Scars of Dracula (1970)

A young man, Paul Carlson, is on a trip and spends the night at Count Dracula's castle. He is murdered. After some time has passed, the young man's brother Simon comes to the small town ... See full summary »

Director:

Roy Ward Baker

Writers:

Anthony Hinds (screenplay) (as John Elder), Bram Stoker (based on the character created by)

Stars:

Christopher Lee, Dennis Waterman, Jenny Hanley

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Lee	...	Dracula
Dennis Waterman	...	Simon
Jenny Hanley	...	Sarah
Christopher Matthews	...	Paul
Patrick Troughton	...	Klove
Michael Gwynn	...	Priest
Michael Ripper	...	Landlord
Wendy Hamilton	...	Julie
Anouska Hempel	...	Tania
Delia Lindsay	...	Alice
Bob Todd	...	Burgomaster
Toke Townley	...	Elderly Waggoner
David Leland	...	First Officer
Richard Durden	...	Second Officer
Maurice Bush	...	Farmer

Storyline

A young man, Paul Carlson, is on a trip and spends the night at Count Dracula's castle. He is murdered. After some time has passed, the young man's brother Simon comes to the small town where all the traces end to look for him.

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Plot Keywords:

female rear nudity | cleavage | vampire | castle | dracula | 

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Taglines:

Shock Show of the Year!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 December 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Scars of Dracula

Filming Locations:

EMI-MGM Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

EMI Film Productions, Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Opening credits: The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the names, character or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional.

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Goofs

Early in the film, the villagers go to the castle in broad daylight to destroy Dracula. During this, a couple of brief shots of the castle are shown, only they show the castle at night.

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Quotes

Simon Carlson: [finding the picture of Sarah] Where did you get this? He was here, wasn't he? Paul was here. What happened to him? Tell me!
Klove: I won't tell you anything!
Simon Carlson: [pinning Klove against the wall] You will tell me everything! Tell me!
Klove: Alright, he was here. It's true, he was here. But he got away. You must get away too. Now! Take her with you. He'll do terrible things to her if you don't. Terrible things. Don't let him. I'll help you to get away. It may be too late. The broth!

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Alternate Versions

For the UK cinema and video versions, the British Board of Film Classification trimmed the killing of the priest by bats and the stabbing of the female vampire by Dracula.

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Connections

Followed by The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)

User Reviews

Not one of Hammer's finest hours, but also not their worst Dracula film

As far as the Hammer Dracula films go, Scars of Dracula is among neither the best or worst of them, if anything it's bang in the middle in my opinion. Horror of Dracula is the best of the series(as well as being one of Hammer's classics), with Brides of Dracula and Dracula: Prince of Darkness being the best of the follow-ups, but Scars of Dracula is better than all the Hammer Dracula films that followed.

If Scars of Dracula can be summed up in one phrase, it would be 'decent but could have been much more.' The story has its great parts certainly and kudos to the film for incorporating details from the book which few of the sequels did. It however does drag quite badly and has too much padding that had very little to do with the film. The script is at best mediocre and at worst shoddy, some parts are far too talky, and there's some silliness, vaguely explored ideas and sometimes tedious melodrama(like Dracula Has Risen from the Grave but worse).

The special effects do look dreadfully fake, especially the bats that look laughable even by today's standards. Scars of Dracula generally is not a bad-looking film at all, but it was at this point where the Hammer Dracula films started getting cheaper in comparison to the earlier films. While the acting is fine on the whole, Dennis Waterman did nothing for me, he is incredibly bland and while he looks and sounds right at home in 1970s London he looks and sounds completely out of place here.

Scars of Dracula has some highly atmospheric sets(especially Dracula's castle, which is like a character all by itself), is very stylishly shot and has wonderfully moody lighting. Roy Ward Baker's direction is decent, having the right amount of suspense and style if never erasing memories of Terrence Fisher, whose direction had more colour and atmosphere. James Bernard's score booms with intensity without being intrusive, while also having a rich lushness without becoming too sentimentalised. Scars of Dracula is very high in atmosphere, with a great sense of dread and suspenseful mystery throughout, it's also one of the the goriest and most violent of the series but not in a way that feels cheap or excessive. There are some memorable scenes, with the standouts being the powerful opening, the visually striking scene of Dracula climbing the castle walls and Dracula's demise, which is one of the most memorable of the series.

With the exception of Waterman, the cast do a solid job, even if the antagonists make a better impression. Christopher Matthews is reasonably likable in the screen-time he has, and Jenny Hanley is charming and natural as well as displaying a scene-stealing cleavage. Michael Ripper brings crusty and poignant demeanour to a character that could easily have been forgettable, and Michael Gwynn is good as the Priest. Klove and Dracula however steal the show. Patrick Troughton's Klove, sporting some very memorable eyebrows, is skin-crawlingly creepy, and I did find myself rooting ever so slightly for him. Christopher Lee has more screen-time and dialogue than the rest of the Hammer Dracula films featuring him, which is great considering that generally his screen-time and amount of dialogue were lessoning with each instalment, and he absolutely relishes that in a powerful and positively blood-curdling performance. Some have said that he was losing interest and that he considered this film the worst of the series, but it didn't come over that way to me, besides Lee was too great and conscientious an actor to show that.

Overall, decent but could have been much more; Hammer's fifth Dracula film out of eight ranks right in the middle personally. 6/10 Bethany Cox