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| Tookey's Review |
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| Pro Reviews |
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| Mixed Reviews |
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| Anti Reviews |
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| Cast |
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| Released: |
1958 |
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| Genre: |
UNDERRATED
REMAKE
HORROR
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| Origin: |
GB |
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| Colour: |
C |
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| Length: |
82 |
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Transylvanian count (Christopher Lee) visits Britain.
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Reviewed by Chris Tookey
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Stylish, colourful though hardly subtle version of the Dracula story, with two definitive performances by Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as his nemesis, Van Helsing. Director Terence Fisher shows himself here to be a master of colour, mood and editing. There are many classic moments, chief among them Dracula’s first appearance, his attack on the vampire woman in his castle, and the climactic battle between Dracula and van Helsing.
It was disliked intensely by most contemporary critics for its perverse eroticism (the young women seem to invite the Count’s dental caresses, and Lucy’s luring of the child suggests sexual abuse) and for its sadistic brutality (director Terence Fisher is at pains to emphasise the savagery of the Christians who wish to destroy Frankenstein). The use of colour was also much criticised: critics didn’t like the sight of blood if it was red. The public on both sides of the Atlantic, however, responded to the merits of the film, or the sensations that it offered, and took it to its heart. This ground-breaking British horror film is now generally considered a masterpiece.
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“It’s the only one that I’ve done that’s ever been any good, in my opinion. It’s the only one that remotely resembles the original book.”
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| (Christopher Lee) |
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, Peter Cushing 