Director: Terence Fisher
Written by: Bram Stoker (novel), Jimmy Sangster
Cast: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling

Year / Country: 1958, UK
Running Time: 82 mins.

With The Curse of Frankenstein in 1957, Hammer Studios began the revival of early Gothic horror films. The team behind it consisted of director Terence Fisher, screenwriter Jimmy Sangster, and actors Peter Cushing as Victor Frankenstein and Christopher Lee as the creature. It became a considerable classic. After Mary Shelley, it was now time for a retelling of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’. The cast and crew remained largely the same.

The story is well known: a librarian named Jonathan Harker arrives at Dracula’s castle and quickly notices that no birds are singing. He is supposedly there to index Count Dracula’s books, but secretly intends to destroy the count and end his reign of terror. His mission fails. Not long afterward, Doctor Van Helsing arrives with the same purpose as his former friend and colleague. A deadly game ensues between the demonic Dracula and the cunning Van Helsing.

Unlike Tod Browning’s original Dracula, the Hammer version has not aged nearly as noticeably. As a result, this is the version that can still be enjoyed by generations to come. Fisher’s vision is compelling; he reportedly refused to watch Browning’s film so that it would not influence him and he hit a home run. Horror of Dracula proved universally popular and is commonly regarded as both Fisher’s and Hammer’s finest work. Despite the typical Hammer gore, Dracula has seldom appeared as majestic as he does here.

The cast is a joy as well. Lee’s first performance as the Lord of the Undead is strikingly pure and memorable, not yet diluted by the countless unnecessary sequels that would follow. Peter Cushing may be even better as Van Helsing. He takes the material seriously and knows how to involve the audience in his sacred mission, while still managing to throw in touches of humor here and there.

For the ultimate Dracula classic, look no further than this version. It’s absolutely spellbinding. Classic horror was seldom better.

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Biography: Terence Fisher (1904, London – 1980, London) was a very active British filmmaker who directed no less than sixty movies in his career. He entered the film business as a clapper and made it to editor quite soon. When he made his directorial debut he was already quite old, but swiftly made up for it in quantity. His big break came in 1956 when, at the age of 52, he directed the Hammer Studios’ remake of Frankenstein. The Curse of Frankenstein became a cinema hit. Fisher continued to make films for the Hammer Studios, making many remakes of Universal monster classics. He directed Peter Cushing fourteen and Christopher Lee twelve times. He kept making horror movies till the end of his career in 1974. He died in 1980, aged 76.

Filmography (a selection): Portrait from Life (1948), A Song for Tomorrow (1948), Colonel Bogey (1948, short), The Astonished Heart (1950), Home to Danger (1951), Distant Trumpet (1952), Mantrap (1953), Spaceways (1953), Face the Music (1954), Final Appointment (1954), Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Presents (1953-55, TV episodes), The Flaw (1955), The Last Man to Hang? (1956), The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1956/57, TV episodes), Horror of Dracula (1958), The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), Dial 999 (1959, TV episodes), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), The Mummy (1959), The Brides of Dracula (1960), Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962), The Gorgon (1964), Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), Island of Terror (1966), Frankenstein Created Woman (1967), Night of the Big Heat (1967), The Devil Rides Out (1968), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)