The end of an era: Christopher Lee hangs up his cape in this, his final bow as star of Hammer Films' Dracula series--fitting, since he was unhappy with the direction in which the cycle of movies was heading (and critics at the time agreed with him). In modern-day London, the Secret Service investigates strange goings-on in an isolated manor in the British countryside. When an imprisoned agent escapes the compound with proof that four dignitaries (a government minister, a Novel Prize-winning scientist, a general and a peer in the House of Lords)--as well as a possible fifth person who is camera-shy!--are involved in satanic rituals, occult specialist Professor Van Helsing and his granddaughter are consulted. Van Helsing learns his friend the scientist was ensnared by the cult in order to produce a new strain of bubonic plague--and that his nemesis, Count Dracula, has been revived and is posing as a reclusive land developer with an insidious plan to spread the plague and start a new apocalypse. Hammer's immediate follow-up to the dismal "Dracula A.D. 1972" (featuring the same director, Alan Gibson, and writer, Don Houghton) is a much-improved bloodsucker, dispensing with the Chelsea teenagers and replacing them with assassins on motorcycles and a basement full of nubile vampires. If Lee doesn't have much to do, he still cuts a foreboding presence and gets a bloody good send-off; Peter Cushing again excels as Van Helsing and the supporting cast is solid. Still, this story doesn't bear close scrutiny; once the bacillus is introduced, no one knows quite what to do with it (Van Helsing has a point when he asks if the Count really wants to rule over a world devoid of life), and there are two conspirators in the plot who are unaccounted for at the finale. Stylishly photographed by Brian Probyn and scored by John Cacavas, the film is a flawed but decent addition to the series with several tight action scenes and a great deal of suspense. **1/2 from ****

The widely despised final outing for Christopher Lee in his most famous role turns out to be much more entertaining than one would imagine. To enjoy the film one must firstly realise the numerous flaws - it's clichéd, in some places boring and plot less, and some parts don't make sense. But once the viewer gets over these obstacles (no small feat) then he'll find himself enjoying this action-cum-horror film from director Alan Gibson, who also blessed us with Dracula A.D. 1972. Indeed, the horror takes a back seat to the typical action we're used to seeing in such television shows as THE AVENGERS. Indeed, Joanna Lumley even stars (replacing Stephanie Beacham from the previous instalment) which makes the film seem even more like an episode of THE NEW AVENGERS than ever. I'm a big fan of '60s and '70s television shows so maybe that explains why I enjoyed this outing so much.The Satanic Rites of Dracula benefits from a superb cast. Christopher Lee is this time a villain who plans world domination as well as his usual fang-sinking exploits, and although he was sick of the role by this stage he is still perfectly adequate at cutting an imposing presence by lurking around with his long black cape and biting people. Peter Cushing's mere presence lifts the film a few notches as he brings back his role of the stern and inherently good Van Helsing, the perfect match for Lee's evil, murderous Dracula. Joanna Lumley provides effective support and Michael Coles is something of a poor man's David Warner (the resemblance is truly uncanny). Freddie Jones enjoys his small role.Included in the plot is a thread about a super plague which is entertaining. There are lots of fight scenes with guards and electronic things exploding (a staple of this decade) as well as shooting for a change (Cushing even takes a slug at one point). Scenes to watch out for are the bit where Cushing visits Lee in his high rise tower block, and Lee speaks with a Bela Lugosi mock accent. There is also a spectacular fiery ending where one man contracts the plague and rots into a black mess while Cushing and Lee lurk about in the forest outside, before Lee gets impaled on a fence post - and dissolves once again! There's a lot of cheesy fun and action to be had from this film, and I enjoyed it a heck of a lot. If you treat it kindly and as a type of cult item then The Satanic Rites of Dracula may just be your cup of tea.

Just outside of London there is a group that has preformed the Satanic Rites in order to conjure up their Lord Dracula. They are successful and when people turn up dead Scotland Yard police investigate, they suspect vampirism and call in Prof. van Helsing for help. Helsing easily figures out that it is Dracula and that the Count is plotting to use a virus to destroy life on planet Earth. Is it Dracula's death wish to destroy himself completely? Yes 'Satanic Rites' is a good follow-up to 'Dracula A.D. 1972'. We get to see more of Prof. van Helsing in this installment of the Lee Dracula series.The plot/story maybe a bit off the mark for some viewers but overall the film is a good vampire film.8.5/10

Like the previous film Dracula A.D. 1972, The Satanic Rites of Dracula is one of the weaker Hammer Dracula films(for me easily the worst of the ones starring Christopher Lee as Dracula) and one of Hammer's lesser films as well. It is not a horrible film, not as much as has been said about it, but it is disappointing to see a film series that started off so strongly meander in this way.The Satanic Rites of Dracula does boast some decent photography and some very vibrant atmospheric colours(as well as the odd eye-bleeding one). It also has a couple of inspired moments; the scene in the basement with the female vampires is actually quite frightening and Freddie Jones' description of the bubonic plague and the scene with him and Cushing where it features in is chillingly riveting too. As well as some good performances, with Peter Cushing coming out on top.Cushing was one of those performers who could bring class and dignity to even the silliest material and he does that brilliantly here. Joanna Lumley is a welcome and improved replacement for Stephanie Beacham, doing more than just being sexy, she's pretty charming as well, while Freddie Jones is instrumental in making his scene so telling, the role is a small one but he makes a lot out of it, his delivery of the bubonic plague description being the main reason for its impact. Christopher Lee's suave appearance, towering presence and very menacing acting skills more than compensate for how underused he is, and that out of the not-many lines he has only his line about revenge while rather clichéd is memorable or halfway good.It was very clear however that The Satanic Rites of Dracula was hurt by its low budget, the Gothic ambiance in the production values is very much missed with the 70s production values looking too tacky and gaudy made for TV quality(giving it a too stuck in the 70s look) and the special effects are laughably fake, managing to look even worse than the bat effects in Scars of Dracula. Like with Dracula A.D. 1972, another thing that dates The Satanic Rites of Dracula terribly is the music, which sounds unintentionally cheesy, and doesn't fit the atmosphere at all and instead distracts greatly from it.The script is not quite as bad as in Dracula A.D. 1972(luckily there are not as many howlers here), but it still sounds very clunky and muddled, some scenes also have too much talk that goes nowhere which affects the pacing. The story had some interesting ideas on paper, unfortunately the execution of these ideas come over as underdeveloped and too bizarre for its own good, so it all feels confused and at worst incoherent. The mystery elements are too obvious, what little there is of horror apart from those two scenes suffer from being too silly, too tedious and having cheap visuals and the film is badly paced, with some of the first being interminably dull. The climax was also disappointing, Cushing and Lee give their all but it just goes on for too long and Dracula is defeated far too easily(most of the Hammer Dracula sequels had this too, but not to this extent).Overall, has some things that make it watchable and it was a little better than anticipated, but it's heavily flawed and disappointing and Lee did deserve more than what he got in his last outing as Dracula. 5/10 Bethany Cox