Dracula: Prince of Darkness

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Dracula: Prince of Darkness
1998 DVD cover
Directed by	Terence Fisher
Produced by	Anthony Nelson Keys
Written by	Story: Anthony Hinds Screenplay: Jimmy Sangster
Starring	Christopher Lee Barbara Shelley
Music by	James Bernard
Cinematography	Michael Reed
Editing by	Chris Barnes
Distributed by	Hammer Studios
Release date(s)	January 9, 1966 (UK)
Running time	90 min.
Language	English
Preceded by	The Brides of Dracula
Followed by	Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Dracula: Prince of Darkness is a 1966 British horror film directed by Terence Fisher for Hammer Studios. The film was photographed in Cinemascope by Michael Reed, designed by Bernard Robinson and scored by James Bernard.

1 Plot summary
2 Cast
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film begins where the 1958 film Horror of Dracula, also directed by Fisher, left off. It stars Barbara Shelley, Francis Matthews, Suzan Farmer and Charles Tingwell as four travellers who are stranded and find themselves guests at Dracula's castle. Philip Latham plays servant Klove (whose character was resurrected by actor Patrick Troughton in the 1970 film Scars of Dracula) who claims his Master left instructions for visitors always to be welcomed. That night, he kidnaps one of them and uses his blood to literally resurrect Christopher Lee's Count Dracula. Almost immediately, he bites and vampirizes Mrs. Helen Kent.

Dracula's servant, Klove (Latham), uses the blood of victim Alan Kent (Tingwell) to resurrect the Count.

The other couple flee the next day, eventually finding refuge in a local monastery with vampire hunter Father Sandor, played by Scottish actor and Hammer stalwart Andrew Keir. Thorley Walters also appears as Ludwig, an eccentric, bug-eating lunatic apparently based on the character of Renfield in Bram Stoker's original novel. He lets Dracula inside the monastery, which ultimately leads to his new bride (Barbara Shelley) being staked in a controversial scene which some people believe has sexual overtones. The chase eventually leads back to Dracula's castle, where the Count meets his demise by being immersed in running water--the moat of said castle.

Christopher Lee as Count Dracula at the film's icy climax in Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966).

The film is most striking for its vivid imagery, including the pseudo-Eucharistic ritual that resurrects Dracula, the staking of Barbara Shelley and the Count's demise in the icy waters of his moat, a memorable sequence acted mainly by stuntman Eddie Powell.

[edit] Cast

Christopher Lee (Count Dracula)
Barbara Shelley (Helen Kent)
Andrew Keir (Father Sandor)
Francis Matthews (Charles Kent)
Suzan Farmer (Diana Kent)
Charles Tingwell (Alan Kent)
Thorley Walters (Ludwig)
Philip Latham (Klove)

[edit] Trivia

Filmed back to back with Rasputin, the Mad Monk, using many of the same sets and cast.
The script was novelized by John Burke as part of his The Second Hammer Horror Film Omnibus paperback in 1967.