A Freddie Francis helmed Dracula film with Christopher Lee? Surely it would be a simple stroll in the park with an end result of a pretty watchable film, right?
In case you missed the last one, Dracula was dropped into the freezing running water thanks to the bullet of Father Sandor, his evil sealed away once more.
We open sometime during the last film with an alter boy (Norman Bacon) finding a dead girl stuffed inside the church bell. The villagers blame Dracula, and the whole village goes down the tubes. The village priest (Ewan Hooper) becomes a drunk, the church becomes little more than a dust trap, and the entire village turns surly.
The scene is unacceptable to the visiting Monsignor Ernest Mueller (Rupert Davies). Bullying the drunken priest to go with him, Mueller drags the drunk and a giant gold cross from the church's alter up the mountainside to Dracula's castle. The priest, sober enough to realize how bad of an idea this is, slips away and stumbles down a ravine while Mueller performs an exorcism and plants the cross across the castle door.
The priest's drunken fall results in him cracking his head open on a rock, bleeding over a patch of ice containing the frozen form of Dracula (Lee). This is enough to revive the count, who is a little put out about his home's new addition.
Mueller, on the other hand, has returned to Kleinenberg to visit his family. His sister-in-law Anna (Marion Mathie) is throwing a birthday party for her daughter Maria (Veronica Carlson), mostly so she can introduce Maria's boyfriend Paul (Barry Andrews) to the Monsignor. Paul is a studious lad, working as a baker. He is also an atheist, a fact that pretty much makes him equal to Dracula as far as Mueller is concerned. The party ends on a sour note.
With Paul drinking his sorrows away and Mueller huffing in rage, neither of them suspects Dracula has followed the older priest. Setting up shop in town, Dracula sets about waging war against his enemies. With the village priest in his thrall, Dracula quickly sets his sights on the Monsignor.
Paul swears to defend Maria and goes on the attack, but it seems unless you really believe in something a stake to the heart just annoys a vampire. Can Paul find the faith to stop Dracula? Will even being impaled on a giant cross be enough to finally kill the vampire?
This one was a rough ride. Despite Dracula being killed twice before, now it seems you need to be Christian in order for it to take.
Francis makes the film look great though, and Lee is at the top of his game. A waste though, in that Paul is no Father Sandor or Van Helsing.
This one was a rough ride. Despite Dracula being killed twice before, now it seems you need to be Christian in order for it to take.
Francis makes the film look great though, and Lee is at the top of his game. A waste though, in that Paul is no Father Sandor or Van Helsing.
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