''Dracula: Prince of Darkness'' is a 1966 British

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

supernatural horror film Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of horror film and supernatural film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common them ...

directed by

Terence Fisher Terence Fisher (23 February 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a British film director best known for his work for Hammer Films. He was the first to bring gothic horror alive in full colour, and the sexual overtones and explicit horror in his films, ...

. The film was produced by

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve clas ...

, and is the third entry in Hammer's ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

'' series, as well as the second to feature

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by som ...

, the titular

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

. It also stars

Andrew Keir Andrew Keir (né Buggy, 3 April 19265 October 1997) was a Scottish actor who appeared in a number of films made by Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and especially in the theatre, in a professional career t ...

, Francis Matthews, and

Barbara Shelley Barbara Shelley (born Barbara Teresa Kowin; 13 February 1932 – 3 January 2021) was an English film and television actress. She appeared in more than a hundred films and television series. She was particularly known for her work in horror film ...

. The film was photographed in

Techniscope Techniscope or 2-perf is a 35 mm motion picture camera film format introduced by Technicolor Italia in 1960. The Techniscope format uses a two film-perforation negative pulldown per frame, instead of the standard four-perforation frame usu ...

by Michael Reed, designed by Bernard Robinson and scored by James Bernard.

Plot

A prologue replays the final scenes from ''

'', in which Doctor Van Helsing destroys

by sunlight; only the memory of Dracula's evil remains. The main story begins as Father Sandor prevents local authorities from disposing of a woman's corpse as if it were a vampire. Sandor chastises the presiding priest for perpetuating the fear of

vampirism A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

and reminds him that Dracula was destroyed ten years previously. Sandor visits an inn and warns four English tourists, the Kents – Diana, Charles, Helen, and Alan – not to visit Karlsbad. Ignoring his advice, the Kents choose to visit Karlsbad but are abandoned by their fear-stricken coach driver two kilometres away from their destination as night approaches. Finding themselves in view of a castle, the Kents are taken there by a driverless carriage and discover a dining table set for four people and their bags unpacked in the bedrooms. A servant named Klove explains that his master, the late Count Dracula, had ordered that the castle should always be ready to welcome strangers. After dinner, the Kents settle in their rooms. Later that night, Alan investigates a noise and follows Klove to the crypt, where Klove kills him and mixes his blood with Dracula's ashes, reviving the Count. Klove entices Helen to the crypt, where she becomes Dracula's first victim. The next morning, Charles and Diana can find no trace of Alan, Helen, or Klove. Charles takes Diana to a woodsman's hut and then returns to the castle to search for Alan and Helen. Klove tricks Diana into returning to the castle. Charles finds Alan's body in a trunk in the crypt. It is now dark and Dracula rises. Diana encounters Helen, who, now one of the undead, attacks her. Dracula enters and warns Helen away from Diana. Charles struggles with Dracula until Diana realizes that her crucifix is an effective weapon against vampires. Charles improvises a larger cross and drives Dracula away. They escape from the castle in a carriage but lose control on the steep roads. The carriage crashes and Diana is knocked unconscious. Charles carries her for several hours through the woods until they are rescued by Father Sandor, who takes them to his abbey. Klove arrives at the abbey in a wagon carrying two coffins containing Dracula and Helen but is denied admission by the monks, by the order of Sandor, who knows that the vampires will try to gain entry. Ludwig, a patient at the abbey, is in thrall to Dracula and invites the Count inside. Helen convinces Diana to open the window and let her in, claiming to have escaped from Dracula. Diana does so and Helen bites her arm. Dracula drags Helen off, as he wants Diana for himself. Charles bursts into the room and drives the vampires out. Sandor sterilizes the bite with the heat from an oil lamp, then puts silver crucifixes in the two coffins to prevent the vampires from coming back. Sandor captures Helen and drives a stake through her heart, killing her. Ludwig lures Diana into Dracula's presence, where the Count hypnotizes her into removing her crucifix. Dracula coerces her to drink his blood from his bare chest, but Charles returns in time to prevent it, forcing Dracula to flee with the unconscious Diana. Charles and Sandor arm themselves and follow on horseback. A shortcut allows them to get in front of Dracula's wagon and stop it. Charles shoots Klove, who has apparently removed Sandor's crucifixes from the coffins, but the horses gallop off to the castle. Diana is rescued while Dracula's coffin is thrown onto the ice that covers the moat. Charles attempts to stake Dracula, but the Count springs out of his coffin and attacks him. Sandor shoots the ice and it breaks. Diana rescues Charles, and Dracula sinks into the freezing waters and drowns.

Cast

* Francis Matthews as Charles Kent *

as Father Sandor *

Philip Latham Charles Philip Latham (17 January 1929 – 20 June 2020) was a British television actor. He was educated at Felsted School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 1951. In the late 1960s/early 1970s he was well know ...

as Klove *

Suzan Farmer Suzan Maxine Farmer (16 June 1942 – 17 September 2017) was an English film and television actress. She was regularly cast in movies produced by Hammer Films. Early life The daughter of David Farmer, a trader in metals, and Eleanor (née Bes ...

as Diana Kent *

as Helen Kent *

Charles Tingwell Charles William Tingwell Member of the Order of Australia, AM (3 January 1923 – 15 May 2009), known professionally as Bud Tingwell or Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, was an Australian film, television, theatre and radio actor. One of the veterans of ...

as Alan Kent *

Thorley Walters Thorley Swinstead Walters (12 May 1913 – 6 July 1991) was an English character actor. He is probably best remembered for his comedy film roles such as in ''Two-Way Stretch'' and '' Carlton-Browne of the FO''. Early life Walters was born in Tei ...

as Ludwig * Walter Brown as Brother Mark * Jack Lambert as Brother Peter *

Roy Kinnear Roy Mitchell Kinnear (8 January 1934 – 20 September 1988) was a British character actor. He was known for his roles in films such as The Beatles' ''Help!'' (1965), Clapper in ''How I Won the War'' (1967) and Planchet in ''The Three Musketeers ...

as Weller *

George Woodbridge George Woodbridge may refer to: * George Woodbridge (actor) (1907-1973), English actor * George Woodbridge (illustrator) George Woodbridge (October 3, 1930 – January 20, 2004) was an American illustrator known for his exhaustive researc ...

as Landlord *

Philip Ray Philip Ray (born Roy Edgar Cochrane, 1 November 1898 – 11 May 1978) was a British stage, film and television actor. Occasionally credited as Phil Ray, he played numerous and varied supporting roles, particularly in films and on television. He ...

as Priest * Joyce Hemson as Mother *

John Maxim John Maxim (20 July 1925 — 20 January 1990), sometimes credited as John Wills, was an English film and television actor. Career Between 1958 and 1988, he appeared in six films and nine television productions including the films ''The Fr ...

as Coach Driver *

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...

as Doctor Van Helsing (uncredited - archive footage only)

Production

Dracula does not speak in the film, save for a few hisses. According to Christopher Lee: "I didn't speak in that picture. The reason was very simple. I read the script and saw the dialogue! I said to Hammer, if you think I'm going to say any of these lines, you're very much mistaken." Screenwriter Jimmy Sangster disputed that account in his memoir ''Inside Hammer'', writing that "Vampires don't chat. So I didn't write him any dialogue. Christopher Lee has claimed that he refused to speak the lines he was given...So you can take your pick as to why Christopher Lee didn't have any dialogue in the picture. Or you can take my word for it. I didn't write any." The film was written into a novel by John Burke as part of his 1967 book ''The Second Hammer Horror Film Omnibus''. Filming took place at

Bray Studios Bray Productions was a pioneering American animation studio that produced several popular cartoons during the years of World War I and the early interwar era, becoming a springboard for several key animators of the 20th century, including the ...

. The film was made back to back with ''

Rasputin, the Mad Monk ''Rasputin the Mad Monk'' is a 1966 Hammer horror film directed by Don Sharp and starring Christopher Lee as Grigori Rasputin, the Russian peasant- mystic who gained great influence with the Tsars prior to the Russian Revolution. It also featu ...

'', using many of the same sets and cast, including Lee, Shelley, Matthews and Farmer. Shelley later remembered accidentally swallowing one of her fangs in one scene and having to drink salt water to bring it back up again because of the tight shooting schedule, as well as there being no spare set of fangs. The film was released in some markets on a

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with ''

The Plague of the Zombies ''The Plague of the Zombies'' is a 1966 British horror film directed by John Gilling and starring André Morell, John Carson, Jacqueline Pearce, Brook Williams, and Michael Ripper. The film's imagery influenced many later films in the zombie ...

''. Plastic vampire fangs and cardboard "zombie eyes" glasses were distributed to audience members as a gimmick.

Release

Box office

In North America, the film earned $364,937 in rentals. In France, the film drew 854,197 admissions. The film was released with ''

''. According to Fox records, the films needed to earn $1,500,000 in rentals to break even and made $2,345,000, meaning that it made a profit.

Critical response

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that the picture "should please the following of this type of film and do all right at the wickets. Terence Fisher has directed it with his usual know-how and the screenplay by John Samson is a workmanlike job which provides a useful number of mild thrills and little enough of the misplaced yocks that sometimes creep into this sort of pic." ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' wrote, "Apart from one or two welcome innovations–notably the sort of Instant Vampire recipe by which Dracula is resuscitated, and his final destruction by drowning rather than by the usual procedures–this is the same old hash as before ... The interiors are quite tastefully decorated, but script, direction and acting (except for Philip Latham's sinister butler, and Andrew Keir's forthright Father Sandor) leave much to be desired." ''Dracula: Prince of Darkness'' has been well received by critics in more recent years, and currently holds an 81% approval rating on movie

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 21 reviews. ''The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films'' called it "perhaps the quintessential Hammer horror", but said that it "contains little that audiences hadn't seen before."

Home media

The film was one of the first Hammer horror films to be released on United Kingdom DVD. More recently, on 19 January 2012, Hammer Films announced on their restoration blog that

StudioCanal UK StudioCanal Limited, operating as StudioCanal (formerly Optimum Releasing), is the official branch of StudioCanal in the British Isles. The company releases many films, including foreign, anime (mostly Studio Ghibli), independent, art, British, ...

would release a Zone B

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...

version of the film on 5 March of that year. The announcement stated it would be "the chilling DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS, restored at Pinewood from 2-perf cut negative, scanned and restored in 2k. DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS will be presented in all its Techniscope glory, in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1." The Flicker Club in London screened the restored film on 24 February 2012 at a venue in the Old Vic Tunnels. The screening was preceded by a guest introduction by Marcus Hearn and a guest reading from

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...

's original novel ''

'' by actor

Stephen Tompkinson Stephen Phillip Tompkinson (born 15 October 1965) is an English actor, known for his television roles as Marcus in '' Chancer '' (1990), Damien Day in ''Drop the Dead Donkey'' (1990–1998), Father Peter Clifford in ''Ballykissangel'' (1996–9 ...

. In the U.S., Millennium Entertainment (now

Alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

) released the film as part of their Region 1 DVD ''Hammer Horror Collection'' in a two-disc, three-film set, along with ''

The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires ''The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires'' () is a 1974 martial arts horror film. The film opens in 1804, when seven vampires clad in gold masks are resurrected by Count Dracula, played by John Forbes-Robertson. A century later, Peter Cushing as P ...

'' and ''

Frankenstein Created Woman ''Frankenstein Created Woman'' is a 1967 British Hammer horror film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein and Susan Denberg as his new creation. It is the fourth film in Hammer's ''Frankenstein'' series. Wher ...

''. It is also available on a double feature Region 1 release along with ''

The Satanic Rites of Dracula ''The Satanic Rites of Dracula'' is a 1973 British horror film directed by Alan Gibson and produced by Hammer Film Productions. It is the eighth film in Hammer's ''Dracula'' series, and the seventh and final one to feature Christopher Lee as Drac ...

''.

Scream Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

announced a Collector's Edition

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

release of the film on 18 December 2018.

In other media

''Dracula: Prince of Darkness'' was adapted into a 15-page comics story by Donne Avenell and

John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United Stat ...

, which was published in ''

The House of Hammer ''The House of Hammer'' was a British black-and-white magazine featuring articles and comics related to the Hammer Film Productions series of horror and science fiction films. The brainchild of Dez Skinn,Dakin, John. "'Marvel Revolution' in Engl ...

'' #6 (June 1977) by General Books Distribution.Dakin, John. "John Bolton: Britain's Foremost Fantasy Artist, from Dracula to the Bionic Woman," ''The Comics Journal'' #55 (Apr. 1980), pp. 54–61. (The same story was reprinted in ''Dracula Comics Special'', published by

Quality Communications Quality Communications was a British publishing company founded by Dez Skinn that operated from 1982 to 2008. The company's most notable publications were the monthly comics anthology ''Warrior'', which featured early work by writer Alan Moore; ...

in April 1984.) The ''House of Hammer'' #6 adaptation of ''Dracula: Prince of Darkness'' included the character of Father Shandor (spelled "Sandor" in the film's credits), which then spawned an ongoing feature of Shandor as a demon-fighting priest, in that magazine. ''Father Shandor, Demon Stalker'', written by Steve Moore, became a recurring feature in ''House of Hammer'', appearing in issues #8, 16, 21, and 24. That feature moved over to the

anthology comics title ''

Warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been p ...

'' in 1982–1984, appearing in issues #1–10, 13, 16, 18–21, 23–25. (''Warrior'' issues #1–3 reprint material from ''House of Hammer'' issues #8, 16, and 21.) Skinn, Dez. Response to reader question, ''

Halls of Horror ''The House of Hammer'' was a British black-and-white magazine featuring articles and comics related to the Hammer Film Productions series of horror and science fiction films. The brainchild of Dez Skinn,Dakin, John. "'Marvel Revolution' in Eng ...

'' #29 (1984).

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dracula: Prince of Darkness 1966 films 1966 horror films 1960s supernatural horror films British sequel films Hammer Film Productions horror films Dracula films Films directed by Terence Fisher Films scored by James Bernard Films set in Germany Films set in 1895 Films shot at Bray Studios 20th Century Fox films Films with screenplays by Jimmy Sangster Resurrection in film Dracula (Hammer film series) Films set in castles 1960s English-language films 1960s British films