Dracula - Nights of Horror
Movie | |||
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German title | Dracula - Nights of Horror | ||
Original title | Scars of Dracula | ||
Country of production | United Kingdom | ||
original language | English | ||
Publishing year | 1970 | ||
length | 96 minutes | ||
Age rating | FSK 16 | ||
Rod | |||
Director | Roy Ward Baker | ||
script |
Anthony Hinds (as John Elder) |
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production | Aida Young for Hammer Productions , Profilm | ||
music | James Bernard | ||
camera | Moray Grant | ||
cut | James Needs | ||
occupation | |||
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chronology | |||
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Dracula - Nights of Horror (original title: Scars of Dracula ) is a horror and splatter film of the British Hammer Studios from 1970. The title role was played by Christopher Lee , directed by Roy Ward Baker . The film is considered to be the most brutal and bloodiest of the entire series and is the last part to be set in the time of Victorian England. The film was also shown as Dracula's Blood Rush in German-speaking countries . The film opened in German cinemas on December 17, 1971.
action
A huge bat flies into the old chapel, in which the remains of Count Dracula are still lying on the altar. She spits blood on the ashes, bringing the ruler of the vampires back to life. When the residents of the nearby village discover the cruelly mutilated corpse of a young girl shortly afterwards, they know immediately that the sadistic Count Dracula has returned. The men set out for his castle to burn it down. While the women wait in the village church, the men put their plan into action. When they return from the castle and enter the church, however, a bloodbath opens up for them; giant bats brutally murdered and mutilated all women.
A few years later, Paul Carlson got involved in a tête-à-tête with the mayor's daughter, of all places, in the next larger city , but he caught her red-handed and now wants to hold Paul accountable. Paul is able to flee from his captors to the remote village, where he is greeted anything but friendly. So he moves on to the ruins of Dracula's Castle. Despite the urgent warning, he enters the castle, where he meets the pretty Tania. The count also very soon introduces himself to Paul in an extremely charming way and invites Paul to spend the night in his castle. Later that night, Tania appears and asks him to save her from her master. However, she is a vampire herself and is about to knock her teeth into Paul's neck when Dracula storms into the room and brutally stabs her. Thereupon Paul tries to escape again and ends up in the Count's tomb, of all places, from which there is no escape for him.
Simon Carlson, Paul's brother, is starting to worry about him because he hasn't heard from him in days. He and his fiancée Sarah decide to follow Paul's footsteps because they fear for him. After a short stopover in the village, they too finally arrive at Dracula Castle and very soon make the acquaintance of the Count. In the basement they discover Paul's body impaled on an iron stake and are supposed to share his fate, but with the help of Dracula's servant Klove, who has fallen in love with Sarah, they escape the attack and flee. As punishment for his disobedience, Dracula tortures Klove with a glowing saber.
The local priest explains to Simon how one can destroy a vampire, but is shortly afterwards killed by Dracula's bats. The young man returns to the castle to face the count. But this has brought Sarah in his power and up to the battlements of the castle, where a violent storm is brewing. Klove tries to save her and turns against his master, who throws him over the stone parapet into the abyss for his repeated disobedience.
Dracula attacks Simon with an iron spear. But just at the moment when he strikes a fatal blow, lightning strikes the spit and the count falls, burning from the battlements.
criticism
- Lexicon of the international film : "Horror film that brings sex and violence into its otherwise usual genre horror story."
- Cinema : “Scars of Dracula” (original title) was the fifth and last Dracula film from Hammer Studios, which was still set in gloomy mainland Europe in the 19th century. The sixth film in the series, "Dracula Chasing Mini-Girls", moves to trendy London in 1972. "
Sequels
- Dracula Chases Mini Girls (1972)
- Dracula Needs Fresh Blood (1973)
- The 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
In the last film in the Dracula series, Christopher Lee was no longer ready to take on the role of Count, so Hammer hired actor John Forbes-Robertson for the part.
DVD release
- as part of the Hammer Horror Box / October 6, 2006 / Kinowelt Home Entertainment
Others
- Since Dracula Nights of Horror was not a commercial success, Hammer decided to steer the Dracula franchise in a new direction and moved the subsequent films ( Dracula chases mini-girls and Dracula needs fresh blood ) to the present, to London in the 1970s or the last film in the series ( The 7 Golden Vampires ) to China at the beginning of the 20th century.
- Main actor Christopher Lee described the film as the worst of the entire series of its time, which probably contributed to its commercial failure.
- Another reason for the film's flop could have been that in the same year, alongside American productions such as Castle of the Vampires and Young Blood for Dracula, with How does Dracula's blood taste? , Comtesse des Horens and Crypt of the Vampires three more awesome vampire films came into the cinemas.
- Dracula - Nights of Horror is considered to be the bloodiest and most brutal of all hammer films , after which it received the age rating FSK 18 in Germany. In a re-evaluation, it was downgraded to FSK 16.
- The film is also known by the titles Dracula's Blood Rush , Brutale Bisse , Les Cicatrices de Dracula , Il Marchio Di Dracula and Vampyrin Arvet .
- This film is the only one from the classic Hammer series for which a second dubbed version was created (for licensing reasons) and was released on VHS. The cinema dubbing is now available on DVD.
Web links
- Dracula - nights of horror in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dracula - Nights of Horror. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .