Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writers:

Jimmy Sangster (screenplay)
Anthony Hinds (idea)
(more)

Release Date:

12 January 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

FIGHT BACK! DEFEND YOURSELF!

Plot:

Dracula is resurrected, preying on four unsuspecting visitors to his castle.

Plot Keywords:

Dracula | Castle | Sequel | Vampire | Terror

Cast

Christopher Lee	...	Count Dracula
Barbara Shelley	...	Helen Kent
Andrew Keir	...	Father Sandor
Francis Matthews	...	Charles Kent
Suzan Farmer	...	Diana Kent
Charles 'Bud' Tingwell	...	Alan Kent (as Charles Tingwell)
Thorley Walters	...	Ludwig
Philip Latham	...	Klove
Walter Brown	...	Brother Mark
George Woodbridge	...	Landlord
Jack Lambert	...	Brother Peter
Philip Ray	...	Priest
Joyce Hemson	...	Mother
John Maxim	...	Coach Driver
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Peter Cushing	...	Doctor Van Helsing (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Terence Fisher

Writing credits
Jimmy Sangster		(screenplay) (as John Sansom)
Anthony Hinds		(idea) (as John Elder)
Bram Stoker		(characters created by)
Anthony Hinds		(story) uncredited

Produced by
Anthony Nelson Keys	....	producer

Original Music by
James Bernard

Cinematography by
Michael Reed		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Chris Barnes

Production Design by
Bernard Robinson

Art Direction by
Don Mingaye

Makeup Department
Roy Ashton	....	makeup artist
Frieda Steiger	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Ross MacKenzie	....	production manager (as Ross Mackenzie)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bert Batt	....	assistant director
Hugh Harlow	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Michael Finlay	....	painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Roy Baker	....	sound editor
Ken Rawkins	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Les Bowie	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Peter Diamond	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Cecil Cooney	....	camera operator (as Cece Cooney)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rosemary Burrows	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
James Needs	....	supervising editor

Music Department
Philip Martell	....	music supervisor
Philip Martell	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Lorna Selwyn	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Seven Arts Productions (as A Seven Arts-Hammer Film Production)
• Hammer Film Productions (as A Hammer Film Production)

Distributors

• Warner-Pathé Distributors (1966) (UK) (theatrical) (released through) (as Warner-Pathe Distributors Limited)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1966) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (1966) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Centfox (1966) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1973) (USA) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (1992) (UK) (VHS)
• Lumiere Pictures (1993) (UK) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1997) (USA) (VHS) (letterboxed)
• Video Treasures (1997) (USA) (VHS) (letterboxed)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• EMS (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
• Manga Films (2002) (Spain) (DVD)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD) (retail)
• Studio Canal (2009) (UK) (DVD)
• StudioCanal (2012) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Warner Home Video (video)
• i-catcher media (2010) (Germany) (DVD) (2 discs)

Special Effects

• Bowie Films (special effects) (as Bowie Films Ltd)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

90 min | Spain:86 min (DVD edition)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Norway:16 (1972) | Norway:(Banned) (1966 - 1972) | Germany:16 (DVD release) | West Germany:12 (f) (re-rating) | West Germany:16 (f) (original rating) | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | Australia:M | Finland:(Banned) (1966) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 (cut) | UK:15 (video rating) (1992) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Black Park Lake, Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Seven Arts Productions

Trivia:

Many speculations were made around the absence of dialog for Dracula: contrary to Christopher Lee's claiming about his refusal to deliver stupid lines, none of these were said to be found in the original scripts. It had been more largely admitted that Hammer productions, fearing for increase of his salary, had limited Lee's appearance on screen to minimum and dialogs to none. However the following adventures of Dracula played by Lee, though not particularly talkative, tend to deny this last hypothesis.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dracula opens his shirt for Diana Kent to taste the blood on his chest, he is interrupted and has to leave by kicking open a door. He picks Diana up and takes her to a horse carriage, and in the very next shot, Dracula's shirt is closed, completely buttoned back up. He couldn't have done this while carrying Diana's body.

Quotes:

Alan Kent:You forget about all of this in the morning, you'll see.
Helen Kent:There'll be no morning for us.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Cinemassacre's Monster Madness: Satanic Rites of Dracula (#5.15)" (2011)

This is one of the best tales of Dracula I've ever seen.

The plot is simple; four travelers are abandoned by their coach driver near an old castle. Mysteriously, another horse-drawn buggy arrives with no rider. Of course, they decide to take it and move on but the horses are set on taking them to the castle, which I thought was pretty cool. When they arrive, they find they were expected, a table set for four. Out comes Klove, the creepy caretaker, who informs them that the deceased owner's wish was that the castle stay open for travelers. They decide to take advantage of this…and the story takes horrific turns from there. The resurrection of Dracula was a very good scene and the ending was a rather original twist on the vampire mythos but I enjoyed it just because of that. This was the first film in which I had seen the great Christopher Lee play the role of Dracula and everybody was right; he's perfect as the bloodsucker…and he doesn't even utter a word in this one. His tall build, strong face, and piercing eyes are more than enough to inspire his character. Andrew Keir as Father Sandor, a Van Helsing type role, was also of note. All in all, this Hammer production mixes in a bit of blood, some terror, and a whole lot of classic atmosphere to make for one classy, enjoyable horror flick.