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Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

Posted: October 28th, 2022, 9:58 am
by LiamCasey
And a more recent BBC article on Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972):

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/202 ... he-hippies

Re: Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

Posted: April 22nd, 2023, 12:15 pm
by jameselliot
AD and Satanic are two Hammer Draculas I have no interest in rewatching. In AD, he never leaves the dilapidated church and enters the modern world. Most of the run time is Alucard and his Mod girlfriends. The opening fight is the only interesting moment. The Yorga films handled the concept of a European Dracula-style vampire in then-current society with some freshness. While I'm not a Hammer expert like Richard Klemensen, I would guess that the box office take of Yorga influenced Hammer to produce AD.

Re: Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

Posted: April 22nd, 2023, 5:43 pm
by EP Millstone
jameselliot wrote: April 22nd, 2023, 12:15 pm AD and Satanic are two Hammer Draculas I have no interest in rewatching. In AD, he never leaves the dilapidated church and enters the modern world. Most of the run time is Alucard and his Mod girlfriends. The opening fight is the only interesting moment. The Yorga films handled the concept of a European Dracula-style vampire in then-current society with some freshness. While I'm not a Hammer expert like Richard Klemensen, I would guess that the box office take of Yorga influenced Hammer to produce AD.
No argument from me about the inferior quality of Hammer Films' final two Dracula flicks. That said, I have a fondness for Dracula A.D. 1972 because of the memorable circumstances under which I saw it.

In 1972 I was a member of an eccentric fan club called The Count Dracula Society. A perk of being a member was being able to attend special previews and screenings of horror films. One such horror film was Dracula A.D. 1972 shown at Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank, California. Like you, jameselliott (and, I suspect, many Hammer Films fans), I was thrilled by the dynamic 1872 prologue -- if only the rest of the movie lived up to its exciting beginning.

According to The Christopher Lee Filmography by Tom Johnson and Mark A. Miller, you are correct about Dracula A.D. 1972 being inspired by the success of Count Yorga, Vampire, jameselliott.

As for Count Dracula not entering the modern world, Christopher Lee, at least, agreed with the decision.
"At first I honestly thought that the 70s setting wouldn't work for Dracula, that he's strictly a 'period' character. Then I thought, the novel, written in 1897, was contemporary to its time, and that only in retrospect do we see the character in period. But can we really have Dracula riding on a bus? I thought that, within limits, it might work. The series certainly needed something new. Dracula was kept isolated in a Victorian setting, the church, while modern London existed outside, which gave us, I thought, the best of two worlds. We kept Dracula in the church and brought 1972 to him. Those scenes -- because Peter [Cushing] was in them -- worked. The rest didn't. The whole idea of 'swinging London' was already dated, and the clothing, mannerisms, and dialogues of the 'teenagers' was all wrong. Some ideas simply look better in the script than they do on the screen." -- Christopher Lee, The Christopher Lee Filmography

In the, IMO, abysmal follow-up, The Satanic Rites of Dracula, The Count did enter the modern world. The result was a sad, even more lamentable finale to the Hammer Films series.


Re: Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

Posted: April 23rd, 2023, 10:59 pm
by jameselliot
The Count Dracula Society. I remember reading about it. Dr. Donald Reed was the president, if I recall correctly. And Forry Ackerman was a member.

Re: Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

Posted: April 24th, 2023, 7:50 am
by Detective Jim McLeod
this movie had the sexiest Hammer babes

Image

Stephanie Beacham, Marsha A. Hunt, Caroline Munro, Janet Key, I don't know how Christopher Lee can look so disinterested.