Rasputin the Mad Monk (1966), dir. Don Sharp, Hammer Film Productions-Seven Arts
Hammer was still riding high, so why not do an epic?
Early Twentieth Century Russia, although it might as well be the early Seventeenth Century. An innkeeper (Derek Francis)'s wife is dying. Rasputin (Christopher Lee) arrives, claiming to be a monk with divine power.
Well, those two parts are debatable but he does bring the keeper's wife back from the brink of death. His actions soon gets on the radar of the local bishop (Joss Acklund), who makes it clear whatever power Rasputin possesses, God clearly has no part in it. Rasputin is less than impressed with this statement.
He soon leaves the bleak countryside and moves to Saint Petersburg. He finds Dr. Zago (Richard Pasco), a physician with some influence with the Tsarina (Renee Asherson). He easily brings the man under his command and soon the mad monk is chatting with the Tsarina, mostly about her son Alexei (Robert Duncan). Alexei, despite being the future ruler of all the Russias suffers from a strange malady wherein he could bleed to death from so much as a pinprick. Rasputin, somehow, manages to stop the bleeding. Rasputin seduces a court maid Sonia (Barbara Shelly) to get him rushed to the court and made the prince's official doctor.
As history starts to play out, Rasputin's power grows. When he casually dumps Sonia and drives her to suicide, her brother Peter (Dinsdale Landen) swears revenge and he brings in Ivan (Francis Matthews) to help him destroy the man monk. Will they succeed?
Pretty darn good and Lee is in top form. He doesn't overplay Rasputin but makes him larger than life.
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