DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (uk dvd)
hammer horror

A year since the Counts death in Dracula Prince of Darkness, and he has left behind a faithless priest and a village shrouded by superstition. When the priest falls, his shed blood revives the vampire, who then vows his vengeance on the Monsignor who sealed his castle with a crucifix...

dvd review

Following an accident involving a motor car, where Hammer's favored Gothic director, broke his leg, duties on the third sequel to Hammer's 1958 Dracula went to cinematographer Freddie Francis. And, the resulting picture, is something of a mixed bag.

Freddie Francis' visual flair is in evidence, from the somewhat psychadelic opening titles, through the heavily tinted lenses used for the Vampire's perspective shots, through to the rather grisly climax. There are some sumptuous matte painting shots, which give real imagination to the settings, but generally the film limps along.

I enjoyed watching the film again after several years, and just a couple of weeks after watching Brides of Dracula on the big screen. With the company now out of Bray, the limitations placed on the creative crew by the bigger expanses of the studio environments, are begining to be felt. Bernard Robinson's set designs are flawless, but are begining to feel studio-bound and claustrophobic. Something which ironically enough, didn't seem to affect the work done in Bray studios. The roof-tops where Veronica Carlson does much of her running, emphasise this.

Christopher Lee is wasted in the film, reduced to manipulating (as he would for the rest of his Hammer screen time) events from the background, using pathetic minions to do the hands-on work. The priest (Ewan Hooper) chews the scenery, whilst Rupert Davies at least gives the Monsignor some dignity and gravitas. Barry Andrews is ok as the hero Paul, and his rapport with landlord Michael Ripper is at least fun. Perhaps the problem lies there, the cast are simply having too much fun. Only Veronica Carlson in her first starring role, is taking the whole affair seriously.

The press release for this dvd release states "The tension created by Freddie Francis is genuinely unsettling and particularly macabre". Well, perhaps. I felt let down by the whole. Even the relatively novel approach of the lapsed priest unable to kill Dracula with the stake, because he can't say mass, is too little. This is Hammer finding its way without the comforts of its usual studio and director. Francis has said that he doesn't particularly enjoy the horror films, and was more interested in the love story. Dracula is a "fly in the ointment".

transfer
A beautiful transfer - very clean, with very little sign of dirt, artefacts or similar problems. Blacks are good. Presented in an anamorphically enhanced widescreen 1.85:1 ratio. Sound is a very clear mono. Also includes mono French and German tracks.

extras
A trailer (2 mins, 22 secs)-with more dirt in evidence than the main film. Also subtitles in lots of languages, including: English, French, German, Dutch, Sweedish, English for Hearing Impaired, German for Hearing Impaired.

RJES

PURCHASE R2 DVD

DISC:
Release Date: 21st June 2004 (UK)

Feature length: 88 mins
Year of 1st release: 1968
Rating: 15
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 anamorphically enhanced widescreen
Audio: Mono : English, French, German
No of Discs: 1
Region code: 2 / 4 / 5
Catalogue no:
Distributor: Warner Home Video
Price: £12.99
Cast: Christopher Lee, Veronica Carlson, Michael Ripper
Director: Freddie Francis

SPECIAL FEATURES:
* theatrical trailer
* subtitles
see left for full details