Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best, 3 Oct 2006
"Dracula Has Risen From The Grave", has to be one of the best Dracula movies of all time. The film has a rich gothic feeling to it, and Christopher Lee makes the most of his role. He doesn't have much to say, but his presence as the bloodthirsty count are among the finest on the silver screen. Tall, dark and menacing. You don't have to rely on expensive special effects when you have an actor like Chris Lee around. A rock solid production.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The best of Lee's Dracula sequels, 15 Dec 2007
For the US release of Hammer's fourth Dracula film (only the third to actually feature Christopher Lee, the Count sitting out Brides of Dracula), Warner Bros. used a one-sheet of a woman's neck with a sticking plaster on it, following the title Dracula Has Risen From the Grave with the single word 'Obviously.' The film itself, however, is anything but tongue-in-cheek, and played deadly straight with a conviction the series gradually lost over the years. It's probably the best-looking of all the Hammer Dracula sequels, and also the first where Christopher Lee actually speaks. As usual he's almost a background figure for much of the film, with the bulk of the film carried by Barry Andrews' atheist student romancing Veronica Carlson's niece of Rupert Davies' Monsignor, who inadvertently starts the blood flowing again when his attempt to exorcise Dracula's castle only results in the Count being revived from his icy grave by blood from a convenient cut. Finding himself cast out of his home and aided by Ewan Hooper terrified priest (Renfield presumably being otherwise engaged), Dracula determines to take his revenge on Davies and his kin, stopping off en route for a light snack with Barbara Ewing's busty redheaded barmaid.
With a prologue that takes place before Dracula, Prince of Darkness and the main body of the film taking place a year later, it takes some liberties with the vampire mythology: the revived Dracula's first appearance is as a reflection, he has no problem removing crosses from willing girls' necks while a stake alone is no longer enough to kill him: you have to pray as well, which is a bit of a problem when your hero doesn't believe in God. Yet they're not as jarring as they might be, the latter resulting in one particularly memorably gory sequence. The change in director from Terence Fisher, sadly in decline at that time and unavailable due to a car crash, to Freddie Francis gives the film less of a production-line feel than most of the studio's Dracula series and, despite an awkward filter in some scenes and a distinctly jaundiced look for the Count, the film has a much more expansive look and feel almost unique in the series, with a striking and well-employed rooftop set courtesy of undervalued production designer Bernard Robinson and some relatively unfamiliar Pinewood standing sets rather than the overused backlot at Bray. He gets good performances too, with a particularly nice turn from Michael Ripper as an amiable innkeeper (as opposed to his usual miserable and terrified innkeepers).
Unfortunately while the PAL DVD boasts excellent colour and definition, some shots look oddly distorted, as if stretched, and the sound wanders in and out of synch far too often for comfort. On the plus side it does restore the censor cuts of about half a dozen gallons of blood spurting from Dracula's chest after he gets staked and includes the original trailer.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, 7 Oct 2007
Dracula Has Risen From the Grave.
Still continuing their gothic setting, this film is characteristicly big on atmosphere, & is beautifully shot, containing some of my favourite cinematography of the entire franchise. Sadly, there's still no sign of Cushing's return as Van Helsing, & instead we have another strong religious figure in the form of Rupert Davies, who gives a fairly strong portrayal of Monsignor Mueller. Ironically, Dracula's 'servant' in this film is a cowardly priest played by Ewan Hooper.
Set approximately a year after the events of the previous film, the movie starts very strongly with the corpse of girl found hanging inside the church bell, dead from a large, ugly vampire bite to the neck. One weak point of the film is the fact it never establishes who was responsible for the girl's death, since Dracula has not yet been ressurected at this point. However, the locals are in fear, & they still feel the evil in the air despite the assurances of the Monsignor that Dracula is destoyed & the evil curse has gone. So, in attempt to ease the collective unrest of the parish, he & the priest set off up the mountain to 'exorcise' the castle, in the same way as a priest exorcises a building to free it of evil spirits, after which he seals the gates of the castle with a large cross. These scenes look really good, as the mist is billowing around whilst they make their way up the mountain, & then the thunderstorm starts as the Monsignor begins the exorcism.
However, almost as if darker forces are working against them, the feeble priest falls behind on the climb & injurs himself, landing on the frozen ice where Dracula is entombed, & his blood trickles through the cracked ice, & brings Dracula back to life, & the Count immediately exerts a powerful mesmeric control over the fearful, weak minded priest.
With the priest in tow, Dracula makes his way back up to the castle only to find his entrance barred by the large cross. Finally, Lee gets to speak when Dracula demands of the priest: 'Who has done this thing!?', played to demonic perfection by Lee has he hisses out the lines, with a look of fury upon his face!
The film then goes on to focus on Dracula taking his revenge on the Monsignor. We meet the Mosignor's family, including his daughter Maria, played by Veronica Carlson, & her young suitor Paul, played by Barry Andrews, who rubs the Monsignor up the wrong way when he admits that he's an athiest. Yet it would be this young athiest who works with the Monsignor to defeat Dracula.
The village scenes are of particular splendour in the this film. It's so beautifully shot. I love the rooftop scenes, where you look down on the village & can see the smoke swirling from the chimney's etc... Lovely cinematography the gives the film a lot of english gothic atmosphere. This is further augmented by the scenes at the local Inn, which again come across as an allegory for 19th century England, although the setting is clearly north eastern Europe.
Dracula's first victim is the barmaid Zena, & again there is a look of anticipation in her eyes that mirrors the Count's mesmeric influence over Lucy from the first film. By now, more evidence of sexuality is creeping into things. Zena is wandering around in stockings & suspenders, & there's overt sexual jealousy on display when the Dracula demands that she bring the Monsignor's daughter to him. Once again Lee is totally commanding in these scenes, the Count harshly slapping Zena to the floor for her impertinance. After Zena delivers Maria to her master, the Count's expression is very hard as he begins to exert his mesmeric influence over her, but the beginnings of a knowing smile plays upon his lips as he advances towards her, before he is interupted by Paul, after which Dracula does the same thing in reverse to Zena when he places the blame upon her. This scene is particularly effective for using close up shot of the Count's bloodshot eyes which furrow together as Dracula is about the exact his harsh punishment upon Zena, who's body is callously burnt by Dracula's servant priest in the ovens of the bakery.
When Dracula does find Maria in her bedroom shortly after, Dracula's sexual/sensual frisson is repeated with even more vigour. Once again his lips brush about her face before going for the neck bite, but whereas there was the subtle hint of anticipation in the 1958 film, 10yrs later, Maria's reaction to Dracula is more akin to that of a woman exhibiting a distinct sexual passion. No wonder Christopher Lee was such a hit with the ladies.
The other theme which this movie uses is that of the strength of belief. In many other 'good vs evil' horror films, including demonic possession movies which would later appear in the 1970's with 'The Exorcist', it is the strength of the faith of the priests which is tested by Satan or his demons. Although it does make something of a mockery of Bram Stoker's original 'rules', this idea is brought into play here in this film. We first see Dracula rip the cross from Zena's neck, with no detrimental effect on the Count. Later, after the Monsignor is injured & can't complete his function in the role of Dracula's nemesis, it's left to the athiest Paul to complete the destuction of the vampire, & he does indeed manage to stake the Count in his coffin. However, in a particularly bloody struggle, Dracula manages to remove the stake. The idea being that it wasn't delivered with the proper religious conviction. This idea is reinforced, by the fact that the priest is imploring Paul to pray, saying: 'He isn't going to die! You must pray!'. But Paul is an unbeliever, & can't bring himself to do this, & so Dracula escapes with Maria still under his spell, who's seen to be kissing the Count's coffin as they travels back to the castle during the daylight hours. Darkness has fallen again by the time they reach the castle, & Dracula has Maria remove the cross from the door, which she throws over the mountainside where it sticks in the ground. Meanwhile, Paul who given chase with the priest, arrives at the castle & engages the Count in a struggle in which they both fall over the ledge. Dracula is impaled through the heart on the cross, & the priest completes his redemption by praying to assure the destruction of Dracula, of whom only his cloak remains as the end credits begin to roll.
I have mixed feelings about the ending. Dramatically, i do think it works well, although it does seem a bit contrived. And although the idea of needing strong religious faith & convinction fits with many established elements like the power of the crucifix etc.., Christopher Lee himself is on record saying how much he protested against some of the elements that go against what Stoker established in the original novel. He was particularly against the filming of the scene where Dracula removes the stake. Judging the film in relation to Stoker's work, perhaps he's right, But judging the film in it's own right, i personally don't really have a problem with it. IMO, 'Dracula Has Risen From the Grave' is another great movie overall from the Hammer franchise. For me, it's not quite as strong as the first sequel, but it's still a strong film with many plus points, not least the fact that Chris gets some lines! Overall, i enjoy this one very much, so i give it 8/10.
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