Good grief! Hammer Horror Films were very much in a flux come 1972, so in a bold (yet ultimately ill conceived) attempt to move with the times and grasp a new audience, they turned to old faithful to resurrect their hopes - Count Dracula. Pic starts with an exciting prologue in 1872, where we see Dracula (Christopher Lee) and Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) battling to the death. We witness Drac's ashes buried near to the grave of Helsing, and then it's fast forward to 1972...It must have seemed like a good idea at the time - letting loose one of the most iconic monsters in movie history in contemporary London - but it never works, lacking horror vibrancy and very much coming off as a pastiche of former glory. A rather excellent resurrection section of film aside, pic is just too quirky and kitsch for its own good, more laughable than anything remotely scary.Other major problems hurt the possibility of enjoying it on some sort of parodic level. Dracula never actually does much, confined to a small location (again!), so not really tearing up contemporary London as it happens, while the 1972 "youths" who form the core of the narrative are actually out of date themselves! Something further compounded by the quite dreadful musical score, which should have been confined in a locked safe a decade earlier. Some of the more notable Hammer touches try to battle there way through the murk, but it's a losing battle, the company's visual identity lost amongst a daft script and cartoonish direction.It has fans, and viewing it now some decades later one can at least embrace it with a modicum of endearment, but it's a poor pic and signals the start of a sad era for a great production company. 4/10

Predictable, when Viewed Today, it is the "Hip" Dialog and Behavior of the Mods that make this one a Picture that Fluctuates Between Hammer's Reliable Sex and Gore with Lee and Cushing and a somewhat Strained Attempt to make it "Today (1972)".Not All of it Works, but Some of it Does. Once the Film gets Past the Obvious and Clunky Introductions of Time and Place with Cringe Inducing "Long Hair" Music and Party Crashers, along with "Drug Talk", the Movie Kicks in with some Stirring Stuff that Hammer Fans Expect.The Churchyard Sets are there for that Gothic Invasion of Swinging London and when Van Helsing, the Count, and a Police Murder Investigation gets underway the Movie Settles into a Passable Vampire Hunt.There are some Effective Touches here and there with Rituals and Rites, and as a whole the Movie is Better than Expected. Not in the Top Tier of Hammer Horror, but all Hammer Films are Worth a Watch and this is No Exception.

In a move that seems to confirm the events covered in 1958's original 'Dracula' weren't the only time The Count fought his enemy Van Helsing, this updating of Hammer's vampire myth begins with a spectacular scuffle between Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee atop a speeding stagecoach. The grim and gruesome climax results in the death of both, revealing a continuity error – events covered in 'Dracula' happened in 1885, 13 years after this prologue. Perhaps the Van Helsing featured there was a relation of this one! The decision to move the Lord of the Undead into modern times has been lambasted over the years by horror fans, not least because the hip dialogue between the hippy gang was dated even then. The intervening years have been forgiving however – viewed now, this updating is now a period piece, and phrases like 'Dig the music kids' seems to be part and parcel with the overall 'flares and winged-collars' styles of the day.There's a knowing, pseudo-parody feel about this too. Describing a victim as 'a bit drained' and inviting someone to 'come in for a bite' evokes an atmosphere at odds with the grim and serious presence of Dracula and his various machinations, giving the impression Hammer weren't entirely confident about the direction in which this series should go. Their recent 'Horror of Frankenstein (1970)' was laced with similar comedy and was received very poorly.After bringing their vampire into the then present day, the writers then decide to keep him very much apart from it. All Dracula's scenes take place in or around a deconsecrated church, and any interaction with life in 1972 is left to Christopher Neame's enjoyably over-the-top Johnny Alucard. His fight with Van Helsing is a high-point (lots of nice directorial moments from Alan Gibson), but it does rob Dracula of screen-time, as usual.This is good fun though, in much the same way Universal's latter-day horrors were good fun – little in the way of actual horror atmospherics, but a fast-pace monster piece. And to its credit, the now traditional decomposition of Dracula in the finale is one of the most gruesome of the entire series.

In 1872, Count Dracula is defeated in a vicious battle with Prof. Lawrence Van Helsing, by a stake from a wooden wheel. Van Helsing dies along with Count Dracula. Both are buried, but a servant of Dracula gathers up Dracula's ashes and the ring. 100 years later, the great- grandson of the servant, Johnny Alucarda manages to coerce everyone into joining him for a satanic ritual. It turns out that Johnny Alucarda has brought back Dracula from the dead. Johnny and Dracula work together so Dracula can get his long-awaited revenge on the Van Helsing's. He decides to start with Jessica, the grand-daughter of current vampire hunter, Abraham Van HelsingMeh. At least this beats the follow-up to this movie, Satanic Rites of Dracula. It never truly bored me, managed to keep my attention as well. But this series was beyond stale at this juncture. After an exciting opening that is tragically short, it goes downhill. I appreciate that they tried to reinvigorate this series by setting this movie in a contemporary setting. It doesn't fully work, but it was an audacious idea that I appreciated. One thing that works against the contemporary setting, is the lack of lavish set-pieces. That was one of the main things that made a couple of the earlier films so enjoyable. Hammer was beginning to falter, this was a failed attempt at reviving a series that became infamous for Hammer. It throws in English dialog, such as "Gagger, bloody" , among other things. The trouble is, it feels like nothing really changed. It's the same stale series set in a contemporary setting. Watching Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee battle is always a treat. I did feel they could have upped the intensity for such a personal battle. Cushing is his reliable self in a subtle way. He has essentially played two Van Helsing's in this series. Lee is menacing as Dracula, but he looks tired of the role. Stephanie Beacham is OK as Jessica, certainly better than most of the dames in this series. Christopher Neame is OTT in a fun way as Johnny. I rather enjoyed himOverall thoughts.It's not a movie you'll regret watching, but think of it as leftovers on the third day. It's stale, it's boring, but it gets the job done in an adequate way. Avid Dracula fans will probably wanna give this a look, but don't expect much5.4/10