Movie of the day...DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (1968)

Movie of the day...Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968).

Another classic vampire tale from Hammer.

A year after the supposed destruction of Dracula (Christopher Lee), Monsignor Ernst Mueller (Rupert Davies) travels to the village near his castle to see if everything is all right. He finds the church empty. The villagers, and even the local priest (Ewan Hooper) remain traumatized by their encounter with vampires.

The Monsignor and the priest go to the castle to prove to the villagers that the danger is gone. And, so, yes, through a series of unfortunate circumstances, Dracula rises from the…well, I think you get the idea.

Dracula is particularly miffed at the monsignor, who has exorcised his castle, and travels to Kleinenberg to wreck vengeance on him. He soon targets the monsignor’s lovely niece, Maria (Veronica Carlson).

It’s a good entry into Hammer’s Dracula movies. Not surprisingly, it’s a well-made film, with excellent cinematography, costumes, and sets. The pacing is steady and deliberate, with some scenes carefully drawn out to increase the suspense.

The characters are interesting. Maria often sneaks out of her uncle’s house, making her way across rooftops (!) to see her boyfriend Paul (Barry Andrews). Paul is an atheist and makes the mistake of being honest with Maria’s uncle about his beliefs. This goes over about as well as you might expect. Also interesting is Zena the barmaid (Barbara Ewing), who seems interested in sleeping with Paul (but whose attempt to do so is interrupted by Maria) and who eventually becomes Dracula’s thrall.

The performances are all good. Lee is in fine form as Dracula, sinister and savage, driven by rage, and absolutely merciless.

It’s a solid film, with plenty of action and gothic chills.

Rating: B

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula_Has_Risen_from_the_Grave