Dracula A.D. 1972 Dracula A.D. 1972

Set in London in the early 1970's, supposedly for teen thrills, Johnny organises a black magic ceremony in a desolate churchyard. The culmination of the ritual, however, is the rejuvenation of Dracula from shrivelled remains. Johnny, Dracula' s disciple, lures victims to the deserted graveyard for his master's pleasure and one of the victims delivered is Jessica Van Helsing. Descended from the Van Helsing line of vampire hunters her grandfather, equipped with all the devices to snare and destroy the Count, confronts his arch enemy in the age-old battle between good and evil.

Christopher Lee Peter Cushing Stephanie Beacham Christopher Neame Michael Coles Marsha A. Hunt Caroline Munro Janet Key William Ellis Philip Miller Michael Kitchen David Andrews

Hammer Film Productions

horror

96 mins   More details at IMDb / TMDb

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  • flamerik

    Review by flamerik ★★

    More proof that the Hammer studios only turned out a handful of really good films - this is not one of them. The whole idea of introducing Dracula in the modern era is good, but this film doesn't take the idea anywhere. Dracula, after being resurrected, never leaves the safe ground of the churchyard where he was buried, so he never has to confront the modern era at all. The characters are all stupid hippies that anyone would have a hard time identifying with. Caroline Munro, the only actress who was signed to Hammer for more than one film at a time, is severely underused - in fact, she is the Count's first victim, so she doesn't get nearly enough…

  • Tom Prankerd

    Review by Tom Prankerd ★★

    Hammer's attempt to revitalise their Hammer cycle should be quite good. Featuring Van Helsing's descendant is perhaps a little contrived but it's great to have Cushing and Lee back onscreen and their brief scenes together crackle; the final confrontation especially is a triumph. The plot's not bad either, certainly nice than all those Eastern European villages with creepy castles.

    However, whenever the cool young things get on screen it becomes hilarious as too-old actors fumble through hip slang clearly written by a 50-something man who wears a cardigan and is still struggling to catch up with the fifties, never mind the seventies. The five-star porno funk soundtrack doesn't help much either.

  • JuanCostrada

    Review by JuanCostrada ★★★

    Lee again appears as Dracula, although this time the setting has been updated and his ways of seduction leads him towards the hippy culture.

    The film delves somewhat into the culture of the time with fantastic tunes and a world of drugs but Lee seems mostly absent from engaging with this. His motive is a vendetta against the ancestors of Van Helsing and it ends up playing like a police procedural. This all leads to a climax that involves two old men fighting before the stock abrupt ending.

    It is also a letdown to remove the device that connected the previous films together.

    The Reverence: Detective Sergeant beats out a cinematography named Dick Bush, using the smallest holy crosses possible and the name Alucard.

  • David

    Review by David ★★★½

    The problem with putting Victorian-period character in modern day settings is that they look terribly out of place, especially when they're put against '70s youth counter-culture.

    The story starts out with a great chase, that ends with Lee's Dracula impaled on a broken carriage wheel, and Cushing's Van Helsing expiring from his wounds. A passerby comes upon the scene, and scoops up some of Dracula's ashes and signet ring. Fast forward to 1972. The passerby is still with us, now having assumed the name Johnnie Alucard (is there anyone who doesn't know what that spells backwards?), and Cushing is back, this time as one of Van Helsing's descendants. After a happinin' "freak out" at an uptight society party, Alucard and…

  • Sam Harvey

    Review by Sam Harvey ★★★★

    What can I say. This must be my biggest guilty pleasure. Nothing about this film should work (and many believe nothing does) but for some reason I just keep on loving it.

    OK, so the script is outdated and cringe worthy at times ("Dig the music kids") and the drabness of 1970's London is no replacement for the fairytale quality of 19th century Eastern Europe but Alan Gibson's directing is solid and amongst the ridiculousness of it all, there are several quite striking sequences. The black mass is genuinely creepy, the edit expertly building pace with some unusually innovative camera work, timed brilliantly with the eerie soundtrack until the fabulously climatic blood spillage over Caroline Munro's heaving bosom.

    Christopher Lee's…

  • Chris Ward

    Review by Chris Ward ★★★★

    A lot of people don't like this Dracula-in-modern-day-London tale because it's so far removed from what they perceive Dracula to be but based on entertainment alone this film is wonderful. Camp as a row of tents and the second of only three Dracula films to star both Lee and Cushing, plus Stephanie Beacham, her amazing cleavage and some of the most absurd dialogue ever uttered in a vampire film. Unintentionally hilarious 70's kitsch and totally bonkers.

  • Chris Underwood

    Review by Chris Underwood ★★★★

    So at a ripe old age I have finally got around to watching a film that I spurned on it’s original release in favour of one or another European art-house movies and unlike some diehard Hammer fans find it very easy to enjoy. It is certainly one of Peter Cushing’s better performances. I find he can tend to be a bit dry or very economical with his acting but here he is full of enthusiasm and in his pivotal role helps to involve us into the story. Christopher Lee, who again can be very lazy, here puts in a most effective and majestic performance. Neither of them, however, do as much as the charismatic, Christopher Neame, who grabs hold of…

  • Ben Hellwig

    Review by Ben Hellwig ★★★★½

    Stephanie Beacham's breasts steal the show from Christopher Lee's eyebrows in what has to be my favorite Hammer Dracula film. Although the film is set in the 70's everything looks like it's from the 60's, but who cares? Did I mention Stephanie Beacham's breasts?

  • Viva Laserdisc

    Review by Viva Laserdisc ★★★½

    This movie left us with two questions: 1) Where were Jessica’s parents? and 2) Why was she left with a grandfather who liked to touch her boobs every chance he could?
    Sometimes the 70′s just get it right with a vampire movie… a groovy soundtrack, fairly decent special effects, and victim who was proud of her bosom. Although at times it could be a tad boring, the last 20 minutes were spot on with awesome retro Dracula fun.