SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Connianatu How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

marshrydrob Continuing from where Horror of Dracula left off, Dracula Prince of Darkness opens with Vampire hunters aided by monks; transporting a young woman to perform a ceremony of rending her spirit free from vampirism.One mysterious holy man interrupts the process.The mood and setting of the movie is what you would expect from a good classic horror film. A little added humor, is an interesting addition, and aids in the introduction of one of the stories main characters.Road sign markers, suggesting of international locations stand as good attention getters. The score, when used; seems to work well with the story.The signature Hammer Horror sound relating to Dracula, draws easily on the regular attention of the viewer.A driverless coach, bridges this story with the original tale; the team of horses guiding the coach to Dracula's castle.Dracula is resurrected by a ritual of spilling fresh blood upon his ashes, and the vampire rises again.Great gathering of talent, and a good story; make for one of the greatest Dracula stories ever told.

Prichards12345 There are some effective scenes in Dracula Prince of Darkness, most notably the revival of the old Count himself by his manservant. The story however, relies upon the strangers stranded in an old house they've been warned against trope, and Dracula himself is curiously sidelined for much of the movie.Gone also is the gorgeous colour pallet of Hammer's first Dracula; instead we have a fairly bland-looking widescreen film, which makes it feel more about cost-cutting than developing the series further. While Father Sandor (Andrew Keir) is an acceptable replacement for Van Helsing he isn't given enough screen time. Only Barbara Shelly rises above the material to give a good performance.Poor old Christopher Lee. No wonder he used to moan so much about the shoe-horning of Dracula into any old story. He's ill used here and doesn't have a single line of dialogue.There are some compensations however. The brutal sacrifice of one of the tourist party to resurrect Dracula is extremely well done and surprisingly gruesome, as Kensington Gore rains down upon Dracula's ashes. Also the staking of Barbara Shelly is powerful - almost a symbolic rape-scene as the clergy pin her down. And the climax is pretty good, too. Adequate if not great, then, on the whole.

TheLittleSongbird Horror of Dracula will always be my favourite of the Hammer Dracula series, but Dracula: Prince of Darkness is still very good and one of the best in the series.There are a couple of imperfections, with Dracula: Prince of Darkness' main flaw being the rather too-long a time it takes to set up, with some of the first thirty minutes being a little draggy. The dialogue is also rather ham-fisted and over-silly, which was a bit of a shock to me seeing as the script was penned by Jimmy Sangster, whose scripts for Hammer are usually quite intelligent and nuanced. The acting is very solid on the whole, but Francis Matthews is somewhat stiff and pallid as the hero, and his chemistry with Suzan Farmer, who with her charming sympathetic presence actually acquits herself pretty well, is a little on the dull side.Dracula: Prince of Darkness looks great though. It's very beautifully shot and has a wonderfully sumptuous Gothic atmosphere throughout. The handsome sets and period detail are very evocative, and the colours are strikingly atmospheric. James Bernard's music score is very effective, it isn't too complicated but what it is is very elegant in orchestration and effortlessly creates chills without ever being too obvious. Dracula: Prince of Darkness may get off to a slow start, but the story is mostly entertaining and engrossing. Sure it is not unlike anything we have seen already, but that didn't matter, because a vast majority of the film is brilliantly suspenseful and has a genuine sense of dread and creepy atmosphere, the chills and scares pitched beautifully. There are also three unforgettable scenes, the still shocking(and quite gruesome) Dracula resurrection, Helen's pretty nerve-shredding demise and the exciting climax on the ice.Regarding the acting, it's solid on the whole apart from Matthews. The sadly late legendary Christopher Lee, even without saying a word, still induces goose-bumps as Dracula, while a wonderfully gruff Andrew Keir is a worthy opponent for him(if not erasing memories of Peter Cushing, not that one should really be expecting that) and Barbara Shelley proves herself to be more than just a beautiful-looking scream queen, there's some nice sympathetic depth to her performance. Phillip Latham is very creepy as Klove and Thorley Walters' Ludwig sends shivers down the spine. Terence Fisher directs adeptly.All in all, while not quite Hammer at their finest, even with its flaws, Dracula: Prince of Darkness is still one of the standouts of the Hammer Dracula series. 7.5/10 Bethany Cox

dworldeater Christopher Lee is evil incarnate in this awesome sequel to The Horror Of Dracula. Recently resurrected by his loyal servant Clove, he returns to drain the blood of English travelers that recently visited his castle. Dracula Prince Of Darkness is a moody, but very straight forward Gothic horror movie directed by Hammer legend Terence Fischer. As far as Hammer goes, Terence Fischer is the best of the best and worked with the best(Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing) on some of Hammer's most important films. James Bernard did a simple but effective score to create foreboding atmosphere combined with the classic Hammer sets. The film still looks great and the classic Hammer sets are always great to look at as well. Speaking of which, Hammer always has great eyecandy as well, with gorgeous English actresses with big boobs. The cast is excellent. Christopher Lee's immense, malevolent presence is one of a kind and he delivers an unhinged, diabolical performance without uttering a word! His nemesis, Andrew Keir is also very impressive, as a large, rugged shotgun wielding priest, who aid the British travelers when they encounter Dracula. Of the Hammer Dracula movies, Dracula Prince Of Darkness is my personal favorite and the one I watch the most.