"Satanic Rites of Dracula" (1973)

Above, Christopher Lee and Joanna Lumley in Satanic Rites of Dracula. 

Satanic Rites of Dracula Amazon synopsis:

A dying man’s report of a ritual black mass stirs Britain’s security chief into action, and a mansion filled with young vampire girls is soon discovered. And this is but the first twist in a labyrinth of horror. Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee pair up for the final Hammer Dracula in this follow-up to Dracula A.D. 1972. In this go-round, the Count (Christopher Lee, naturally) follows a more pulpish, super-villainous playbook, posing as a millionaire industrialist alive and well and living in London while secretly brewing up a batch of super-plague in a quest to destroy the world. Mixing Satanists, spies and sci-fi, the film makes viewers glad that Peter Cushing is on hand to solidly anchor the more outré elements as the effortlessly expositioning Dr. Van Helsing. Lee, in turn, has more dialogue as Dracula than was the norm, and rachets up the evil to the nth degree. Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous) costars. Also known as Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride.

I unearthed (pardon the pun) a bunch of DVDs the other day that I hadn't unpacked (or viewed before) when I moved to New Mexico three years ago (two I watched so far were Unthinkable (2010) with Samuel L. Jackson, which is a very good film and The Town (2010) with actor/director Ben Affleck, which is also pretty good, too). I watched another one last night that was given to me by Jerry Moore, better known as Karlos Borloff of Monster Madhouse television show. It was their broadcast of Satanic Rites of Dracula (the name they gave it is too long to state here) from Hammer Studios.

Monster Madhouse hijinks during the movie aside (images of Borloff and crew would be superimposed in the movie in spots), it made me realize again why I was never a fan of Hammer's horror films of the U.K. Keep in mind that I love the old Universal Pictures horror movies of the 1930s through the 1950s. 

Hammer's horror movies were overly talky and the pacing of their films seemed disjointed to me, especially the action scenes.

Christopher Lee was okay as Dracula (he doesn't appear in the movie for about a half hour into it) and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing was the best part of the movie. He had an air of authority in it and was basically the glue that kept the movie from totally flying apart. From the reviews I've read on this film, it was a better film than its immediate predecessor, Dracula A.D. 1972, which isn't saying much. Speaking of which, Christopher Lee hardly ever spoke when he played Dracula, which is probably a good thing considering everyone else blabbed too much. At least he redeemed himself the following year in the James Bond flick, The Man With The Golden Gun.

Dracula's plan (in modern day) was to unleash a horrible plague to exterminate all of mankind. It struck me that this was a stupid plan as Dracula would kill off his blood supply. Van Helsing tried to point this out to the old Count, but the dialog was too muddled for Dracula to get the point.

Anyway, at least it was something to watch for a couple of hours. One thing I liked were the Universal trailers shown (I presume they were placed where commercials were during the original broadcast) of Frankenstein and Dracula trailers (such as the Bela Lugosi Dracula, House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula.

The Monster Madhouse promo of The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan:

Sir Christopher Lee Dies At 93

Above, Sir Christopher Lee at the U.K. premiere of Skyfall.

We lost a great!

Sir Christopher Lee, who took on the Dracula mantle in a series of Hammer films, has died at the age of 93.

According to Fox News:

Sir Christopher Lee, the deep-voiced dramatic actor known to several generations for his portrayal of villains in "Dracula," "James Bond" and "Lord of the Rings" movies, has died. He was 93. 

The news of Lee’s June 7 death was first reported by the U.K.’s Telegraph, which published his death certificate. His wife waited to go public with the news of his death in order to have time to inform family members, according to The Guardian.

One of Lee's most recent films was the Tim Burton and Johnny Depp Dark Shadows, in which Lee played a sea captain who falls under the thrall of Barnabas Collins (Depp). He also appeared in two Star Wars movies.

To read more, go here.

Jess Franco Dead At 82

It was announced this morning that cult horror director Jess Franco passed away this morning.

The National Enquirer.com reported:

Spain’s most prolific master of horror JESS FRANCO dead at 82. 

Kike Mesa, director of the 2007 documentary Jess Franco: Way of Life, announced Franco's passing early this morning at the age of 82 on his Facebook page.

Franco is best known for Vampyros Lesbos (1971), The Awful Dr. Orloff (1962), Venus in Furs (1968) The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968) with Christopher Lee, Exorcism (1975), Bloody Moon (1981) and Faceless (1988).

Christopher Lee was also featured in the Franco cult flick Eugenie, The Story of Her Journey Into Perversion (1970).  Lee made the film with benign and non-controversial scenes.  Franco later added in X-rated (now considered "R" rated) scenes that shocked Lee.  This is the only Jess Franco movie I own.

For more on Franco, go here.

Loaded Up On A Few DVDs

Yesterday, I went to the local Fry's Electronics store and picked up some DVDs.  They consisted of one new release and three old favorites (to replace my old VHS copies).

I'll start off with the three "oldies but goodies."

Two of them were the first and second sequels to 1971's Dirty Harry with Clint Eastwood:

Magnum Force (1973), which involves rogue motorcycle cops acting as judge, jury and executioner on baddies in San Francisco.  These guys made Inspector Harry Callahan look like a moderate.

The Enforcer (1976), which pits Inspector Callahan against radical killers (inspired by the real-life Symbionese Liberation Army) and a woman partner (played by Tyne Daly).

I had myself a Dirty Harry mini-film festival this morning.

True Grit (1969) with John Wayne as U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn.  Wayne's performance garnered him a Best Actor Oscar.  It was interesting to see some familiar faces such as Myron Healey (uncredited), James McEachin (uncredited), Hank Worden (uncredited) and Jay Silverheels (uncredited).  While watching the movie last night, it dawned on me that I've met two actors who were in this movie: Jeff Corey and Hank Worden.

The new movie I picked up was the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp Dark Shadows.  I bought the Blu-ray edition. As I knew what to expect ahead of time, I was prepared for it.  Fortunately, I found myself enjoying it (not quite as much as Burton's Ed Wood) and was entertained.  It was nice to see the cameos of original series stars Jonathan Frid, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Lara Parker and David Selby.  It was also good to see Christopher Lee's cameo as a grizzled sea captain.  It really looked great in Blu-ray.  My grade: A.

Happy Birthday, Sir Christopher Lee!

Above, Christopher Lee as Dracula.

The actor who played Count Dracula in a multitude of movies and Bond villain Francisco Scaramanga in The Man With The Golden Gun (1974), Sir Christopher Lee, turned 90 today.

Above, Christopher Lee in "The Man With The Golden Gun."

Remarkably, he is still actively making movies.  He currently appears in the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp Dark Shadows movie.

Happy Birthday, Sir Christopher Lee!

Dark Shadows News Blog

The Dark Shadows News blog has a great collection of stills and videos of the soon-to-be-released Johnny Depp/Tim Burton Dark Shadows movie.  It is set to be released on May 11.

One interesting video is a featurette on vampires which includes Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Jonathan Frid and others.

To see all these goodies, go here.

Dracula Knighted By The Queen

He was a Count in Transylvania. He was also known as the "King of the Vampires." Now Count Dracula has been knighted by the Queen of England.

The Associated Press reports:

LONDON — The Lord of the Undead is now a knight of the British Empire.

Christopher Lee, whose sonorous voice and burning black eyes made him a memorable arch-villain in films from "Dracula" to "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith," was given one of Britain's highest honors Saturday by Queen Elizabeth II.

Lee, 87, who made his name in Britain's low-budget Hammer Studios horror films, is one of cinema's consummate bad-guys, appearing as everything from Bond villain Scaramanga in "The Man With the Golden Gun" to the disreputable Russian mystic in "Rasputin, the Mad Monk."