Dracula: Prince of Darkness (Blu-ray) (1966)

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General		Extras
Category	Horror	Featurette-Making Of-Back to Black (29:17) Featurette-Restoration Comparison (3:58) Trailer-Restored Original Trailer (0:37) More…-Behind the Scenes Footage (10:14) Audio Commentary-Cast
Rating
Year Of Production	1966
Running Time	90:18
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Terence Fisher
Studio Distributor	Hammer Productions Shock Entertainment	Starring	Christopher Lee Andrew Kier Francis Mathews Barbara Shelley Charles Tingwell
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	James Bernard

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 (1536Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Dracula: Prince of Darkness starts with a precredit sequence taken from the climax of Dracula (1958) where Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) is turned to ash by Van Helsing (Peter Cushing). Then the film moves forward ten years to two English couples travelling in the Carpathian Mountains: Charles Kent (Francis Matthews), his wife Diana (Suzan Farmer), his brother Alan (Australian Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell) and Alan’s wife Helen (Barbara Shelley). At an inn they meet Father Sandor (Andrew Keir) who is horrified when he learns they are intending to travel to Carlsbad, warning them against going there, especially the castle nearby.

     Of course the Kents ignore the warning (there would be no film otherwise) and they travel towards Carlsbad. But, with dusk approaching, their coachman refuses to go any further and abandons them in the woods. Almost immediately a coach, without a coachman, appears. The Kents climb on board and are whisked to the castle on the hill. They enter, to discover that a table has been laid for dinner for four and that their luggage has been placed into bedrooms. Only Helen feels frightened and wants to leave; the others, especially Charles, are for staying, especially after a manservant Klove (Philip Latham) appears to welcome them and to serve dinner. But it seems that Klove has only been waiting for a living person as a blood sacrifice to resurrect his master. Dracula, Prince of Darkness is revived and is hungry for human blood; only Father Sandor may be able to save those Kents still living.

     Eight years after appearing in Dracula Christopher Lee returned in the role, again for Hammer’s go to director Terence Fisher, who directed 29 Hammer films in total including kicking off most of Hammer’s successful horror franchises. Lee had declined to appear in Hammer’s follow up to Dracula, The Brides of Dracula (1960), in which Dracula does not actually appear, and after Dracula: Prince of Darkness he went on to reprise the role another six times, the last in The Satanic Rites of Dracula in 1973. Dracula: Prince of Darkness was by no means his favourite and he says not one word of dialogue in the film. Lee maintains that his dialogue in the film was so awful he refused to say it, but screenwriter Jimmy Sangster has said that Lee’s memory is at fault and that no lines were written for Dracula; the shooting script apparently backs up Sangster.

     Although Lee does not get anything to say, some of the other dialogue is delicious. I particularly liked this deadpan exchange:

Charles: Isn’t your master joining us for dinner?
Klove: No, sir, I’m afraid not.
Charles: Is he indisposed?
Klove: He’s dead.

     Dracula: Prince of Darkness is an unusual film. We know, or think we know, that Dracula is there somewhere because of the title, if only because Lee features prominently in the credits, but for over 45 minutes he does not appear. That does not mean that director Fisher does not lay on the atmosphere and palpable tension supported by composer James Bernard’s eerie cues: in one extended sequence a shadow on the wall and a black clad figure we think will be Dracula turns out to be Klove! This first half of the film is slow, but effective in its suggestion of evil lurking somewhere near, and the sequence where a Kent is sacrificed is dramatic, forensic and quite bloody. But, in a way, once Dracula appears the film follows a more predictable path although with the excellent Andrew Keir as the “Van Helsing” type role it is never dull. Barbara Shelley, who gets the best character arc in the film, is also very good although the two male Kents are rather wishy-washy.

     Dracula: Prince of Darkness was shot by DP Michael Reed in Techniscope in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, an unusual ratio for Hammer. The result is a beautiful looking film with more space in the frame which is used to good effect in the exterior locations, especially in the forest. The ratio also gives a depth to the interiors, showing off the usual impressively detailed Hammer sets.

     Dracula: Prince of Darkness reunites Christopher Lee as Dracula, director Terence Fisher and composer James Bernard for another go at the Dracula myth. Some of the parts of the film are very good, especially in the atmospheric first half of the film, the second half of the film is rather predictable.

Video

     Dracula: Prince of Darkness is presented in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, in 1080p using the lesser VC 1 code.

     As the restoration comparison extra shows, the colours and detail of the unrestored print were very dull. Restored, the colours are now bright and vibrant; the trees are a nice green and the blood, especially in the sacrifice sequence, a brilliant red. A few scenes appear soft, but close-ups are good. Blacks are solid and shadow detail very good, while skin tones look a bit bright. Grain is nicely controlled; there are occasional small marks and some noise reduction, but on the whole this is a very good looking print.

     English subtitles are available and are not burnt in.

Video Ratings Summary

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Shadow Detail
Colour
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Audio

     Audio is an English LPCM 2.0 mono at 1536 Kbps; the film was shown theatrically with mono sound.

     Dialogue is always easy to understand. While this is a mono audio, effects such carriage wheels and horses’ hooves, shots and the score have some depth. Indeed, the score by Hammer stalwart James Bernard is very good, eerie when it needs to be and loud on occasion.

     There is obviously no surround or subwoofer use.

     I did not notice any hiss or distortion.

     Lip synchronisation looked fine.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Audio Commentary

     Cast members Christopher Lee, Suzan Farmer, Francis Matthews and Barbara Shelley sit together and watch the film. This is entertaining, amusing and light-hearted as they chat, sometimes cutting across each other, about their memories of the filming, the locations, other actors, the director and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Especially Lee tells some very funny stories, usually not related to this film, about his experiences and people he has known during his long career.

Back to Black: The Making of Dracula Prince of Darkness (29:17)

     Made in 2012 this is an excellent featurette using film footage, still photographs and recent interviews with Hammer Film historian Marcus Hearn (who also directed this extra), writer and actor Mark Gatiss, authors Jonathan Rigby (English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema) and David Huckvale (James Bernard, Composer to Count Dracula), original cast members Barbara Shelley and Francis Matthews and Jon Mann (Pinewood Studios). Hearn maintains that Dracula Prince of Darkness was certainly not the best Hammer horror film, but that it was the quintessential Hammer horror film as it put together many of the elements of a Hammer film: English people abroad in Europe, a coachman who abandons them, a castle on a hill, a loyal manservant, bloodsuckers and Christopher Lee! He also puts the film into the context of the period and Hammer’s troubles, such as shooting four films back to back using the same sets and cast to save money. Other things discussed include the cast, director Terence Fisher, the score and the film’s restoration. Definitely worthwhile.

Restoration Comparison (3:58)

     Silent, split screens showing various before and after restoration examples.

Restored Original Trailer (0:37)

Behind the Scenes Footage (10:14)

     Actually three separate sections. The first, of about 4 minutes, is 8 mm footage shot on set by Francis Matthews’ brother. This is a very entertaining 4 minutes as in 1997 Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Suzan Farmer and Francis Matthews sat down to watch the footage together and recorded their comments, which is a fun listen. The second part is an extended trailer for the film, the third a trailer for the Dracula Prince of Darkness / The Plague of the Zombies double bill; at the theatre we are told boys would get free vampire fangs and girls zombie glasses! Interesting gender roles!

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

     Region A US Blu-ray uses MPEG 4 AVC code and has an addition World of Hammer featurette on Christopher Lee. Our version technically is the same as the Region B UK; that has the same VC1 code, LPCM audio and extras but also includes the Hammer short.

     Dracula: Prince of Darkness reunites director Terence Fisher, star Christopher Lee and composer James Bernard for another go at the Dracula myth eight years after making Dracula. The film, now 50 years old, has not dated as well as some Hammer films but it has its moments and is an eerie and atmospheric entry into the Hammer Horror canon that fans will enjoy in this good Blu-ray release.

     The film has been restored and looks very good on Blu-ray, the audio is the original mono. The extras are excellent.

     Dracula: Prince of Darkness is still available as a stand-alone Blu-ray release from Shock Entertainment but it is also included in Shock’s 17 disc Hammer Horror Blu-ray Collection which I picked up from JB Hi-Fi for rather less than $100. The specifications and extras on both releases are the same. Good value for Hammer fans!

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Extras
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