Brides of Dracula (1960)

1960
Directed by Terence Fisher
starring Peter Cushing, Martita Hunt, Yvonne Monlaur and David Peel

The few people who actually follow my writing likely know about my various obsessive fandoms.    Friday the 13th and Ju-On definitely rank at the top of the list.  It's hard to argue with watching something over and over for six months and writing goddamn fanfiction and say that you're anything other than a sad-sack obsessed fanboy.  But what many don't know is that I hold the Hammer Studios Dracula films in almost as high of a regard.  For my money, Christopher Lee is the definitive version of the character.  Yes, he's less talkative than Bela Lugosi (at least as much as I remember).  Yes, he may not be the Daniel Day-Lewis-annoying level method actor that Gary Oldman was.  But when it comes to being sheerly menacing and memorable, this guy has it all covered.  And he's badass enough to refuse to say lines that are too cheesy - a true story in several of the later films in this very series.

So yeah, I love the Hammer Dracula films.  The first movie Horror of Dracula is my personal favorite adaptation of Stoker's original novel and was inducted into the Registry back in the day.  The third - Dracula: Prince of Darkness - is an epically gory (for the time) and satisfying sequel that was reviewed on the blog during my Halloween Scare-a-Thon in 2011.  What many people don't realize is that the movie that took place between them which did NOT feature Christopher Lee (or even the character of Dracula himself) is also pretty damn good in its own right, and that's the film we're looking at today.

PLOT: The movie first introduces us to Marianne Danielle (played by the gorgeous Yvonne Monlaur), a schoolteacher en route to a new position in Transylvania.  Which, of course, sounds like a Sunday afternoon in the Park that Van Halen themselves would be damn proud of.  After her traveling caravan abandons her, she is taken in for the evening by the mysterious Baroness Meinster (Marita Hunt), and it is in her castle where Marianne runs across the vampire leader for this particular go-round of Hammer Stake-and-Crucifix goodness.  It seems that the Baroness' son is a vampire that the mother has kept locked up for years, encouraging the townspeople below to believe the rumors that he is dead while she sneaks a constant supply of nubile wenches for him to feast on.

Before you know it, the younger Meinster is free, prompting a very rousing game of cat-and-mouse between the small but expanding cult of vampires and the guy who has made it his life's mission to stamp out vampires.  And he's damn better at his job than Hugh Jackman.  If you can't tell by now, Brides of Dracula is a simple story with a great three-act structure - the opening where the evil is sprung free, the middle where the evil grows, and the ending where the evil is defeated.  Color me a big fan.
PLOT RATING: *** 1/2 out of ****.

CHARACTERS AND ACTORS: One of the hallmarks of Hammer Studios was their ability to craft memorable heroes and villains and find just the right people to play them, and this film is no exception.  Hunt is sheer perfection as the Baroness Meinster, finding just the right balance between unnerving presence and friendly host.  Monlaur is both scorching hot and infinitely likable as the main heroine Marianne.  David Peel takes on the main villain role of the Baron Meinster and enjoys going completely batshit crazy in the final trimester just as much as Christopher Lee.  Andree Melly and Marie Devaureux are quite awesome as the two main conquests of the Baron (and the titular "Brides," if you want to get technical).  If there is one thing I can complain about, it's Freda Jackson as Greta, the keeper of the Meinster family who serves as the main "human" villain in the film, but it's a minor complaint.  You won't find a much better group of 19th century protagoists and antagonists than the one you've got here.
CHARACTERS AND ACTORS RATING: *** 1/2 out of ****.

COOL FACTOR: Of course, there is one key guy that I haven't even mentioned yet.  I am a huge fan of Peter Cushing and his portrayal of Abraham Van Helsing in these films - in fact, I enjoy the role and the actor just as much as Lee himself.  Cushing is without hyperole a fantastic actor; when he launches into various soliloquys dealing with the weaknesses of the vampire and tells various disbelieving characters about the spread of this strange cult that any sane person would shake their head at, you completely believe him.  When he's required to be a man of action, he is also quite kickass - which is a pretty tall orer considering that his age was already fairly advanced at the time of this flick's 1960 release date.  In between the scenes involving Van Helsing tracking down the cult of vampires and cutting his vampire slayer promos, there's plenty of good scary goodness to be had in the form of the Baron Meinster seducing his victims.  Fonzie-esque coolness in this movie all around.
COOL FACTOR: **** out of ****.

OVERALL: This film isn't quite the universal classic that Horror of Dracula is; while Marianne is an excellent heroine, she can't quite compare to the excellent trifecta of Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling and Carol Marsh in that film.  That, along with the actress playing Greta, are my only bitching points with this film.  That should be enough to satiate all those people who still continue to hurl the "contrarian" complaints at me (the GALL, I tell ya!).  Terence Fisher was a master of both atmosphere and getting the most out of his actors, and both of those traits are well on display in this flick.  Oh, and it's got a final trimester to die for.
OVERALL RATING: *** 1/2 out of ****.  Highly recommended for horror fans at large, and an absolute must-own (along with the rest of the "Hammer Horror Series" 8-movie DVD set that my copy came from).