Classic Horror Flick

The classic horror flick Horror Of Dracula was not the first of the Hammer Horror Classics. That one was 1957's The Curse Of Frankenstein. It was so successful that Hammer went to work on Horror Of Dracula in 1958 with Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing and Christopher Lee as Count Dracula. Including this film, Lee would go on to play the Count a total of seven times.

The movie opens with Jonathan Harker traveling to Dracula's castle to get the Count's extensive library in order. The job, however, is a ruse so Harker can get close to the Count because Harker wants to destroy him. Here, Harker is shown to his quarters by the gracious and charming host, Count Dracula.

The Technicolor blood is what makes this film such a classic horror flick! As the story goes along, in between scribbling in his journal, Harker wanders around the castle because the Count appears to be gone during the day. He ends up finding the resting place of a female vampire and pulls out his trusty mallet and wooden stake and kills her!

Of course, Harker makes a bad mistake because he did his staking close to evening and Dracula, hearing the screams of his fledgling, escapes from his cold, stone coffin to shut the tomb door and seal Harkers fate. Here Harker sleeps the sleep of the damned.

Dr. Van Helsing, a good friend of Jonathan Harker, arrives at the castle only to witness Dracula speeding away in a coffin, finds Harker's journal, then seeks him out. Finding his room in disarray, Helsing searches until he finds where Harker lay, then stakes him.

Van Helsing, always a man of action, seeks out Harker's fiancée Lucy, and determines the reason for her being sick and pale. It seems Lucy's regular doctor can't figure it out. Van Helsing leaves Lucy's family with strict instructions on her care involving garlic and crosses.

The sinister Count Dracula, paying a visit to lovely Lucy.

Soon, Lucy dies after Helsing's instructions were ignored but makes a comeback, complete with fangs!

Just as Lucy's about ready to bite her relatives, Van Helsing arrives and drives her back to her crypt, finishing her off with a stake. A true mark of a great classic horror flick!

We won't spoil the ending of this awesome classic horror flick, but after dealing with Lucy, Van Helsing chases Dracula back to his castle where an exciting showdown takes place. Violent, dramatic, and with a cool score, this new British wave of the Dracula character previously dominated by Universal, has new life!

Return from Classic Horror Flick to 100 Top Horror Films