"Rasputin The Mad Monk" is another of the Hammer Studios series of horror flicks that usually starred Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing, or both. This one stars Lee in the title role with the beautiful Barbara Shelley as female lead.
Lee, as he usually does in these pictures, overacts but dominates the screen when he appears. What Lee gives us is little more than his Dracula character...with a beard. The similarities in the story and Lee's portrayal of Rasputin are to obviously similar to Dracula to be ignored.
Shelley is Rasputin's means to an end (i.e. a way into the Imperial Palace)and really is given little to do other than be dominated by Rasputin. I liked her better when she played a more sinister type of character.
Still, Hammer did know how to put out an entertaining product and even though you can usually guess what's going to happen, I still enjoyed it.
Lee, as he usually does in these pictures, overacts but dominates the screen when he appears. What Lee gives us is little more than his Dracula character...with a beard. The similarities in the story and Lee's portrayal of Rasputin are to obviously similar to Dracula to be ignored.
Shelley is Rasputin's means to an end (i.e. a way into the Imperial Palace)and really is given little to do other than be dominated by Rasputin. I liked her better when she played a more sinister type of character.
Still, Hammer did know how to put out an entertaining product and even though you can usually guess what's going to happen, I still enjoyed it.