Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)

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

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writers:

Jimmy Sangster (screenplay) (as John Sansom), Anthony Hinds (idea) (as John Elder)

Stars:

Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Andrew Keir

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Christopher Lee	...	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

Storyline

Two couples traveling in eastern Europe decide to visit Karlsbad despite dire local warnings. Left outside the village by a coachman terrified at the approach of night, they find themselves in the local castle and are surprised at the hospitality extended by the sinister Klove. It turns out the owner, Count Dracula, dead for ten years, has been hoping for such a visit.

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Plot Keywords:

female vampire | crucifix pendant | hanging upside down | stake through the heart | dracula | 

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Taglines:

DEAD for Ten Years DRACULA, Prince of Darkness, LIVES AGAIN!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 January 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

Disciple of Dracula

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

£100,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$795,562

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min 86 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Christopher Lee said he found the lines given to this character so awful that he chose to play it silent. According to writer Jimmy Sangster, Lee is misremembering this as Sangster claims he wrote no dialogue for Dracula in the film.

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Goofs

Diana holds the crucifix out towards Dracula twice in successive camera shots from the back while front shots don't show her holding it at all

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Featured in Hammer: The Studio That Dripped Blood! (1987)

User Reviews

"One of the best Dracula films in the Hammer series"

Four English tourists arrive in the Carpathians for a climbing holiday. Despite warnings from the superstitious locals they spend the night at Castle Dracula, where Dracula's sinister manservant uses the blood of one of them as a life force to resurrect his long dead master...

Dracula Prince Of Darkness was the official sequel to Hammer's Dracula (1958). Hammer had made two follow-ups to their box-office hit with The Brides Of Dracula (1960) and Kiss Of The Vampire (1964), but neither featured Christopher Lee. Some say that Lee refused to repeat his role through fear of becoming typecast, while others say that Hammer dropped him because he wasn't a big enough star. He got billed fourth in the first film. Whatever the reason, Lee finally returned to his original role after seven years and Dracula Prince Of Darkness made it into the top twenty moneyspinners of 1966. You will notice in this film that Christopher Lee has no lines, he has always maintained that the lines he was given were so bad that he wouldn't speak them. On the other hand screenwriter Jimmy Sangster (who penned the screenplay under the pseudonym John Samson) swears that he didn't write any.

Dracula Prince Of Darkness stands as one of the best sequels to Hammer's 1958 film, which is regarded by many as a classic. While Christopher Lee has no dialog, he still manages to create a feeling of lurking evil which lasts long after the movie's over. Whereas in later films he was little more than a supporting character with very little to do. The supporting cast which includes Francis Matthews and Barbara Shelley is excellent and Thorley Walters does a fine job of portraying the fly-eating Renfield, an original character from Bram Stoker's novel who is renamed here as Ludwig.