Review: Dracula - Prince of Darkness [1965]
Dir. Terence FisherCast: Christopher Lee, Andrew Keir, Francis Matthews, Barbara Shelley
Hammer Studios conclusively redefined British horror films in the 50s and 60s with their innovative amalgam of high style, literacy, sophistication, and bloody intensity, commuting the irascible gothic of Universal’s insouciant horror films and the camp sensibilities of the low-budget indies. Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Mummy, the werewolf, and all the other horror commodities were revamped and invigorated by Hammer, but none so categorically as Dracula. In the first film, Horror of Dracula
(1958) Christopher Lee shattered the anemic, deferential image of Lugosi’s count with a mixture of vehemence and sensuality lacking from any Dracula preceding or, debatably, since and made the role irrevocably his own
