We're reblogging it tonight in honor of Sir Christopher Lee, the London-born actor who died today at the age of 93.
Lee played Dracula on the big screen nine times from the 50's to the 70's. This is one of my favourites…
No.8: Dracula AD 1972
Daily Constitutional Editor Adam writes…
I’ve blogged about this movie before, in all its ludicrous gory glory it remains a great London favorite of mine…
At the top of the seventh chapter in Hammer’s cycle of Dracula movies, Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) lies dead. The wicked Count himself (Christopher Lee popping in the fangs for the 6th time) finds himself in a similar predicament.
Fast forward 100 years and jaded King’s Road hipster Johnny Alucard (Alucard: geddit?) and his groovy circle of friends are growing tired of earthly kicks. Seeking new, mind-blowing thrills, Alucard (ring any bells, that name?) stages a séance in the bombed out church of St Bartolph. His purpose? To summon the vampire Dracula to Swinging London. (Dracula? Alucard? Hang on a minute!)
Only Jessica Van Helsing and her grandfather can stop him now.
More Carry On Up The King’s Road than Carpathian Gothic chiller (at the height of the set-piece satanic rite, Alucard exhorts his long-haired and mini-skirted cohorts to “Dig the music, kids!”), this fang-in-cheek romp is a kitsch London classic. The film was inspired by the events of the roughly contemporaneous case of the Highgate Vampire (young north Londoners “hanging out” in Highgate Cemetery, then a much neglected London treasure, claimed to have encountered a vampire); and Chelsea is the film's uncredited star. The Cavern coffee shop, for example, is 372 Kings Road (currently an Italian restaurant).
The critical reception for the movie was decidedly mixed back in 1972, but the performances remain unimpeachable. Peter Cushing reprises his role as Van Helsing for the first time since 1960 and reins in the hysteria in his usual compellingly dignified fashion; Christopher Lee, who was openly critical of the film, is positively operatic in the role with which he will ever be associated.
A million miles from Bram Stoker it may well be. But the glimpses of London and the perfectly balanced contrast in the central performances make this film the perfect DVD to go home to after a London Walks Ghost Walk.
A London Walk costs £10 – £8 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.
