Joe Dante on TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA

[@Kevin-1969]

This is my favourite Dracula, the scene where Alice brings Lucy to the old church to Dracula, one of the best ever scenes.

[@colleencrouch4346]

I love Risen From The Grave, it's got some very beautiful sequences with Christopher Lee. However, my guilty pleasure is Scars of Dracula, because Lee has so much film time and dialogue. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but Lee is on screen, so I can ignore the oddities.

[@searcher7478]

Plus "Scars" is set in his castle with all the gothic architecture and abundance of reds! Red tapestries, red candles, red curtains etc. THAT'S how I picture Dracula's castle and that's what I want to see in a Drac film 😊👍

[@jamescameron8715]

Linda Hayden as "Alice" 😮 So beautiful ... I was hypnotized the first time (and 9 subsequent times) I saw this film

[@chaturongarchary9773]

...and Roy Kinnear !!...and..a new idea for the first time in Dracula film mixed with a significantly mordant picture of severely old days parenting....creativity..

[@strangepowers]

This is one of my favourites too - I saw it when pretty young and the regeneration of Dracula made a huge impression. Not to mention Peter Sallis, at the time I saw it a Sunday night fixture in uber-gentle sitcom Last of the Summer Wine, entering into a bit of devil worship.

[@comicbookal]

Definitely have to agree with you on this! Both Horror and Brides Of Dracula I too feel were the BEST in the series of films produced by Hammer. Curse Of The Werewolf starring Oliver Reed as the unfortunate victim of lycanthropy is also way up there in the top 10 of all time GREAT classic horror films as well...

[@71yid]

Just watched this again tonight from my collection of hammer dracula films. While i enjoy all these pics, i personally think that horror of dracula and brides of dracula are among the best ever made.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

For me Prince, Risen, and Taste have better ensemble characters than Horror and Brides.

[@MrSteve24fps]

Never heard that Price was slated to play Hargood. Couldn't imagine anyone better than Geoffrey Keene as he was top notch.

[@queenglamazona8789]

Vincent Price probably would've bought a bit of Campiness to the role.

[@BikiniDeathSquad]

Excellent entry!

[@Deepdesert]

Christopher Lee will always be Dracula for me.

[@gailjacquelinemrsgray.2518]

Christopher lee/Peter Cushing Kings of the macabre. wonderful actors.

[@queenglamazona8789]

Loved all of the Movies they did together.

[@Deepdesert]

Sense the clammy excitement of his evil!

[@tvioctober1331]

Coming on 4k ultra hd release july 7

[@biblereadingoutreach2284]

Leviticus 17:10 ¶ And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

[@gamers7800]

Actually "Dracula Prince of Darkness" is far superior to this entry . I go so far as to say that it was the best Dracula from Hammer period! The fact the Christopher Lee doesn't speak makes the movie even more creepy and memorable.Taste the blood is just so-so at best and at times drags on and on. Even Dracula 72.Ad is much better.

[@wilhermwillarm3130]

All the Christopher's movies were good to feel fear about the Classic Horror and the production of Hammer was a Incredible 😂😲😩😩😨👿☻😱

[@chaturongarchary9773]

Best

[@chaturongarchary9773]

2.Taste the blood..(Social satire in Drac film )......3.Scars of Dracula (his creepy make-up and speaking ,crawling on the wall ) and...Satanic rites...(a new way of his death).

[@queenglamazona8789]

No love for The Satanic Rites of Dracula? That's probably the most often seen Christopher Lee Dracula Movie due to the fact that It went into Public Domain right after Hammer Studios went Belly Up. You can usually find it in the DVD Bargain Bin anywhere under the Title-Count Dracula And His Vampire Bride.

[@ImYourHuckleberry_29]

Bates played dr Frankenstein in #3 right?

[@RodolfLeclerc]

He played it in "Horror of Frankenstein" (1970) . By the way, what is "#3"?

[@queenglamazona8789]

He was also Doctor Jekyll & Sister Hyde, and Lust For A Vampire.

[@ImYourHuckleberry_29]

@@RodolfLeclerc the 3rd Hammer Frankenstein film. What else?

[@paulhirst7602]

Strange plot to this one. Dracula wants revenge on the three who killed ralph bates's character. But if they had not murdered him he would not have been ressurected?

[@connorbrennan4233]

Also, Lee's Dracula is not the type of character who would act on the behalf of a servant's life.

[@geoffberesford]

Good point there, Paul. That is one of those plot holes which tended to get glossed over by the later writers employed by Hammer. No doubt due to a certain lack of respect they seemed to have for the intelligence of their audiences.

[@panzerriff]

They destroyed his servant, they will be destroyed...

[@queenglamazona8789]

This was going to be another Movie, Then It became a Dracula Film.

[@Jcushing5]

Pretty disappointing to hear a supposed film buff like Joe Dante simply reading out a fairly generic pre-written capsule review here. Where are the personal thoughts/reflections?

[@Mycroft9]

I'm sure Dante wrote his comments. There's only so much time to talk during these relatively brief trailers, and reading off a script is an efficient way to get it all in.

[@queenglamazona8789]

It's fairly obvious this was going to be some other Horror Movie, Then at the Last Moment, Hammer Turned It Into A Dracula Film. It's StillWorthwhile Though. Mainly because of Christopher Lee.

[@jondoes8222]

The ending of Taste was terrible. Dieing from a fall? Give us a break. No stakes no water, no sun, um a white table? Some of the story writing was elementary. Since the sun exposure was impressive from Horror of Dracula, I would've tryed a scene similar to that. And in Scars of Dracula, how did he get back to the castle where the bats dropped blood on his mouth? Riddle that one out for me lol. Don't get me wrong I loved Lee in Dracula but his writers in the latter films shoud have been releived of their duties.

[@tobiaswalker7562]

Ron Delby I can't argue with you on this one! He dies from falling on a cross, after already being staked....which doesn't work!?

[@jondoes8222]

The worst death scene of the whole series with exception of Satanic Rites. Whew tripping over a vine?

[@tobiaswalker7562]

Ron Delby When did he trip over a vine? I've seen all the films, but I don't remember that!

[@jondoes8222]

It was the scene when he got hung in the hawthorn bushes. Hawthorns and vines were there and I fell face down rolled on his back and the vine was tangled around his foot and he tryed to kick it free but Van Heilsing got to him too quick...The Satanic Rites of Dracula

[@tobiaswalker7562]

Ron Delby You're right! Though technically it wasn't just the stake that ended him....The Hawthorns, and the consecrated ground of the cemetery, that's why his bones shriveled to dust afterwards!

[@MAMoreno]

Other than Horror of Dracula, this entry is probably the best of Hammer's efforts with Stoker's characters. Too bad that they never gave Lee anything to do other than glare and hiss; only Jess Franco's non-Hammer Dracula film let him show his ability to play the count as originally written (and that film was pretty lousy itself).

[@rolandofgilead43]

i thought it was decent it wasn't a 10 but i'd say a 7 or an 8.

[@queenglamazona8789]

Funny Story about that Movie. They weren't able to get both Christopher Lee and Herbert Lom(Van Helsing) to the Location where they were Shooting at the same time. So they flew them in Separately, And Shot all their Scenes. So whenever they both appeared in the Film, They were just Edited Together(usually using Isolated Shots). In fact if you watch the film closely, It's fairly obvious they were never in the Same Scene.

[@AnthonySmith-ty7ij]

The last great Dracula movie performance by Christopher Lee. Although, it was a little too gory in a couple scenes.

[@connorbrennan4233]

I disagree. The problem was that the later Hammer sequels gave him little to do. He was still great with what he was given, but the problem was the writers made Dracula an afterthought.

[@rolandofgilead43]

Lee also noted that with each film in the ones he did speak in he spoke a little more in each film. with Santanic having the most. i doubt it was suppose to be that way though. the dialog may have been better in other films than in some of them

[@queenglamazona8789]

Dracula-Prince of Darkness is my favorite Christopher Lee Hammer Film.

[@1dbanner]

Dracula Has Risen From the Grave is far better shot than this, but this script is so unbelievably nuts I kinda prefer it.... Except the lackluster ending

[@halwasserman7905]

I don't know what happened to horror movies in the 1960s. With a couple of exceptions, despite having very dignified actors like Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in them, these were exceedingly cheesy films which were about as scary as a fart.

[@jondoes8222]

I cannot understand the very character that gave him fame he shuns. He evidently does no know or is aware of the thrill he gave to people as Dracula. I could have done better in the storyline myself. In ad 1972 the time line was way out of sinc. In Horror of Dracula the diary date was 1885 and when he was destroyed. In Dracula ad 1972, it was 1872.. There is no way it made sense in the sequels. It seems to me no one noticed this blooper of the series but me. If it had been me I would've gotten rid of the hundred year anniversary idea. AD really messed things up about the timeline. The only way to get the timeline would've been put a scene from "Dracula and the 7 Golden vampires death and have a deciple gather his ashes and plant them near the old church and not have it start from the 1972 idea. You could still do the Dracula ad 1972 title but the years would start in the 1880s.

[@rolandofgilead43]

actually i do get why, Lee LOVED the book and all he wanted them to do was a faithful adaptation and he he even said that the Franco version came the closest out of them all. he didn't shun the role later in life, he was grateful his entire life for the role and for Hammer for giving him the role. but he grew to hate the role because with each film they strayed further and further away from the book that he loved. he didn't speak the dialog in Prince of Darkness cause the dialog he was given was so bad that he refused to speak it. he also nearly died during the making of it too. the death scene at the end wasn't a stunt double it was actually Lee himself. and i can see why he in some ways shunned it. Lee even on his website that his son-in-law ran didn't want to just be known as Dracula. he was a guy that wanted to be known for other roles which was why he did a Bond film, which is why he played in the lord of the rings films. star wars etc... i can totally see his point and why when he talked to fans he had no problems talking i don't think talking to fans about it but he also wanted to talk about his other roles as well. the reason i think he stopped making horror films well slowed down and than at some point stopped was he grew tired of making them and didn't want to be typed cast either. that was why in (1958) right after he did his frankenstein role he did a tale of two cities for example. he wanted to be known for his body of work not just for one role or one Genre. i love a lot of his horror films but i can see why it would bother him as well. i have seen them all but A.D. and Taste i enjoyed but Scars I loved as it was the last damn good one i think.

[@geoffberesford]

@@rolandofgilead43 Actually, although Mr Lee obviously did perform the initial sequence where he is seen sinking into the icy water of the moat, the shot taken below the ice was of his regular stunt double Eddie Powell who told the story of how it happened to the Dracula Society in the year 2000 when he was a guest at one of the meetings. He explained that a canister of breathing apparatus had been provided at the bottom of the tank of water, but by the time of filming, the water had become so misty and dark down there that he had a lot of trouble finding where it was and could no longer see the opening in the ice either. Fortunately, his skill as a professional stuntman enabled him to reach it in time without panicking. I met him and talked with him that evening so I can confirm the truth of this event.

[@rolandofgilead43]

Fair enough its been years since I last read his bio so I don't remember all the details thanks for clearing that up. I just remember reading and yes I could be wrong how he was saying he had a fear of water. Not of taking a shower or anything like that but top of my head the films I remember him saying was Prince of darkness though I guess I got the details wrong oh well. Airport 77. If I recall that is him floating In the water. Though how he found the courage to do that I have no idea. And safari 3000 I forget which scene. I do remember him talking about in his book about the 1st near death as a kid though. The details escape me though

[@g.infinit8223]

Dracula Has Risen From The Grave is the best of the series, with overflowing Mario Bava-esque visual beauty and a great main set. Story wise, Satanic Rites is great and entertaining throughout. But all other Draculas with Lee are boring routine pieces (even the first one, yes) with subpar sets (compared to other Hammers) and story. Far far superior are Hammer´s Brides Of Dracula and Kiss Of The Vampire. But the Lee Draculas could never match their other films. Only The Mummy's Shroud was worse, especially compared to the great italian gothics or spanish fantaterror.