the critcally acclaimed "Sinners", which was just a ripoff of "From Dusk Til Dawn" and everm for all this movie's unacknowledged Lumely influence it's still more original than "Sinners". The only draw back to this movie is for it to be an Irish film it really triesto  come across as an American film, and plays into a few Western casting tropes,which are not deal breakers.

The vampores use more of a psychological attack that takes mesmerism to a new level. I prfer the more animalistc predatory nature the vampires in "30 Days of Night' held , but this new approach, that I am not going to spoil for you is something fresh that successfully set this movie apart. The lore is well blended and the ending works for me even if this narative get's alittle shaky by the end in places. We know audiences hunger for vampire movies that are well made and not "Twilight" romances, which is why they fell for things like the Nosferatu remake and "Sinners', so here's hopiong this movie develops more of acult following as it is more deserving. 

Film Review; "Evil Dead Burn"

 While I am always looking for horror movies, when I see Halloween decorations hitting the shelves in July, it makes the urgency level rise. I am glad I took my time to find this movie online, because it might not have been worth the trip to the theater, which I rarely make in the first place, but it was best digested in four seperate chunks of time, over two days. Which is a shorter time than msot movies take for me. It is no surprise this is not the best movie in the franchise, but it is also not the worst. It is different enough to not feel redundant, but still remembers the assignment. The fact that Sam Raimi hung around as the producer helped protect the legacy of the brand. 

With that came the just being gross to uphold the standard vibe. You would think the Necromomicon, even this fictional version, would summon more monsters than jsut demon zombies, but no, though this time they are pyro-zombies. The writing works well enough, with neough balance in the getting-to-know-the-characters section, yet I am seeing a recurring trope of the annoyingly Beta coward male with the female protagonist having to step it up. This is the third movie if we are just counting horror, but it was even in Masters of the Universe. This was the only Hollywood psy-op agenda moment of the movie 

It is familiar and pulls from the other movies, a wink at them from time to time. I would say tense but not scary, as it wa a little predictable. They did take their time to establish the characters a bit, not that it really matters as all of them are equally unlikeable, but it seems to be the point as it is the curse of a toxic family that seems to fuel the evil into motion here. They check off the Rami boxes of including scenes that are gross for the sake of being so and hold no bearing on the plot. It was a fun watch that looses sateam imn the third act, so leave your thinking caps at home and just be prepared, but in your face dread.

Film Review : "Leviticus"

 

This movie came out back in June, and I just got the opportunity to catch up with it. It was one of the year's highest-rated horror movies so far, with predictable picks like "Obsession" leading the way. But is there really anything to it? Sure, a great deal of the Hollywood hype is because it is a gay horror movie, which is nothing new as gay themes in horror go back to 1936 with "Dracula's Daughter". But there has to be more to a movie than that. It is well done and looks great, but at the core, the film is basically just a gay version of "It Follows" 

Despite being a slow burn, it almsot barely feels likea horror movie, as most of the horror goes down in the last 20 minutes. There is a slight obsession angle to it, buyt the how and why this was all set in motion is vague. The characters are frustrating, and they never really deliver on the religious subtext, and imply that praying the gay away is what set the cure in motion.. You don't feel sorry for anyone or feel a tangible sene of dread. It looks nicely shot, which was the only thing that kept me watching, though half of the anticipation was if something was actually going to happen. 

I am sure the Neon distribution deal helped them make some of the stylistic choices, as it felt very familar when compared to the studio's other work. I say this more frequently, but if a horror movie looks good, often that alone will be enough to fool fairweather fans of the genre who are too cool for 80s slashers andd are probably among those who did not like "Psycho Killer," which still holds the top spot for the year in my book. Little happens here, and when some does transpire, it's underwhelming given the build. 

Film Review - "Touch Me"

 The thought of a live-action hentai gave me high hopes going into this movie. Olivia Taylor Dudley from The Magicians was an added bonus and an underrated actress. But I wish she was given more to work with here. This would have worked better if it were more Lovecraftian and worked like a Stuart Gordon movie. But now they could not decide if they wanted to be a comedy or not; it was almost like, by making it comedic, they could apologize for things like alien sex. Thus watering down the entire concept. Starting the film as a therapy session made you think it was going to take more chances than it did.

The alien sex scenes were more Roger Corman, and we got better alien sex in the 89s and 90s. The special effects for this was reallt pathertic. It is not like they did not have a big enough budget to pull off better as the film is otherwise well shot. The antagonist was a cult leader without a cult, sure it could be argued that he ate his follwoers before he had a chance to form, but there lies one of the films problems: the writing.  It was like the film was made from a pitch that had not been fully fleshed out into a script so they ad-libbed absurd comedic elements to give it more meat on its bones, but in turn watered down what could have been an effective movie.

Dark concepts were turned into punchlines and sacrificed the emotional weight these actors could have conveyed. This movie dug into trauma; it would have been more ffective if the tentacles had been more rapey. , As the acting was never a problem, this was compounded by the fact that the writer was also the director. That way there was no one not co-signing their own bullshit here. This goes to show that indie horror movies are plagued by Hollywood's ego problems just as much as any other aspect of the business. Was a shame to see lvia Taylor Dudley's talent misused in this way, 

Film Review : "Obsession"

 At first, I assumed the guy behind "the Monkey " had something to do with this movie. But no, it's Curry Barker, no relation to Clive. He jsut wrote it from a similar premise of being careful what you wish for. The film lives off of Inde Naverette's preformance of the obsessed Nikki, though the other actors assume their roles well, only to have her dominate the film, which is fine as it's obviously what needed to happen, not unlike say Linda Blair's preformance in  "The Exorcist" which also shares similar tendencies and themes performance-wise.  

The scariest thing about this movie is the psychological " don't go in the basement, feeling as you watch things unravel on this unsuspecting fellow who uses his wish to make his crush obsessed with him. When he loses control and begins to wallow in regret to some extent, it feels like he just does not know how to play his cards; then, as the story continues to unfold, there might be other supernatural elements at play. I like that some things are left to your imagination, and they did not have to go into a bunch of backstory.

In some ways, it seems like they are willing to go as far as they need to to make you uncomfortable, and it does not conform to the current Hollywood narratives of having gender roles flipped. The lines are also blurred as to who is the antagonist, which is also effective, as Nikki is not really the monster of this movie. I think we could have seen more contrast on how he would have seen this as a dream come true at first, but as it unfolds, the dynamic shifts; instead, we get out of control as soon as the spell hits.never  The illusion of what he had to gain never really shines like it could, which is the writing vs the acting that carries this movie, so it was a fun watch but far from a classic. 

 

Film Review - "Psycho Killer"

 Here is an example of why you can't always trust Rotten Tomatoes or entertainment press in general. Gavin Polone has produced some good movies, such as "8 mm," "Zombieland," and "Stir of Echoes." This is his debut as a director, and while this movie did not light up the box office, it deserves a second chance. Despite the 8 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes , this movie is a lot of fun. It does not, however, play by the rules of what Hollywood wants from horror movies these days. Despite it being about a female protagonist of color whose husband is killed by a serial killer. 

It delivers a classic slasher feel. Though not a dumb, mindless killing machine, but someone who is driven by a purpose. Sure, he is part of a silly Satanic "cult" of sorts, whose leader is Malcom Mcdowell, and provides a parody many in occult circles who don't take themselves too seriously might find humorous. All of this is not laid out for you in the beginning, and rather, the killer's motives become clearer as the film unwinds. I suppose if it had any message, it is not an intentional one that picks a political side, though it is timely when you think about religious types who might be trying to trigger the apocalypse. 

Not always the best acting, but not too stiff either, all the elements work enough to get the job done. It is a sad state of affairs when we are 4 months into the year, and this is the first horror movie I have felt inspired to write about. I did start watching the new "28 Years Later: The Bone Church," but it did not keep my interest. This movie did, in fact, I watched it in one sitting, which is a compliment in and of itself. If you are looking for a horror movie that makes some big social statement, then you should wander out into traffic, because that is not what horror is about. This movie might not indulge in graphic violence or gore, in fact, those things are handled rather tastefully, but it does offer the kind of slasher movie that I wish they made more of. It does not apologize for being what it is and that is what Hollywood press hates about it.