The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)

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:

Count Dracula: [to Prof Van Helsing] My revenge has spread over centuries and has just begun!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Blonde Ambition (1981)

Pretty good, considering some of the others in the series.

Saw Satanic Rites last night for the second time, and paid more attention this time. The film, if you`re waiting to see a lot of Dracula will be a bit of a let down (but let`s face it, since Taste the Blood of Dracula, I don`t think Christopher Lee has had 30 minutes screen time with all of the Dracula films joined together.) The movie starts slowly, with, for once, no Dracula resurrection scene. He`s just back, and does not appear until well into the film. (He appears in a scene obviously stuck in because they realized he had not made an appearance at all so long into the film). When Peter Cushing appears, you start to feel like this is a proper Hammer film after all. Peter Cushing really does this one justice. Then from the time he visits D.D.Denham, it is a pretty good Dracula picture. The action between our hero and villain gets going, and builds up to a reasonable finale. This is better than Dracula AD 1972, but as I have said before, the whole series should have stayed in Victorian times. Joanna Lumley is radiant as Jessica, who's character returns from the previous film. It is a pretty scary premise. Dracula, finally sick of being resurrected for 2 or 3 days at a time, wants to end it all, but in doing this, he wants to take everyone with him. THE WHOLE WORLD! It is a good plot which just happens to have Dracula as the figure-head. For once Christopher Lee gets a reasonably decent script and delivers his lines beautifully. A couple of points. In some of the Dracula films, we are introduced to new but apparently tested ways of dealing with the fanged one. Dracula, Prince of Darkness introduced clear running water, as used at the end of DPOD, in Dracula AD 1972, and in Satanic Rites. Then in AD `72 we are introduced to the fact that the good Count can be knobbled with a silver bladed knife. Handy, since Van Helsing has one. Then in this movie, Van Helsing introduces the Hawthorn bush, from which Christ recieved his crown of thorns. Guess where Drac ends up near the end? Do these things really work? Or is it just that sunlight and the old stake are boring now, and the writers just make these things up? I feel a bit cheated when someone like Dracula can be beaten by lightning, drowned in a moat (NOT running water), or overcome in a church (whereas he had already killed a girl and placed her body in a full blown God worshipping church.) This film, when it gets going, is a pleasing finale to the Christopher Lee years as Dracula, and to boot, Peter Cushing delivers a really good performance too.