Scars of Dracula (1970)

Director:

Roy Ward Baker

Writers:

Anthony Hinds (screenplay)
Bram Stoker (characters)

Release Date:

23 December 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

A young man, Paul Carlson, is on a trip and spends the night on count Dracula's castle. Needless to say...

Plot Keywords:

Castle | Dracula | Blood | Bloody Violence | Vampire Bat

Cast

Christopher Lee	...	Dracula
Dennis Waterman	...	Simon Carlson
Jenny Hanley	...	Sarah Framsen
Christopher Matthews	...	Paul Carlson
Patrick Troughton	...	Klove
Michael Gwynn	...	The Priest
Michael Ripper	...	Landlord
Wendy Hamilton	...	Julie
Anouska Hempel	...	Tania
Delia Lindsay	...	Alice, burgomaster's daughter
Bob Todd	...	Burgomaster
Toke Townley	...	Elderly Waggoner
David Leland	...	First Policeman
Richard Durden	...	Second Policeman
Morris Bush	...	Farmer
Margo Boht	...	Landlord's Wife
Clive Barrie	...	Fat Young Man
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Olga Anthony	...	Girl at Party (uncredited)
George Innes	...	Servant (uncredited)
Nikki Van der Zyl	...	Sarah Framsen (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Roy Ward Baker

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Anthony Hinds		(screenplay) (as John Elder)
Bram Stoker		characters

Produced by
Aida Young	....	producer

Original Music by
James Bernard

Cinematography by
Moray Grant		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
James Needs

Art Direction by
Scott MacGregor

Makeup Department
Heather Nurse	....	assistant makeup artist
Wally Schneiderman	....	makeup supervisor
Pearl Tipaldi	....	hairdresser

Production Management
Tom Sachs	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Derek Whitehurst	....	assistant director
Nick Granby	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Lindsey Vickers	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Arthur Banks	....	construction manager
Tony Baines	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Don Picton	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Edward Rodrigo	....	props buyer (uncredited)
Bob White	....	scenic artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Ron Barron	....	sound recordist
Roy Hyde	....	sound editor
Tony Lumkin	....	recording supervisor
Dennis Whitlock	....	dubbing mixer
David Crozier	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Colin Needs	....	assistant dubbing editor (uncredited)
Barry Reed	....	sound maintenance (uncredited)
David Tappenden	....	sound camera operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Roger Dicken	....	special effects

Stunts
Eddie Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Neil Binney	....	camera operator
Roderick Barron	....	clapper (uncredited)
Roderick Barron	....	loader (uncredited)
Joe Pearce	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Bob Stilwell	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Peter Woods	....	camera grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Laura Nightingale	....	wardrobe mistress
Don Mothersill	....	wardrobe assistant (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Stephen Hyde	....	second assistant editor (uncredited)
Adrian McDonald	....	first assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Philip Martell	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Betty Harley	....	continuity
Philip Campbell	....	unit runner (uncredited)
Ken Gordon	....	production accountant (uncredited)
Stuart King	....	assistant production accountant (uncredited)
Chris Nixon	....	unit publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• EMI Films (presents) (as EMI Film Productions Limited)
• Hammer Film Productions (as A Hammer Film Production)

Distributors

• Anglo-EMI Film Distributors (1970) (UK) (theatrical)
• MGM-EMI (1970) (UK) (theatrical) (as MGM-EMI Film Distributors) (released through)
• American Continental Films Inc. (1970) (USA) (theatrical)
• Levitt-Pickman (1970) (USA) (theatrical)
• Lumiere Pictures (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• StudioCanal (2012) (Germany) (DVD)
• Thorn EMI Video (198?) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

UK:X (original rating) | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) (2007) | Finland:K-15 (2008) | Australia:M | Finland:(Banned) (1971) | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

EMI Films

Trivia:

Dennis Waterman was Hammer's choice; Roy Ward Baker has said in interviews he thought Waterman was badly miscast.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After Dracula stabs Tania for the first time, when he removes the knife the blade quivers, betraying its soft, rubber construction.

Quotes:

Landlord:We know where the evil lies. We must free ourselves now.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Cinemassacre's Monster Madness: Dracula vs. Frankenstein (#4.11)" (2010)

A more sadistic Dracula

In this movie we see Dracula burn his servant with a hot sword and stab his female vampire slave to death with a knife.

Christopher Lee had said this was the weakest and most unconvincing of the series. Perhaps he said that before "AD 72" and Satanic Rites" came out? He commented that the makeup was wrong. Was it "Vampires do NOT wear pancake!"? He didn't like the way they had him "biting" the victim. Biting more than once is chewing, is it not? He also complained that instead of writing a story around Dracula, they write it then try to fit Dracula into it.

This movie did have its moments. At least they put in a Stoker scene with him climbing the walls, though it looked a bit weird. He was bent over hobbling on the wall like he had something heavy on his back. Imagine him crawling up the way they showed Langela (Dracula 1979) doing it - from that angle. That would have been sweet.

The bat looked fake, the knife looked rubber, the burning castle looked like an obvious miniature with a big candle in it, the lightning hitting Dracula at the end was an obvious stunt man with a really bad (Michael Myers?) mask and the church scene after the bat attack was disturbing. I agree that the supporting actors were a bit over-matched against the Count. There is no expert vampire hunter in this, just two brothers (one being the third vampire hunter named "Paul" in the series) and that weak priest. I'll give this 5 stars out of 10, an average rating.