DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (1968)
Article #1151 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-9-2004
Posting Date: 10-6-2004
Directed by Freddie Francis
Featuring Chrisopher Lee, Rupert Davies, Veronica Carlson

Dracula is resurrected only to find that his castle has been exorcised and the door is barred by a cross. He vows revenge on the Monsignor responsible for this.

Watching movies is a very individual experience. Something in a movie that can distract and bother one viewer may be easily glossed over or even go unnoticed by the second. Furthermore, an interesting touch or telling detail may make a great deal of difference to one viewer but mean nothing to another. It’s not really a matter of good or bad as much as a mark of the individuality of each of us. For example, I myself generally have no trouble with continuity errors and usually don’t notice them.

I only bring this point up to mention that I did notice certain continuity errors that distracted me during this movie. I only noticed these because they involved details that had significant impacts on the plots at certain points; because a previous scene had clearly established the importance of certain details, it seemed very obvious to me when the a following scene failed to follow up on the detail. I won’t mention the details, as I feel continuity-error hunting can take the fun out of a movie and there’s always a chance that another viewer may not notice. Nonetheless, despite these distractions, I did find this a fairly entertaining entry in Hammer’s Dracula series. Though in some ways I miss the presence of Cushing, there really is no role for him here, and the fact that the final battle with Dracula pits him against characters who are all too fallible and vulnerable (one is an atheist whose disbelief in God leaves him without the spiritual strength to effectively battle this fiend, and a priest whose lack of will makes him a too-easy prey; in fact, he’s Dracula’s helper for most of the movie). Christopher Lee is given dialogue this time, though it is kept to a minimum. Everyone does well, with special honors to Lee and to Rupert Davies as the Monsignor.