Which actor, apart from the almighty Christopher Lee, can permit himself to only appear in a movie when it's half way through, not to speak one word and then STILL deliver a terrific and spooky performance as the personification of evil?? Indeed, no one! Christopher Lee is a brilliant actor and "Dracula: Prince of Darkness" is a great sequel and part of Hammer Studio's finest achievements. The opening sequence – featuring footage from the original in which Peter Cushing eventually destroys the Count – already indicates that this is the official sequel to "Horror of Dracula" and that it isn't necessary to have seen "Brides of Dracula" that didn't star Lee. In this chapter, Count Dracula has his eye set on two British couples that are traveling through Eastern Europe. With the help of his human accomplices, Dracula resurrects by the blood of one couple and he immediately goes after the other. The helpless couple is protected by Father Sandor (great role by Andrew Keir) who more or less replaces Cushing as the vampires' worst nightmare! Dracula: Prince of Darkness simply bathes in an irresistible atmosphere of sensuality and mystery. The legendary Bray Studios once again provide this Hammer film with a beautiful and nightmarish shooting location, while the professional directing skills of Terence Fisher are as flawless as always. He truly is one of the greatest horror directors who ever lived! Numerous sequences and little details point out that this is the absolute best sequel in the entire cycle of 7 Dracula movies produced by Hammer. To state only a few examples: the impressive resurrection scene, in which the prudish Victorian couple is mercilessly sacrificed to bring back the count. Or the ingenious end-twist to eventually destroy him again! Great film, highly recommended!

This movie really is a mixed bag--with a really unusual plot on one hand but some really dopey elements as well. And, overall, it's one of the weaker Dracula films I have ever seen.

Dracula is back even though in the last Hammer version of Dracula, he was completely destroyed by sunlight. I can forgive this actually, as Universal Studios frequently brought back their monsters after they'd been destroyed! But the way they did it here was really unusual and violent. It seems that the old vampire's ashes had been collected by a dedicated evil servant and he kept them for a decade waiting for some dumbbells to wander into the castle. Well, a group of the world's STUPIDEST travelers show up even after being repeatedly warned to avoid the castle at all costs! The way they actually got to the castle by being stranded and then brought to the castle by a driver-less carriage but pretty novel, but again and again there were so many signs warning them to go back, but of course they didn't. Having characters THIS dumb is a bit of a problem--especially since they are so unbelievably dumb you actually root for them to die! And in a grisly scene, one of them is murdered and his blood is poured into the coffin with Drac's ashes and the old vampire is revived.

The rest of the film is just okay. While offering some chills here and there, the movie also offers some bizarre Dracula lore that I never heard before--such as "a vampire is unable to enter a room unless asked" (huh?!). And, in the end, the vampire naturally dies (only to come back in the sequel) but HOW he dies is odd and seemingly impossible--I have NEVER heard of killing a vampire THAT way! It was almost like the writers had never seen a vampire movie before and re-made the existing vampire legend from scratch in many places. And because of this, the film is watchable but also eminently skip-able.

Hammer's first classic vampire film, Dracula, was always going to be a hard act to follow. Almost flawless in every way, Dracula was a landmark in the horror cinema and invariably any sequel was sure to disappoint. However seven years later (after THE BRIDES OF Dracula, which sorely lacked Christopher Lee yet remained a great film nonetheless),the king of the vampires returned (for an undisclosed pay cheque) for what was to be a very good sequel in every respect, Dracula - PRINCE OF DARKNESS. The film opens with a rerun of Dracula's climax (surrounded by swirling mist in a lame attempt to disguise the different scope format),with Cushing destroying the undead lord once and for all. However the focus lingers on Lee's forgotten ring, and sure enough we discover that he isn't dead after all, at least after a long, scene-setting beginning - over half an hour has passed before Lee is regenerated to his more fleshy self. In that time we run the usual gamut of village inns, frightened coachmen, superstitious locals, and the like, all surprisingly fresh this time around considering the amount of times Hammer was to use them.

The fine budget - though kept relatively low, as this film was shot back to back with RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK to cut down on costs, is apparent in the authentic costumes and scenery, with Dracula's castle never having looked better. One of the great benefits the film has is the splendid score, a Gothic piece containing the 'Dracula theme', a recurring tune playing whenever the vampire count is on screen. The music really adds to the film and the overall Gothic atmosphere, and there's no doubt that without it, this would be a lesser film. James Bernard deserves all the praise he gets for creating such a lavish score. The acting is of a high standard in the film, with all roles being filled by respected actors and actresses. Charles Tingwell and Suzan Farmer both play totally ordinary folk who react believably to the horrific events which enfold them, while Francis Matthews is great as the jovial, friendly husband who becomes the hero of the piece. Barbara Shelley puts in a career-best performance as the prudish wife who becomes a fully-fledged vampiress, changing from high necked attire into a low cut night-dress, obviously the more familiar form of clothing for ladies in these type of films. Her initial disdain for the locals and her later snarling, fanged countenance are totally contrasted and there has never been a better acted transformation from human to vampire on screen. Andrew Keir is suitably stern as the gruff priest who takes over the Cushing role in the picture, and with a rifle slung over his shoulder, it's a memorable image, although I still think that his character seems strangely out of place in the film and the Hammer Dracula series as a whole. Thorley Walters has the role of the fly-eating Renfield down to a tee, and it's no surprise that visually his character was recreated in the Hollywood blockbuster BRAM STOKER'S Dracula.

However it's Christopher Lee who one remembers the most, obviously. He was in a lot of films between 1958 and 1965, but his screen presence is still commanding, never more so in this case, and the fact that he has no lines of dialogue only serves to strengthen his silent, menacing character. It works. Visually he is also superbly frightening, with red contact lenses and pronounced fangs, he really is the definitive image of Dracula and has never been better, especially when he goes around kicking windows apart and the like. Last but not least, Philip Latham has the role of Dracula's servant, a part usually forgotten in these type of films as merely a supporting role. However, maybe coincidentally, he's the spitting image of butler Lurch from THE ADDAMS FAMILY, and gives a solid backbone to the evil presence prevalent in the film. At least Dracula has a reason for being evil - he's a vampire - but this silent, sadistic murderer is totally without cause, only there to serve the will of his master. As he says, "my master died without issue...in the accepted sense of the word".

Along with the stylish sets to look at, there are some well-staged fight scenes, usually between Lee and Matthews, to keep the action moving along nicely, and the expected carriages travelling at high speeds through the woodland (why does nobody issue these guys speeding tickets?). There is a very gory set piece (the throat cutting) and an excellent regeneration for Dracula from dust to fully formed creature, while the hand creeping out of the coffin is a macabre image. The table top staking is also played out thoroughly, sustaining tension as long as possible until a final snarl becomes a scream of agony. Added to all these things is a superb, smashing ending where Keir shoots the ice out. Dracula - PRINCE OF DARKNESS is yet another essential Hammer film, and with that I can't praise it any more highly.