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Hammer Studios is a revered name among major horror movie fans. Hammer Studios re-defined how horror movies were made, and especially vampire movies. The Hammer Dracula series in particular completely changed how vampire horror movies were made, and brought a new element to them in both horror and gore that led the way to modern day movies.
There were 8 or 9 Hammer vampire movies, depending on whether you count "Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires" or not, or "The Brides of Dracula." In this article I've included them both.
Dracula, (1958)
In 1958 Dracula broke many norms of Hollywood horror. Casting Christopher Lee in the lead role as Count Dracula, director Terrence Fisher developed a tale that is now known as a modern horror epic.
This story was considered the first to mainstream Dracula, and was celebrated highly among spectators as well as critics. The movie established the term "Hammer Vampire" that further symbolized the term for Dracula related movies, and it also brought the gore and terror level of horror films to an entirely new, and more modern, level.
The movie contains the tale of Count Dracula, living in Dracula's Palace. Van Helsing is portrayed as a strange specialist of mysticism. He chases and conquerors Dracula's power in procedure of saving some people from Dracula's threat. It ultimately turns into a defeat, but not death, for Dracula. The plot helps the story run further so it became first of a famous series of upcoming Dracula Movies.
This movie contains a new cinema horror redefining the norms. On one side direction, cinematography and framing is unforgettable, other side the tale has now become myth. The deviations from the original novel are forgotten and people still consider that Bram Stocker's quintessence is found in Terrence Fisher's movie.
The Brides of Dracula, (1960)
Just two years after the release of Dracula, the producers of "Hammer Vampire" and director Terrence Fisher struck again, bringing the next tale in Hammer Vampire series with "The Brides of Dracula."
The main difference between this movie (which to many is often not considered a direct part of the Hammer Dracula movies) is that Dracula himself does NOT show up in this film. This was not a new concept, as brides had appeared in Dracula movies in 1931.
Despite a vast array of other vampire movies, the Hammer Vampire Studio's 1958 version of "Dracula" starring Christopher Lee was still fresh in viewers' minds, and they were more than ready to accept a sequel to the original highly acclaimed movie. This film influenced future films, as well, not the least of which was Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stocker's Dracula" that would come out over 30 years later.
This movie expands the original story of Count Dracula, introducing the brides of Dracula. The movie evolves from Dr. Van Helsing's visit to Transylvania, where he had to face the threat of lifeless vampires again. A parallel story discloses you how Dracula and his brides are doing.
The sudden switching of shots from one place to another and using highly refined sets, art directors hit new highs with this film. The sets still hold up to this day, often shaming modern special effects.
Commercially speaking, this film was not a comparable commercial success with 1958 Dracula, but it does have its strong fans and gave enough feedback for the grounding many of next Dracula and horror movies. Along with few priors of same production movies, this movie helped very much in bringing the horror to mainstream cinema.
Before this time, horror movies were considered to be second grade cinema performed only by underdogs in Hollywood.
Dracula: Prince of Darkness, (1966)
In 1966, there came a movie from same Hammer Vampire Production and director Terrance Fisher. This movie would be specifically known for having the courage to take considerable deviations from the original Bram Stoker novel.
This movie eliminates the important characters from Bram Stoker's Dracula and replaces the original plot with an entirely new story.
The story starts with some newly introduced guests at Dracula's house who are initially served by Dracula's servant. The story evolves further with several original episodes, and a new protagonist replacing the original Van Helsing as a ghost hunter.
The character Father Sandor, played by actor Andrew Keir, is the new hunter of the undead. This story is paralleling the tale of Dracula's incarnation from his ashes.
The end was known as a fantastic cinematic sequence that helped to redefine how people looked at horror movies, and how future directors would film them from that time on.
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, (1968)
The fourth Dracula tale from Hammer Studios was "Dracula Has Risen From the Grave," and was released in 1968.
This film acted as a further continuation of the Dracula tales already made in the previous vampire films by Hammer Studios.
"Dracula Has Risen from Grave" was a movie that was meant to be dramatic, but the director was willing to give up some drama to really ratchet up the horror aspect of this film. While the earlier Hammer Vampire movies gave both horror films and vampire films an entirely new look, this film went even further, going for a complete horror look to Dracula.
This time he was more horrifying, terrorizing, and strictly dark. Previous movies despite the violence, still had Dracula as charming and seductive. Now, this movie starts with a terrified boy who found out another victim of Dracula before another rampage of murders begins again.
This movie is more of a horror movie than Dracula movies before. It shows complete dark Dracula that can only be an object of horror. This is a quick movie, running only 92 minutes long, to pack in the kind of horror that even modern day blood and gore fans will love.
Taste the Blood of Dracula, (1969)
Christopher Lee was a smash hit as Dracula, and another sequel was yet to come from Hammer Studios as in 1969 "Taste the Blood of Dracula" was released as a sequel to the 1968 film "Dracula Has Risen from His Grave."
While Christopher Lee returned as the increasingly more evil and dramatic vampire, there was a brand new director for this film, Peter Sasdy. Sasdy introduces the idea of being able to resurrect a vampire through blood on ashes.
In this film the concept of strong hypnotism is also used, as the sons of the men who backed out of their agreement to serve the dark lord are used as Dracula's weapons to murder their own fathers.
This movie made good money, but neither the critics nor the public remembered it for very long, as it was less impressive than some of its predecessors, and than the vampire movies that would come in the future.
Scars of Dracula, (1970)
A new director was hired for this film, Roy Ward Baker, who put together a movie that had some very positive critical reception. Some people have gone so far as to say that this was the second best vampire movie out of the entire Hammer Dracula Series.
This was an incredibly dark film that seems to veer off from the others movies, and rather than being a sequel, should be considered its own. Some critics hated this film, saying Dracula was made too cruel--basically the old romantic myth of Dracula was dying, and many people didn't like that.
This film introduces a command over nature that Dracula did not have before, and is an attempt to re-create a scene from the actual novel that no other movie had attempted to copy.
This is a dark movie, even now, and is considered by many fans of gothic movies to be one of the best put out by Hammer Studios.
Dracula A.D. 1972, (1972)
"Dracula AD" (which had several titles, like Dracula 1972, Dracula A.D. 1972, etc.) is unusual right off the bat among the other Hammer Dracula Films because it is set in the "present." The present being 1972.
This is a fun movie, with the granddaughter of the last Helsing to kill Dracula as the main character. She is a hippie, and her group ends up resurrecting Dracula, who plots his revenge.
This is an interesting film, one that was commissioned by Warner Brothers to be a modern day vampire tale, and it's a decent vampire movie that if nothing else, I think it's a lot of fun.
The Satanic Rites of Dracula, (1973)
"The Satanic Rites of Dracula" by Hammer Studios was released in 1973 and it is a sequel to Dracula A.D. 1972, though it's not dependent on the first movie.
This movie revolves around what is now a popular vampire cliché, which is the vampires being resurrected by Satanic cults and rituals. This movie was one of the earliest ones to portray this, and the same happens here, bringing Inspector Murray to a case.
The ending is a bit, well, it's probably part of the reason this film isn't more widely remembered, but nonetheless it is a decent film that has its fans, and it is the last time Christopher Lee plays the role of Count Dracula for the Hammer series.
The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, (1974)
The movie "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" was a film that I enjoyed thoroughly because it combined the kung fu movie with the Gothic vampire flick, and adds in a few zombies for kicks.
This was a film that was willing to take chances, and proved that the best kung fu vampire movies didn't all have to come from Thailand, but that the Brits could put together a good one as well. Though this movie is certainly dated, it holds up well enough for fans of kung fu and old horror films.
The Eastern flair is a nice touch, and this film is worth seeing, and is even thought of by many to be better than the last few more traditional Hammer Vampire films.
These are the legendary Hammer Studios vampire films. They re-defined the horror movie and especially the vampire, and are classics of the genre that are still worth watching even today.
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