Dracula (Hammer film series)

Dracula is the title of several horror-adventure film series centered on Count Dracula, who is accidentally resurrected, bringing with him a plague of vampirism, and the ensuing efforts of heroic Van Helsing family to stop him.

Hammer Horror film series (1958–1974)

The original series of films consisted of nine installments, which starred iconic horror actors Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing as Count Dracula and Doctor Van Helsing respectively. The series of films is part of the larger Hammer Horror series.

Year	Film	Dracula actor	Van Helsing actor
1958	Dracula	Christopher Lee	Peter Cushing
1960	The Brides of Dracula
1966	Dracula: Prince of Darkness	Christopher Lee
1968	Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
1970	Taste the Blood of Dracula
	Scars of Dracula
1972	Dracula A.D. 1972		Peter Cushing	Stephanie Beacham
1973	The Satanic Rites of Dracula			Joanna Lumley
1974	The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires	John Forbes-Robertson David de Keyser		Robin Stewart

Dracula
Directed by	Terence Fisher (1–3) Freddie Francis (4) Peter Sasdy (5) Roy Ward Baker (6) Alan Gibson (7–8) Roy Ward Baker & Chang Cheh (9)
Produced by	Anthony Hinds (1–2) Anthony Nelson Keys (3) Aida Young (4–6) Michael Carreras & Josephine Douglas (7) Roy Skeggs (8) Don Houghton & Vee King Shaw (9)
Screenplay by	Jimmy Sangster (1–3) Anthony Hinds (2–6) Peter Bryan & Edward Percy (2) Don Houghton (7–9)
Starring	Christopher Lee (1, 3–8) Peter Cushing (1–3, 7–9) John Forbes-Robertson & David de Keyser (9)
Music by	James Bernard (1, 3–6, 9) Malcolm Williamson (2) Mike Vickers (7) John Cacavas (8)
Edited by	Bill Lenny (1) Alfred Cox (2) Chris Barnes (3, 5, 8–9) Spencer Reeve (4) James Needs (6–7)
Production company	Hammer Film Productions (1–9) Shaw Brothers Studio (9)
Distributed by	Rank Film Distributors (1–2) Universal International (2) Warner-Pathé Distributors (3–5) 20th Century Fox (3) Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (4) Warner Bros. Pictures (5 and 7) MGM-EMI Distributors (6) Continental Films (6) Columbia-Warner Distributors (7–9) Dynamite Entertainment (8) Shaw Brothers Studio (9)
Release date	1958–1974
Running time	797–801 minutes
Country	United Kingdom China
Language	English Chinese

Production of Dracula began at Bray Studios on 17 November 1957 with an investment of £81,000.[1] As Count Dracula, Lee fixed the image of the fanged vampire in popular culture.[2] Christopher Frayling writes, "Dracula introduced fangs, red contact lenses, décolletage, ready-prepared wooden stakes and – in the celebrated credits sequence – blood being spattered from off-screen over the Count's coffin."[3] Lee also introduced a dark, brooding sexuality to the character, with Tim Stanley stating, "Lee's sensuality was subversive in that it hinted that women might quite like having their neck chewed on by a stud".[4]

In 2017 a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for Time Out magazine saw Dracula ranked the 65th best British film ever.[5] Empire magazine ranked Lee's portrayal as Count Dracula the 7th Greatest Horror Movie Character of All Time.[6]

Film	Rotten Tomatoes
Dracula	89% (36 reviews)[7]
The Brides of Dracula	75% (16 reviews)[8]
Dracula: Prince of Darkness	80% (20 reviews)[9]
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave	80% (15 reviews)[10]
Taste the Blood of Dracula	67% (12 reviews)[11]
Scars of Dracula	33% (6 reviews)[12]
Dracula A.D. 1972	22% (9 reviews)[13]
The Satanic Rites of Dracula	20% (5 reviews)[14]
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires	40% (5 reviews)[15]
Count Dracula Vampir-Cuadecuc	N/A[16]
Dracula and Son	80% (17 reviews)[17]

• Dracula (1958)
  Jonathan Harker (John Van Eyssen) begets the ire of Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) after he accepts a job at the vampire's castle under false pretenses, forcing his colleague Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) to destroy the predatory villain when he targets Harker's loved ones.
• The Brides of Dracula (1960)
  Following the death of Count Dracula, the film continues the adventures of Dr. Van Helsing as he faces a different set of vampires, the Baron (David Peel) and Baroness Meinster (Martita Hunt) of Transylvania.
• Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)
  The Kents (Barbara Shelley, Francis Matthews, Suzan Farmer and Charles Tingwell), after arriving at a tiny hamlet in the Carpathian Mountains, are diverted to the former castle of Count Dracula, where his former followers seek to use their blood to allow him to rise from the grave once more.
• Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968)
  While trying to exorcise Castle Dracula, the Monsignor (Rupert Davies) inadvertently accidentally brings the former Count Dracula back from the dead. Once awakened, Dracula follows the Monsignor back to his hometown, preying on the holy man's beautiful niece Maria (Veronica Carlson) and her friends (Barry Andrews.
• Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)
  After three distinguished English gentlemen (Geoffrey Keen, Peter Sallis and John Carson) accidentally resurrect Count Dracula, unknowingly killing a disciple of his (Ralph Bates) in the process, the Count seeks to avenge his dead servant by making the trio die at the hands of their own children.
• Scars of Dracula (1970)
  After a bat's blood drops on his ashes, Dracula rises again to trouble Simon (Dennis Waterman) and Sarah (Jenny Hanley), a couple on a lookout for Paul (Christopher Matthews), who had mysteriously disappeared a while back.
• Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
  After Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) despatches Dracula to his grave, the dark lord is raised by Johnny Alucard (Christopher Neame) in 1972, modern London. When the swinging trendies of London decide to experiment with a little devil-worshipping, the Count decides to move to his own bloody groove, preying on a group of young partygoers that includes the descendant of his nemesis, Van Helsing (Stephanie Beacham), and her grandfather (Peter Cushing).
• The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)
  After an expert vampire researcher (Michael Coles) is hired by the British Secret Service (Richard Vernon) to investigate the mysterious death of an agent (Maurice O'Connell) who died while working to expose a satanic cult led by Chin Yang (Barbara Yu Ling), who seek to use Mia Martin to summon back Dracula to help develop a new strain of bubonic plague, with the evil intention of annihilating all life on Earth, they turn to Lorrimer Van Helsing and his granddaughter (Joanna Lumley) for assistance.
• The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)
  Professor Van Helsing and his son (Robin Stewart) are hired later in 1904 after giving a lecture at a Chinese University to take on a group of seven sword-wielding vampires wearing gold masks, resurrected by Count Dracula (John Forbes-Robertson and David de Keyser).

In addition to the Hammer Film Productions series, Christopher Lee reprises his role as Count Dracula in the Spanish-Italian-German-British Count Dracula (1970), produced by Harry Alan Towers, in the French Dracula and Son (1976), produced by Alain Poiré, and in the American stop motion-animated Frankenweenie (2012), produced by Tim Burton and Allison Abbate.[18][19]

• Count Dracula (1976)
  Count Dracula, a grey-haired vampire who regains his youth by dining on the blood of maidens, is pursued in London and Transylvania by Professor Van Helsing (Herbert Lom), Jonathan Harker (Frederick Williams), and Quincey Morris (Jack Taylor) after he victimizes them and their loved ones.
• Dracula and Son (1976)
  It seems Dracula's son Ferdinand (Bernard Ménez) is a bit reluctant to carry on the family's blood-drinking tradition on account of severe squeamishness. This understandable rift is widened when the Dracula family is banished from Romania by the new communist regime, and they end up traveling their separate ways—Ferdinand goes to France, while Dracula, oddly enough, finds a lucrative career in British horror films). Years later, they reunite again at the premiere of one such film, where they meet and fall in love with the same woman (Marie-Helene Breillat).

Potential Anno Dracula film

Upon publishing extracts of their screenplay for Anno Dracula in an updated version of the first book in the series, author Kim Newman revealed the film would use the likeness of Peter Cushing to represent the severed head of the deceased Van Helsing, establishing elements of the Hammer Productions Dracula film series as the backdrop for the film adaptation's events, specifically an imagined alternate ending to the 1958 Dracula film. The fourth book in the series, subtitled Johnny Alucard, follows the character of the same name originally introduced in Dracula A.D. 1972.[20]

Feature films

Number	Title	Release date	Director	Continuity
1	Dracula	May 7, 1958	Terence Fisher	Hammer Horror series
2	The Brides of Dracula	July 7, 1960
3	Dracula: Prince of Darkness	January 9, 1966
4	Dracula Has Risen from the Grave	November 7, 1968	Freddie Francis
5	Taste the Blood of Dracula	May 7, 1970	Peter Sasdy
6	Scars of Dracula	November 8, 1970	Roy Ward Baker
7	Dracula A.D. 1972	September 28, 1972	Alan Gibson
8	The Satanic Rites of Dracula	November 3, 1973
9	The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires	July 11, 1974	Roy Ward Baker Chang Cheh
10	Count Dracula	April 3, 1970	Jesús Franco	Unofficial films
11	Dracula and Son	September 15, 1976	Édouard Molinaro

Cast and characters

List indicator(s)

• A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.
• A ^P indicates the character was shown in a photograph and/or mentioned.
• A ^U indicates a uncredited role.
• A ^V indicates a voice-only role.
• A ^C indicates a cameo appearance.
• A ^H indicates the actor or actress portrayed their film character as physically hosted by another.
• A ^L indicates an appearance wherein an actor's facial features were digitally imprinted upon another actor's face.
• A ^Y indicates an appearance as a younger version of a pre-existing character.
• An ^A indicates an appearance through archival footage, audio or stills.

Character	Hammer Horror series									Unofficial films
	Dracula	The Brides of Dracula	Dracula: Prince of Darkness	Dracula Has Risen from the Grave	Taste the Blood of Dracula	Scars of Dracula	Dracula A.D. 1972	The Satanic Rites of Dracula	The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires	Count Dracula Vampir-Cuadecuc	Dracula and Son
	1958	1960	1966	1968	1970		1972	1973	1974	1970	1976
Count Dracula	Christopher Lee	Mentioned	Christopher Lee						John Forbes-Robertson David de Keyser^V Chan Shen^H	Christopher Lee
Dr. Lawrence Van Helsing Dr. Lorrimer Van Helsing	Peter Cushing		Peter Cushing^U^A				Peter Cushing			Herbert Lom
The Landlord	George Woodbridge	Norman Pierce	George Woodbridge	George A. Cooper		Michael Ripper
Mina Harker	Melissa Stribling				Gwen Watford					Maria Rohm
Lucy Westenra	Carol Marsh				Isla Blair					Soledad Miranda
Jonathan Harker	John Van Eyssen				John Carson					Frederick Williams
Dr. John "Jack" Seward	Charles Lloyd-Pack									Paul Muller
Tania	Janina Faye					Anouska Hempel
Arthur Holmwood	Michael Gough
Vampire Woman	Valerie Gaunt
The Priest		Fred Johnson	Philip Ray	Ewan Hooper	Reginald Barratt	Michael Gwynn
Klove			Philip Latham			Patrick Troughton
Paul Paxton Carlson				Barry Andrews	Anthony Corlan	Christopher Matthews
Alice Hargood					Linda Hayden	Delia Lindsay
Jessica Van Helsing							Stephanie Beacham	Joanna Lumley
Inspector Murray							Michael Coles
Chin Yang Mai Kwei								Barbara Yu Ling	Shih Szu
Leyland Van Helsing									Robin Stewart
R.M. Renfield										Klaus Kinski
Quincey Morris										Jack Taylor
Ferdinand Poitevin											Bernard Ménez
Policeman	George Merritt
Frontier Official	George Benson
Undertaker	Miles Malleson
Porter	Geoffrey Bayldon
Gerda	Olga Dickie
Inga	Barbara Archer
The Lad	Paul Cole
Baroness Meinster		Martita Hunt
Marianne		Yvonne Monlaur
Greta		Freda Jackson
Baron Meinster		David Peel
Doctor Tobler		Miles Malleson
Herr Lang		Henry Oscar
Frau Lang		Mona Washbourne
Gina		Andrée Melly
Hans		Victor Brooks
The Coachman		Michael Ripper
The Landlord's Wife		Vera Cook
The Village Girl		Marie Devereux
Latour		Michael Mulcaster^U
Severin		Henry Scott^U
Helen Kent			Barbara Shelley
Father Sandor			Andrew Keir
Charles Kent			Francis Matthews
Diana Kent			Suzan Farmer
Alan Kent			Charles Tingwell
Ludwig			Thorley Walters
Brother Mark			Walter Brown
Brother Peter			Jack Lambert
Mother			Joyce Hemson
Coach Driver			John Maxim
Monsignor Ernest Muller				Rupert Davies
Maria Muller				Veronica Carlson
Zena				Barbara Ewing
Anna Muller				Marion Mathie
Max				Michael Ripper
Student				John D. Collins
Farmer				Chris Cunningham
Altar Boy				Norman Bacon
William Hargood					Geoffrey Keen
Samuel Paxton					Peter Sallis
Jeremy Secker					Martin Jarvis
Lord Courtley					Ralph Bates
Weller					Roy Kinnear
Inspector Cobb					Michael Ripper
Felix					Russell Hunter
Betty – Hargood's Maid					Shirley Jaffe
Father					Keith Marsh
Son					Peter May
Dolly					Madeline Smith
Simon Carlson						Dennis Waterman
Sarah Framsen						Jenny Hanley
Julie						Wendy Hamilton
Burgomaster						Bob Todd
Johnny Alucard Follower of Dracula							Christopher Neame
Gaynor Keating							Marsha Hunt
Laura Bellows							Caroline Munro
Anna Bryant							Janet Key
Greg							Michael Kitchen
Matron Party Hostess							Lally Bowers
Go Go Dancer							Flanagan^U
Stoneground							Themselves
Joe Mitcham							William Ellis
Bob							Philip Miller
Detective Sergeant							David Andrews
Mrs. Donnelly							Constance Luttrell
Charles							Michael Daly
Police Surgeon							Artro Morris
Crying Matron							Jo Richardson
Hippy Boy							Brian John Smith
Hippy Girl							Penny Brahms
Peter Torrence								William Franklyn
Jane								Valerie Van Ost
Colonel Mathews								Richard Vernon
Dr. Julian Keeley								Freddie Jones
Agent Hanson								Maurice O'Connell
John Porter, MP								Richard Mathews
Lord Carradine								Patrick Barr
General Sir Arthur Freeborne								Lockwood West
Doctor								Peter Adair
The Commissionaire								John Harvey
Vampire Girl #1								Maggie Fitzgerald
Vampire Girl #2								Pauline Peart
Vampire Girl #3								Finnuala O'Shannon
Girl on Altar								Mia Martin
Guard #1								Marc Zuber
Guard #2								Paul Weston
Guard #3								Ian Dewar
Guard #4								Graham Rees
Vanessa Buren									Julie Ege
British Consul									Robert Hanna
Hsi Ching Hsi Tien-en									David Chiang
Hsi Kwei / Archer									Lau Kar-wing
Hsi Po-Kwei / Spearman									Huang Pei-Chih
Hsi San / Twin Swordsman									Wang Chiang
Assassin #1									Feng Ko-An
Assassin #2									Hsu Hsia
The Minister of Interior										Jesús Puente
Renfield's Warden										Franco Castellani
Nicole Clement											Marie-Hélène Breillat
Herminie Poitevin											Catherine Breillat
Jean											Bernard Alane
Cristéa											Jean-Claude Dauphin
The Old Man at the ANPE											Raymond Bussières
Khaleb											Mustapha Dali
The Butler											Xavier Depraz
The Subway Woman											Marthe Villalonga

Crew

Crew/detail	Film
	Hammer Horror series									Unofficial films
	Dracula	The Brides of Dracula	Dracula: Prince of Darkness	Dracula Has Risen from the Grave	Taste the Blood of Dracula	Scars of Dracula	Dracula A.D. 1972	The Satanic Rites of Dracula	The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires	Count Dracula Vampir-Cuadecuc	Dracula and Son
	1958	1960	1966	1968	1970		1972	1973	1974	1970	1976
Director(s)	Terence Fisher			Freddie Francis	Peter Sasdy	Roy Ward Baker	Alan Gibson		Roy Ward Baker Chang Cheh	Jesús Franco	Édouard Molinaro
Producer(s)	Anthony Hinds		Anthony Nelson Keys	Aida Young			Michael Carreras Josephine Douglas	Roy Skeggs	Don Houghton Vee King Shaw	Harry Alan Towers	Alain Poire
Writer(s)	Jimmy Sangster	Jimmy Sangster, Peter Bryan & Edward Percy Anthony Hinds (uncredited)	Screenplay: Jimmy Sangster (as John Sansom) Story: Anthony Hinds (as John Elder)	Anthony Hinds	Anthony Hinds (as John Elder)	Anthony Hinds	Don Houghton			Augusto Finocchi English Version: Peter Welbeck Spanish Version: Jesús Franco Italian Version: Carlo Fadda & Milo G. Cuccia German Version: Dietmar Behnke	Alain Godard, Edouard Molinaro & Jean-Marie Poiré Based on: Paris-Vampire by Claude Klotz
Composer(s)	James Bernard	Malcolm Williamson	James Bernard				Mike Vickers	John Cacavas	James Bernard	Bruno Nicolai	Vladimir Cosma
Editor(s)	Bill Lenny	Alfred Cox	Chris Barnes	Spencer Reeve	Chris Barnes	James Needs		Chris Barnes		Bruno Mattei Derek Parsons	Monique Isnardon Robert Isnardon
Cinematographer	Jack Asher		Michael Reed	Arthur Grant		Moray Grant	Dick Bush	Brian Probyn	John Wilcox Roy Ford	Manuel Merino Luciano Trasatti	Alain Levent
Production companies	Hammer Film Productions								Hammer Film Productions Shaw Brothers Studio	Filmar Compagnia Cinematografica Fénix Cooperativa Cinematográfica Corona Filmproduktion Towers of London	Gaumont Productions 2000
Distributor(s)	Rank Film Distributors	Rank Film Distributors (UK)	Warner-Pathé Distributors (UK)			MGM-EMI Distributors (UK)	Columbia-Warner Distributors (UK)			Hemdale Film Corporation (UK)	Gaumont (France) Premier Releasing (UK)
		Universal International (US & Worldwide)	20th Century Fox (US & Worldwide)	Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (US & Worldwide)	Warner Bros. Pictures (US & Worldwide)	Continental Films (US & Worldwide)	Warner Bros. Pictures (US & Worldwide)	Dynamite Entertainment (US & Worldwide)	Shaw Brothers Studio (US & Worldwide)	Gloria Film (West Germany)	Quartet Films (US & Worldwide)
Runtime	82 minutes	85 minutes	90 minutes	92 minutes	91 minutes (cut, US) 95 minutes (uncut, UK)	91 minutes	96 minutes	87 minutes	83 minutes	97 minutes	96 minutes
Release date	May 7, 1958	July 7, 1960	January 9, 1966	November 7, 1968	May 7, 1970	November 8, 1970	September 28, 1972	November 3, 1973	July 11, 1974	April 3, 1970	September 15, 1976

References

1. • Rigby, Jonathan (2000). English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema. Richmond: Reynolds & Hearn. p. 256. ISBN 9781903111017. OCLC 45576395.
2. Jackson, Kevin (31 October 2009). "Fangs for the memories: The A-Z of vampires". The Independent. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
3. "Hallowe'en: Why Dracula just won't die". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
4. "Why Christopher Lee's Dracula didn't suck". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
5. Calhoun, Dave; Huddleston, Tom; Jenkins, David; Adams, Derek; Andrew, Geoff; Davies, Adam Lee; Fairclough, Paul; Hammond, Wally (17 February 2017). "The 100 best British films". Time Out London. Time Out Group. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
6. "The 100 best horror movie characters". Empire. Retrieved 2 December 2017
7. "Horror of Dracula (1958)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
8. "The Brides of Dracula (1960)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
9. "Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
10. "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
11. "Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
12. "Scars of Dracula (1970)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
13. "Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
14. "The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
15. "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
16. "Count Dracula (1970)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
17. "Dracula and Son (1976)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
18. Horne, Philip (27 November 2006). "Great Adaptions - Dracula". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 27 January 2009.
19. "Dracula père et fils (1976) Edouard Molinaro". Ciné-Ressources (in French). Retrieved October 12, 2012.
20. FitzSimons, Paul. "Anno Dracula: Kim Newman Talks Vampires". Writing.ie.