By Forris Day Jr.
Dracula is back and angrier than ever in this final Hammer production featuring the immortal Count. Yes…he’s back and he wants revenge on his enemy Professor Lorrimer Van Helsing (Peter Cushing). Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) is hiding out in modern day England…which in this case is the 1970s. He is disguised as a wealthy developer who only works nights and never sees anyone. Even employees in his skyscraper have never seen him. He is secretly developing a new strain of Bubonic Plague that will wipe out everyone on Earth and end his own miserable immortal life…for good! Will he succeed? Well…does Drac actually ever succeed?
This is a pretty entertaining movie as far as Dracula movies go. It has dozens of interesting characters including an offbeat professor, played by the great character actor Freddie Jones. Wonderful locations, including a large manor where satanic sacrifices of young women are going on. It’s got a basement full of sexy vampires…previous sacrifices of course. A long winding staircase and a room full of TV surveillance equipment add to the ambiance. The creepy manor is protected by a crew of motorcycle riding guards who’s uniforms are cheesy fur vests.
Some well-done special effects add to the creepy factor for me, including the slow decomposition and painful, melodramatic death of one of the plague victims. Just to aid us viewers, before he is infected, the results of contamination are described in a “play by play” fashion as to what the plague virus does to a human. Then we get to witness it for ourselves. Every bit as cool as our villains promised it would be!
Lots of “Ohh come on!” moments too. For example our hero is investigating some strange wooden crates in the basement. He then proceeds to be attacked by gorgeous lady vampires. Thinking quickly to “Vampire Killing 101” he reaches for a wooden stake and 4 pound hammer that are conveniently sitting on top of a coffin. He drives it through her heart and of course she is killed. I can see Count Dracula needs to retrain employees on safety regulations regarding the proper storage of deadly tools.
I recommend “The Satanic Rites of Dracula” if you enjoy the horror movies of the 70s. Not really scary, but full of marvelous imagery of outdated clothing, groovy vampire girls and a car chase scene that ends in one of those “Ohh come on!” moments.
Rating: 7.5/10 – … “Is that a test tube full of Bubonic Plague in your pocket…or are you just happy to see me?”
