202) Brides of Dracula (1960)

Son of Halloween 2024's spectacular and not random vampire movie review extravaganza! (Part Six)

"Count Dracula, monarch of all vampires, is dead, but his disciples live on, to spread the cult and corrupt the world."

Director

Terrance Fisher 

Cast
Peter Cushing - Dr. Van Helsing
Yvonne Monlaur - Marianne
David Peel - Baron Meinster
Martita Hunt - Baroness Meinster
Freda Jackson - Greta
Miles Malleson as Dr. Tobler
Henry Oscar - Herr Lang
Mona Washbourne - Frau Lang
Andrée Melly - Gina
Victor Brooks - Hans
Fred Johnson - the priest

The end of August is approaching as I write this, and I still have six more vampire movies to get through before Oct. 31. I got this! 

I couldn't post a thread of Dracula movies for the Halloween season without including at least one movie from Hammer Productions over in the U.K. 

Hammer horror movies are a pillar in the genre. They revived the classic Universal Monsters and gave them the finishing touch which the original films from Universal tried to accomplish within the boundaries of what they could and couldn't do. And these movies are in color, treating the subject matter with reverence and appreciation. They polish the appearance and atmosphere of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, and all the rest, solidifying their place in horror pop culture. 

I've already reviewed Hammer Productions first Dracula movie, "Horror of Dracula" (1958) with Christopher Lee in the title role and Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing. It makes sense to look at its sequel, "Brides of Dracula" from 1960. 

The movie starts as a young attractive French school teacher, Marianne Danielle (Yvonne Monlaur), is dropped off and left at a village inn while travelling to Transylvania. Her coach driver basically ditches her at the inn.

The local Baroness Meinster (Martita Hunt) invites her to stay at her castle for the night. But the locals warn her it's not safe. Her son, Baron Meinster (David Peel), is rumored to be crazy and kept locked in the castle. But Marianne accepts the invitation. 

David Peel and Yvonne Monlaur in "Brides of Dracula."

Once Marianne settles in, she snoops around the castle and happens to find, to her shock and horror, Baron Meinster locked in a room and chained to a wall just as she was told.

He begs for Marianne to release him, claiming his mother has taken his lands and keeps him jailed.

So, she sneaks into his mother's bedroom and steals the key to free him from his shackles. The jokes on her, though. the Baron is a vampire! 

Now that he's free, the Baron attacks his own mother and drinks her blood, as vampires are known to do. Marianne witnesses this evil and horrific deed and escapes the castle during the night. 

Now a vampire, the Baroness starts brining in young girls for her son to feed on. 

By morning, Marianne meets Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) but can't seem to remember what she witnessed the night before. 

So, Van Helsing takes her to the school where she'll be working. When he gets back to the village, Van Helsing comes across the funeral of a young girl found dead in the woods with bite marks on her neck. He knows exactly what that means and doesn't waste time investigating the presence and location of the vampire responsible.

The local priest, Fr. Stepnik (Fred Johnson), joins Van Helsing in his pursuit. He and Van Helsing try to encourage the deceased girl's father not to bury his daughter. Of course, it sounds like an outlandish request. Naturally, the father refuses and buries her. As expected, she rises from her grave as a vampire. 

Van Helsing and Fr. Stepnik go the cemetery and try to kill the vampire girl. When they get there, they find the Baroness's servant, Greta (Freda Jackson), who knows that both the Baron and her master are both vampires, calling out to the buried girl to rise from her grave.

The girl begins crawling out of her grave. Van Helsing and Fr. Stepnik try to stop her, but Greta keeps them back. And the living-dead girl escapes. 

Peter Cushing as Van Helsing.

When Van Helsing gets back to the castle, he runs into the Baroness and her son. Van Helsing attacks them, but the Baron runs off. 

Feeling pity for the Baroness as her son's attack on her was an act of revenge for locking him up, Van Helsing decides to drive a stake through her heart while she's asleep the next morning. 

The Baron goes straight to Marianne and asks to marry her, which she agrees to do. 

This makes Marianne's roommate, Gina (Andrée Melly) jealous. However, the Baron pays Gina a visit later that night and turns her into a vampire. 

Now, Van Helsing has his work cut out for him as he tries to fend off all these vampires and ultimately kill the Baron. 

It's thanks to British director Terence Fisher that Gothic horror such as this movie, and other Hammer horror films, gave audiences the classic yet revived (for the time) Universal monsters in color. 

His first major Gothic horror movie was 1957's "Curse of Frankenstein" which instantly solidified Hammer Production's place in the horror genre. Actors Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing took on leading roles in the majority of these movies. Peter Cushing nails the role as he gives Van Helsing a holy determination to destroy evil at the roots. 

Fisher also directed "Horror of Dracula" and "Dracula: Prince of Darkness." 

He often portrays evil as alluring and charming, only to lead to immorality, and then to death and destruction. Meanwhile goodness and Christian morals are portrayed as strong and determined. I can get behind that. 

"Brides of Dracula" is a worthy follow-up to "Horror of Dracula." While Dracula doesn't appear in this movie, though he's mentioned, his evil sickness carries on which Van Helsing must continue fighting. 

Sure, this movie is dated as far as horror goes. But it still has a classic charm about it. 

I love these gothic Victorian era horror movies! I tend to compare them with Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe films made in the same period. Comparing them side by side, it's clear Hammer had a bigger budget to work with, and it shows. But Corman still made some fantastic period horror movies with his Poe series that still hits the spot. 

"Brides of Dracula" keeps the same unsettling atmosphere and classic vampire tropes previously seen. It is formulaic in its story, and doesn't add much, if anything, to Dracula's lore. It tells a tale of Dracula's aftermath, and how Van Helsing has to clean up the mess he left behind. That's an original take, I think.

It has fine acting, a unique style of horror and atmosphere, and a story that pulls the audience in. 

There are seven more Dracula films in the Hammer series following "Brides of Dracula" - "Dracula: Prince of Darkness" (1966), "Dracula has Risen from the Grave" (1968), "Taste the Blood of Dracula" (1970), "Scars of Dracula" (1970), "Dracula A.D. 1972" (1972), "The Satanic Rites of Dracula" (1973), and the martial arts horror movie "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" (1974). I'll get to that last one next!