The last sequel of the Hammer Dracula series and it's The Satanic Rites of Dracula. The strangest and perhaps most complicated sequel in the series. By far the weakest as well. I'm sure though that Christopher Lee was happy, sadly he just didn't enjoy these movies. He said in an interview that Dracula was never needed, that they always wrote the story first and added Dracula later. So I can understand what he was talking about, he didn't want to be typecast and wanted to move forward in his career. But I don't think he's suffered for it by any means as he's been an inspiration for so many and a lot of directors seek him out. Also much credit to Peter Cushing who did enjoy making these sequels and he's one of the bigger pleasures in the film. The man could have a role in the movie Pink Flamingos and give his role an Oscar worth performance. Plus the man made a career out of killing Christopher Lee, which not to many people could do and do it well. I always love how Dracula states that he's going to win this time but I can't help but say over his mouth "You've defeated me numerous times before, what makes you think you can do it again?!". As complicated as the plot is, I'll explain as best as I can.
A Secret Service agent barely escapes from an English country house, in which satanic rituals are celebrated. Before he dies of his wounds, he reveals to his superiors that four prominent members of society - a government minister, a peer, a general and a famous scientist - are involved in the cult. Murray suggests consulting noted occult expert Professor Lorrimar Van Helsing. The cult kidnaps the Secret Service secretary Jane, who is later bitten by Dracula. Murray, Secret Service agent Torrence and Van Helsing's granddaughter Jessica arrive at the country house, where they discover several vampire women chained up in the cellar, including Jane who is now a vampire herself. Murray kills Jane with a stake and the three escape the grounds. Keeley's research notes lead Van Helsing to the reclusive property developer D. D. Denham, who had funded Keeley's research. Van Helsing also suspects a reincarnated Dracula behind the plot, suggests that Dracula wants to exact revenge on humanity and speculates about a secret death wish on the Count's part. Van Helsing visits Denham in his headquarters and finds out his true identity: Count Dracula. He tries to shoot Dracula with a silver bullet but is beaten by the Count's conspirators. Dracula decides that killing Van Helsing would be too simple and has him transferred to the country house where Dracula will not only bite Jessica in front of Van Helsing but decides to destroy the world.
So the flaw of the story is I think the pacing. It's a lot of talking vs. the typical action we are used in the previous sequels. Plus you do lose interest at times, I had to watch the film a couple of times before I could write the review. I think because the story is a bit complicated, you don't get into it as well. Plus, Dracula destroying the world just doesn't make much sense. Like in the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the vampire Spike says "We like to talk big, vampires do. "I'm going to destroy the world." It's just tough guy talk. Struttin' around with your friends over a pint of blood. The truth is, I like this world. You've got... dog racing, Manchester United, and you've got people. Billions of people walking around like Happy Meals with legs. It's all right here. But then someone comes along with a vision. Goodbye, Piccadilly. Farewell, Leicester bloody Square." Good point there. However, with Peter and Christopher's chemistry, just bouncing back and forth off each other was great. I liked the way Van Helsing found out the true identity of Denham. Also silver bullets are brought into the mix, which by the way do not work very well. Dracula's death scene is alright, again, not so climatic, but Van Helsing got the job done by just getting him stuck in a bunch of weeds wow, did I really just say that? Yeah, maybe this was a huge flaw. If you want to finish the series, I say to go ahead and watch the movie, but you could skip it over all. It was a sad way to end the series, but I'm sure the when Star Wars came along for Cushing and Lee, they had no regrets whatsoever.
4/10
A Secret Service agent barely escapes from an English country house, in which satanic rituals are celebrated. Before he dies of his wounds, he reveals to his superiors that four prominent members of society - a government minister, a peer, a general and a famous scientist - are involved in the cult. Murray suggests consulting noted occult expert Professor Lorrimar Van Helsing. The cult kidnaps the Secret Service secretary Jane, who is later bitten by Dracula. Murray, Secret Service agent Torrence and Van Helsing's granddaughter Jessica arrive at the country house, where they discover several vampire women chained up in the cellar, including Jane who is now a vampire herself. Murray kills Jane with a stake and the three escape the grounds. Keeley's research notes lead Van Helsing to the reclusive property developer D. D. Denham, who had funded Keeley's research. Van Helsing also suspects a reincarnated Dracula behind the plot, suggests that Dracula wants to exact revenge on humanity and speculates about a secret death wish on the Count's part. Van Helsing visits Denham in his headquarters and finds out his true identity: Count Dracula. He tries to shoot Dracula with a silver bullet but is beaten by the Count's conspirators. Dracula decides that killing Van Helsing would be too simple and has him transferred to the country house where Dracula will not only bite Jessica in front of Van Helsing but decides to destroy the world.
So the flaw of the story is I think the pacing. It's a lot of talking vs. the typical action we are used in the previous sequels. Plus you do lose interest at times, I had to watch the film a couple of times before I could write the review. I think because the story is a bit complicated, you don't get into it as well. Plus, Dracula destroying the world just doesn't make much sense. Like in the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the vampire Spike says "We like to talk big, vampires do. "I'm going to destroy the world." It's just tough guy talk. Struttin' around with your friends over a pint of blood. The truth is, I like this world. You've got... dog racing, Manchester United, and you've got people. Billions of people walking around like Happy Meals with legs. It's all right here. But then someone comes along with a vision. Goodbye, Piccadilly. Farewell, Leicester bloody Square." Good point there. However, with Peter and Christopher's chemistry, just bouncing back and forth off each other was great. I liked the way Van Helsing found out the true identity of Denham. Also silver bullets are brought into the mix, which by the way do not work very well. Dracula's death scene is alright, again, not so climatic, but Van Helsing got the job done by just getting him stuck in a bunch of weeds wow, did I really just say that? Yeah, maybe this was a huge flaw. If you want to finish the series, I say to go ahead and watch the movie, but you could skip it over all. It was a sad way to end the series, but I'm sure the when Star Wars came along for Cushing and Lee, they had no regrets whatsoever.
4/10