Dracula Prince Of Darkness [DVD]

Prince of Darkness was the 2nd outing for Chris Lee's Dracula, & a very good entry it is.Hammer films are the 'dog's' when it comes to these wonderful classic tales, &, like those fantastic Universal horrors of the 30's & 40's, when given a chance to put their own spin on the classic stories, do very well.It has a stella cast & all actors give it their best. This film will please all Hammer & horror fans the world over, it is such a good looking film.The Bluray transfer is excellent, & this is hardly surprising, as the fantastic Studiocanal has done the job with the care & attention one expects from these true Professionals. Truely a beautiful job.If you were unlucky enough to purchase the lousy looking (dare I say it, Lionsgate version - I dared) Hammer's 'Curse Of Frankenstein' & are more than a little concerned about handing over you're hard earned dosh for another Hammer Bluray title, I assure you friend, you will not be disappointed here. This is a very good looking Bluray. The colours are beautiful & vibrant.

Having watched them all recently, I am awarding this one the accolade of best Hammer Dracula! It has its flaws and the second half of the film is weaker than the first and feels rushed (budget constraints, one imagines) but this is the only one in the series that created any real tension. It is a frightening tale, recounted as such, without any of the ‘Carry On’ slapstick and poor acting that affected the later offerings. Made 10 years after the original Hammer Dracula, a fine film, it benefits from losing much of the 50’s stiff-upper lip, restrained dialogue - plus we get to see a little more of the fantastic Barbara Shelley than we did the wonderful Melissa Stribling! Andrew Keir’s vampire expert is just as convincing as Cushing’s van Helsing and steals the film with some powerfully delivered lines (‘Just because it isn’t marked on the map doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist: STAY AWAY FROM IT!!!!!)

This is my favourite Dracula movie. In the build up to the Count's appearance Barbara Shelly gives a superb performance as a woman absolutely terrified out of her wits by an evil that no one else seems to feel. When told by her insensitive husband that things will look different tomorrow she replies to the effect that, "For us there will be no tomorrow". Christopher Lee plays a Dracula without speech. He hisses and creates a staring monster that comes across as both evil and totally alien. There is non of the smooth talk of the traditional Dracula here. The scene where Dracula is brought back to life by the shedding of blood over his ashes, and rises from the swirling mist in his sarcophagus is truly memorable. In the first half of the movie the party of two travelling couples, who will take no advice, are warned not to go to Carlsbad, insist on going and are warned that they must start early and be there well before nightfall. They are also told that there is no castle, but insist there's one on the map, and of course end up being thrown off their coach as night falls, close to the castle gates, by a terrified coachman. They allow themselves to be taken into the castle and events take their inevitable course. The tension tends to be lost a little in the later parts of the movie, but it's still one of Hammer's best efforts and well worth watching.

I Grew up watching Hammer's Dracula filmsso when i found out that DRACULA-PRINCE OF DARKNESS was being released on blu-ray and dvd combo i knew i had to buy itthe first thing i watched was the new Documentary Back to black- 30mins fantastic Docohas interviews with Hammer films Biographers aswell as new interviews with Barbara shelley & Francis mathewsthe Doco is excellent Francis & Barbara talk about there experience in the filmit's very unfortunate Christopher lee wasn't interviewed or susan farmerthe other extras are the same as the region 1 Anchor bay release from over 10years ago nowthe audio commentary is nothing new that was recorded on the Anchor bay releaseaswell as the behind the scenes footage that's on the Anchor bay release aswellnow regarding the picture & sound quality of this dvd & blu-ray releasei've watched both and compared the quality, the region 2 dvd is the same as the original region 2 dvd release from over 5 years agothe new HD transfer looks excellent very nice sharp & clear picture Hardly no Grain or Dirtmuch better than the old Digital remaster transferthe sound quality has also been boosted with new 2.0 master stereo mix which again sounds better than the old DVD monoso time to upgrade buy this new Blu-ray/dvd set5 stars for the new blu-ray reissue, 2 stars for the dvdbased incredible HD picture quality & better sound mix quality