IsaacD54 This movie is so bad it doesn't deserve much of a review. The characters are so unbelievably stupid I could not bring myself to care if they died. Darwin told us that the weak must die in order for the stronger to prevail. If that is true, then these characters should have never been born. But, seeing as how they did appear, their deaths would have been a matter of "thinning the herd."

Prichards12345 Again dispensing with Peter Cushing's Van Helsing: this movie pits Dracula against a would-be-medical student. Dracula Has Risen From The Grave raises some interesting points around Atheisim vs Religion - a departure for the series that helps keeps things fresh. Unfortunately the story itself is not particularly engrossing. It opens in typical Hammer Horror fashion, with a murdered village girl stuck up a bell in a church, and dripping blood - unconvincingly - down the bell rope. One wonders how she got there?At least this time the Count is a little bit more central to proceedings in this third Christopher Lee Dracula effort. Director Freddie Francis, while not exactly at home in the Gothic milieu, at least makes the movie look good by using various filters and lighting tricks. The script is a bit up and down, with its central section, set in yet another pub owned by Michael Ripper, not exactly a compelling place for Dracula to hang out.The basic plot concerns The Count's desire for revenge against the Monsignieur who, following the opening outrage in the church, sticks a ruddy great cross over the door to Castle Dracula, thereby barring him from it. But revenge is surely one of the hoariest clichés in horror flicks and it's fairly apparent that Hammer found it difficult to provide good motivations for their vampiric villain.Barry Andrews, later to appear in Blood on Satan's Claw, isn't really all that charismatic, but there are compensations to be had from Rupert Davies' crusty old priest, and Barbara Ewing's feisty (and sexy) barmaid Zena. The less said about Ewan Hooper the better...Lee looks as magnificent as ever in the title role, though as usual is not given enough to do.There are some finely realised sequences in this movie - the staking of Dracula for example, Lee writhing while blood erupts from his chest, and then pulling the stake out when the atheist student is unable to pray, is horribly effective - even if it goes against vampire lore.More sexually open than previous Dracula flicks, this is a mixed bag overall but still decent.

Uriah43 This movie essentially begins where its predecessor, "Dracula-Prince of Darkness" left off with "Dracula" (Christopher Lee) being entombed in a lake of ice and left for dead. However, the townsfolk of a nearby village remain unconvinced that Dracula is actually dead and as a result a visiting "Monsignor" (Rupert Davies) is determined to end their fears by going to Dracula's castle and exorcising the evil once and for all. Needing help getting there he asks a very reluctant local "Priest" (Ewan Hooper) to accompany him. Unfortunately for everybody concerned the Priest lags behind and upon hitting his head in a fall accidentally propels Dracula back to life. Enraged that he cannot enter into his own castle he vows revenge upon the Monsignor by attacking the people he loves the most—his sister-in-law "Anna" (Marion Mathie) and his niece "Maria" (Veronica Carlson). Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film adds a couple of new elements which aren't in keeping with the usual vampire traditions. But even so the film itself was still quite enjoyable and I definitely recommend it for all fans of the genre.

GL84 Fearful that Dracula's reign of terror will continue, the efforts of a local monsignor to rid a town of the fearful creature launch a flurry of activity on his daughter and forces her boyfriend to finally stop him.Frankly, this is one of the best in the series and one of Hammer's better-crafted efforts here. Among the many good points in this is that the pace of this one is just a lot livelier than the majority of their other films, settling into a pace that is quite a bit of fun to behold. The opening scene is a great highlight, as it's the sequence where Dracula is revived with the fury of the oncoming storm, the howling wind, and the fevered attempt to complete the ceremony combine together with a perfectly timed jump that still gets many viewers into a pretty creepy, nicely atmospheric setting. Even in the rest of the film, there are some good moments. The numerous attacks throughout the village are quite well, a ghastly staking sequence near the end is handled expertly, full of the traditional Hammer blood and color, and in general this one tends to utilize the pace better than many of their peers which is one of the greatest parts here. This leads to the film's embracing of traditional Gothic overtones mixed in with the rest of the action, getting the genuine sense of classic Hammer through and through in the film from costumes to camera angles to setting, with the scenes at the castle being undoubtedly the most fervent example of classic Gothic setting while the shots in the village manage to contain the same overall feeling. This also has the best bedroom-romancing sequence in the series, lushly erotic and quite sensual that is largely influenced by other films. This version of the bite, though, has the advantage of a great bloodsucker paired with one of Hammer's better-looking leading ladies. Here, it's absolutely certain we properly associate the bite with sexual deflowering, throwing in a shot of her hand pushing her baby doll from the edge of the bed as she's being sucked which is quiet beautifully filmed that leads even more to the erotic quality of the scene. The shots in here are marvelous in the grand overall design of Hammer films, and it certainly ranks as among the best from the time period. There is a continuous use of overhead shots in here that don't look like anything else at the time, and are a joy to behold. Watching the town from overhead while trying to center on the action in the middle of the screen are some of the greatest compositions in the genre, and give the film a higher appeal. While the film may not have much for Dracula to do like always since he basically just seems to be there in the periphery of the story and never really has much of anything to do here, these other factors make it that much more enjoyable.Today's Rating/PG-13: Violence and some sexual themes.