The Brides of Dracula (1960)

Plot Outline: A young teacher on her way to a new job in Transylvania helps a young man to escape the shackles with which his mother has kept him locked up for years. Unknown to her, the man is actually a disciple of Count Dracula and a vampire himself. Finally freed, he begins to unleash his reign of terror on the local village. That is until Dr Van Helsing shows up to put an end to the vampire plague once and for all.

The Review: When Christopher Lee stated he wasn't going to reprise his role as Dracula, Hammer made the character of Van Helsing the main focus of this, the first sequel to the classic Horror of Dracula and it would have worked pretty well - should Van Helsing have actually turned up before the half-way stage. The film is pretty well put together although it does take it's time in getting it's wheel turning. We're introduced to the lovely Yvonne Monlaur, obviously cast for her European beauty rather than her acting skills and there are plenty of plot twists which actually set about the releasing of the vampire. These are all reasonably executed so that you're never at the point where you wonder if everything in the film is going to be a coincidence. Atmospherically the film is at top notch again, with misty forests, dark and eerie castles and humble Transylvanian villages all providing some exquisite sets in which the actors can strut their stuff. Then the film kick starts once Van Helsing turns up and Brides of Dracula suddenly turns into one of the more memorable entries into the entire series. It has many scenes which stand-out including but not limited to one of Dracula's victims rising from her grave, the scene in which Van Helsing is bitten and takes drastic action to stop himself from becoming a vampire and of course, a wonderful finale inside an old mill in which Van Helsing finally ends the vampire menace by using the sails of the windmill to create a huge shadow of a cross to dominate the landscape. Cushing carries this film and because he doesn't turn up till half-way through, that is a heavy burden to shoulder. He's got a tremendous screen presence and in my opinion, the greatest genre actor to have ever lived. Watch his gentle, courteous and esteemed character turn into a brutal, cold-hearted man on a mission to destroy vampires when confronted with danger. As with many Hammer films, it's always the bit roles which provide the most entertainment - Miles Malleson almost stealing the show as a drunken doctor. David Peel is just too weak and bland and doesn't have any menace about him whatsoever, thus making the vampire threat somewhat of a damp squib.

Final Verdict: Coming directly after the genre-defining precedents that Horror of Dracula set was going to be no easy feat and thankfully The Brides of Dracula does it's best to live up to standards. It takes it's time to get going and has a weak villain (just imagine what Lee would have done to the film with his presence) but the final third is as exciting and entertaining as anything Hammer has ever done.

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