Dracula AD 1972
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| Dracula A.D.1972 | |
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 Region 1 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Alan Gibson |
| Produced by | Josephine Douglas |
| Written by | Don Houghton |
| Starring | Christopher Lee Peter Cushing |
| Music by | Mike Vickers |
| Cinematography | Dick Bush |
| Editing by | James Needs |
| Distributed by | Hammer Studios |
| Release date(s) | September 27, 1972 |
| Running time | 96 min. |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Scars of Dracula |
| Followed by | The Satanic Rites of Dracula |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Dracula A.D. 1972 is a 1972 Hammer Horror film directed by Alan Gibson, written by Don Houghton and starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Stephanie Beacham. Unlike earlier films in the Hammer Dracula series, Dracula A.D. 1972 has a present-day (1970s) setting, in an attempt to update the Dracula story for contemporary audiences - Dracula is brought back to life in modern London and preys on a group of hippies that includes the descendant of his nemesis, Van Helsing.
It is the seventh film Hammer film featuring Dracula, and the sixth to star Christopher Lee in the title role. It also sees the return of Peter Cushing as Van Helsing for the first time since 1960's The Brides of Dracula. The film has a number of different titles, including Dracula '72 (UK working title) and Dracula Chelsea '72 (UK working title), Dracula jagt Mini-Mädchen (Dracula Chases the Mini-girls), its German title, and Dracula '73, the title it was given when released a year later in France.
It was followed by the final film in Hammer's Dracula series, The Satanic Rites of Dracula, which similarly has a modern setting and features some of the same characters.
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[edit] Production
Following the success of the modern-day vampire film Count Yorga, Vampire, Warner Bros commissioned two Hammer Dracula films set in the present day, which were to become Dracula A.D. 1972 and The Satanic Rites of Dracula. Dracula A.D. 1972 began production in September 1971 as Dracula Today and was filmed in Chelsea and Hertfordshire. The film was inspired by the events surrounding the Highgate Vampire case. [1]
It is worth noting that while the two present-day Dracula films star both Lee and Cushing, they do not correspond to the chronology established in the Victorian/Edwardian era films; the first Hammer Dracula film, Horror of Dracula, is set in the 1880s, whereas the flashback sequence of the last battle between Van Helsing and Dracula in Dracula A.D. 1972 is set in 1872 - long before the first meeting of Van Helsing and Dracula in the original film.
Dracula A.D. 1972 was marketed with the tagline "Past, present or future, never count out the Count!". When it was released in the USA, a brief clip was played before the film in which actor Barry Atwater (the vampire Janos Skorzeny in The Night Stalker) rises from a coffin and swears the entire audience in as members of the Count Dracula Society.
[edit] Plot synopsis
In a prologue set in 1872, Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) is destroyed in London in a confrontation with Lawrence Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) on the top of a coach. As Dracula is killed by a stake made from the remains of a wooden wheel, Lawrence dies from his wounds; a disciple of Dracula (Christopher Neame) collects Dracula's remains and buries them near Lawrence's grave at St Bartolph's Church. This opening sequence was not in the previous film Scars of Dracula, but is completely new and not part of the Hammer Horror Dracula chronology up to this point.
One hundred years later, we are introduced to a group of young hippies that includes Jessica Van Helsing (Stephanie Beacham), granddaughter of Lorrimer Van Helsing (Peter Cushing), a descendant of Dracula's old nemesis and an expert on the occult, and Johnny Alucard (Christopher Neame), who closely resembles the disciple of Dracula seen in 1872. Alucard persuades Jessica and the others to attend a black magic ceremony in the now abandoned, deconsecrated St Bartolph's, where he performs a bloody ritual involving one of their group, Laura Bellows (Caroline Munro). Jessica and the others flee in horror, after which Dracula is resurrected and kills Laura.
Laura’s body is discovered, drained of blood, and a police investigation begins, headed by an Inspector Murray (Michael Coles). Murray suspects an occult element and interviews Lorrimer Van Helsing, who is shocked to learn the details of Laura’s death. He realises that Johnny Alucard (whose name is Dracula written backwards) is a disciple of Dracula, and that Dracula must have returned.
In the meantime, Alucard brings another of Jessica’s friends, Gaynor Keating (Marsha Hunt), to St Bartolph’s, where she is killed by Dracula and Alucard is himself turned into a vampire. The vampire Alucard kills a passer-by and lures Jessica’s boyfriend, Bob (Philip Miller), to a café they frequent, where he turns him into a vampire as well. While Lorrimer is out, Bob goes to the Van Helsing house and persuades Jessica to come to the café, where he and Alucard capture her and take her to Dracula.
Lorrimer discovers Jessica is missing, tracks down Alucard’s flat and kills him. He finds Bob's dead body and discovers Jessica in a trance at St Bartolph’s, where Dracula plans to take his revenge on the Van Helsing family by turning her into a vampire. Van Helsing sets a trap for Dracula and waits for him to return at nightfall. After a struggle, Dracula is killed by a stake through the heart and Lorrimer rescues Jessica.
[edit] Cast
- Christopher Lee as Count Dracula
- Peter Cushing as Lorrimer Van Helsing/Lawrence Van Helsing
- Stephanie Beacham as Jessica Van Helsing
- Christopher Neame as Johnny Alucard
- Michael Coles as Inspector Murray
- Marsha Hunt as Gaynor Keating
- Caroline Munro as Laura Bellows
- Janet Key as Anna Bryant
- William Ellis as Joe Mitcham
- Philip Miller as Bob
- Michael Kitchen as Greg
- David Andrews as Detective Sergeant
- Lally Bowers as Matron Party Hostess
- Constance Luttrell as Mrs. Donnelly
- Michael Daly as Charles
- Artro Morris as Police Surgeon
- Jo Richardson as Crying Matron
- Penny Brahms as Hippy Girl
- Flanagan as Go Go Dancer (uncredited)
- Brian John Smith as Hippy Boy
- Stoneground as Themselves
[edit] Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by former Manfred Mann member Mike Vickers, and is in a funky, 'blaxploitation' style that reflects the early 1970s setting of the film. It has not been released commercially, apart from the title theme music, which is included on the Hammer Film Music Collection Vol. 2 CD released by GDI Records. The film also features two songs, 'Alligator Man' and 'You Better Come Through', by the American band Stoneground, who were a late replacement for The Faces. The Black Mass segment uses the track 'Black Mass: an Electric Storm in Hell' by the pioneering electronic group White Noise. The Black Mass scene with Christopher Neames' dialogue was also sampled by 'Orbital' For 'Satan - Live' and 'Tension'.
[edit] DVD releases
The film was released on DVD in the UK, US and Germany by Warner Home Video in 2005. It was released as Dracula A.D. 1972 in the UK and US and as Dracula jagt Mini-Mädchen in Germany.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Ellis, Bill. "The Highgate Cemetery Vampire Hunt". Folklore 104.
[edit] References
- Rigby, Jonathan (2002). English Gothic: a Century of Horror Cinema. London:Reynolds & Hearn. ISBN 1-903111-35-8
[edit] External links
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