The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Alan Gibson

Writer:

Don Houghton (writer)

Release Date:

October 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The King of the undead marries the Queen of the Zombies

Plot:

In London in the 1970s, Scotland Yard police investigators think they have uncovered a case of vampirism...

Plot Keywords:

Dracula | Van Helsing | Hammer Horror | Photograph | Inspector

Cast

Christopher Lee	...	Count Dracula
Peter Cushing	...	Prof. Lorrimer Van Helsing
Michael Coles	...	Insp. Murray
William Franklyn	...	Torrence
Freddie Jones	...	Prof. Julian Keeley
Joanna Lumley	...	Jessica Van Helsing
Richard Vernon	...	Col. Mathews
Barbara Yu Ling	...	Chin Yang
Patrick Barr	...	Lord Carradine
Richard Mathews	...	John Porter
Lockwood West	...	General Sir Arthur Freeborne
Valerie Van Ost	...	Jane
Maurice O'Connell	...	Hanson
Peter Adair	...	Doctor
Maggie Fitzgerald	...	Vampire girl
Pauline Peart	...	Vampire girl
Finnuala O'Shannon	...	Vampire girl
Mia Martin	...	Vampire girl
John Harvey	...	Commissionaire
Marc Zuber	...	Guard #1
Paul Weston	...	Guard #2
Ian Dewar	...	Guard #3
Graham Rees	...	Guard #4

Directed by
Alan Gibson

Writing credits
Don Houghton		(writer)

Produced by
Don Houghton	....	associate producer
Roy Skeggs	....	producer

Original Music by
John Cacavas

Cinematography by
Brian Probyn		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Chris Barnes

Casting by
James Liggat

Art Direction by
Lionel Couch

Makeup Department
George Blackler	....	makeup artist
Maude Onslow	....	hair stylist (as Maud Onslow)

Production Management
Ron Jackson	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Derek Whitehurst	....	assistant director
Chris Carreras	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Graham Easton	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Don Picton	....	assistant art director
Ken Softley	....	construction manager
D. Clarke	....	stand-by carpenter (uncredited)
J. Fleetwood	....	stand-by rigger (uncredited)
Wilf France	....	props (uncredited)
Arthur Jacobs	....	chargehand dresser (uncredited)
R. Race	....	stand-by stagehand (uncredited)

Sound Department
Claude Hitchcock	....	sound recordist
Terry Poulton	....	sound editor
Dennis Whitlock	....	dubbing mixer
Keith Batten	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Chris Munro	....	sound camera operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Les Bowie	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Chic Anstiss	....	camera operator
Peter Carmody	....	camera loader (uncredited)
Peter Carmody	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Stan Patton	....	camera grip (uncredited)
Malcolm Vinson	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rebecca Breed	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Larry Richardson	....	first assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Philip Martell	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Elizabeth Wilcox	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (as Warner Bros - A Warner Communications Company presents)
• Hammer Film Productions (as A Hammer Production)

Distributors

• Columbia-Warner Distributors (1974) (UK) (theatrical)
• Astral Films (1978) (Canada) (theatrical) (as "Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride")
• Dynamite Entertainment (1978) (USA) (theatrical) (states rights system)
• Warner Home Video (1988) (UK) (VHS)
• UAV Entertainment (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• Gemstone Entertainment (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Diamond Entertainment Group (DEG) (2000) (USA) (DVD) (as "Count Dracula and His Vampire Brides")
• Platinum Disc (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Catcom Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Pro-Active Entertainment Group (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Madacy Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• Big Sky Video (2006) (Australia) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2006) (USA) (TV)
• Echo Bridge Home Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Liberty Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Opção (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2007) (USA) (all media)
• TGG Direct (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Humphries Laboratories  processing

Also Known As:

Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride (USA)
Dracula Is Alive and Well and Living in London
Dracula Is Dead... and Well and Living in London
Rites of Dracula

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Australia:R (DVD rating) | Iceland:16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | West Germany:18 | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Australia:M | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1988) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Elstree Film and TV Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Stephanie Beacham was intended to reprise her role as Jessica but was unavailable.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Jessica is attacked by the female vampires in the basement of the sinister cult house, the brunette vampire menacing her from the rear is missing an important bit of anatomy- vampire fangs.

Quotes:

Jessica Van Helsing: Stop him! She's a vampire!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook (1991)

Lots of ideas for Lee's final Dracula, but a bit of a mess overall

The last of the Christopher Lee Dracula series [the Count would make one more brief return for Hammer in the guise of John Forbes-Robertson in The Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires] is not exactly a success, but it's a good deal more interesting than the shoddy Dracula AD 1972. There are quite a few new ideas in this one, although they are not organised well and it does become a bit of a mess. However, dull it isn't, unlike the previous one.

We have satanists practising sacrificial rites, a mad scientist with a deadly virus, a Howard Hughes-type recluse who turns out to be....., biker assassins with guns, you name it. Much of it has an Avengers feel, and Dracula is unsurprisingly hardly in the film, with only one brief appearance until the final twenty minutes. There's more action than horror, but two vampire scenes in a cellar are well done. The effects of Dracula's death sequence are excellent, although the scene is silly, with this most accident prone of vampires simply walking into a rose bush.

Not really a good film, but kind of fun. It does suggest interesting pathways which Hammer might have taken the series if the response to this had not been so poor.