Is there really such a thing as movies that are "so-bad-they're good"? Usually, I'd answer no to that question; bad is bad, and good is good, and I prefer to watch stuff that's good. However, "Dracula A.D. 1972" might be the exception to my rule. It could very well be a one-star film that contains about three stars of entertainment value (at a generous estimate).
In case you didn't know, this is the sixth entry in Hammer Studios' Dracula series - but it's only the second Hammer film to feature both Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. For that reason alone, this is mandatory viewing for horror fans - though it is a little depressing to see the two cult stars reunited in this somewhat lame vehicle, fourteen years after they made the legendary (and far superior) "Horror of Dracula" together.
Somehow, Lee always seems to get more press than Cushing, but in truth I've always preferred Cushing. Lee does nothing in these Dracula films but stalk around and look menacing; he speaks about 10 lines total in this particular movie, and never leaves his ruined church set. Cushing, meanwhile, gives his usual warm and endearing performance, and he basically carries the whole movie. He's class, whereas the rest of the production is decidedly crass.
The rest of the actors are a mixed bag. Christopher Neame is over-the-top and a little annoying as Dracula's henchman, though I guess he projects an appropriate aura of sleaziness. Stephanie Beacham does well with the thankless (as usual) role of Hammer heroine, and looks unbelievably hot in her standard-issue, low-cut Hammer gown. Caroline Munro is also lovely in this movie, though under-used; they should have let her become a vampire, right?
The plot is pretty routine. This movie was supposed to "update" the Dracula series, but the lord of the vampires ends up engaging in his usual shtick of biting young girls and hanging around in a cemetery, so this really feels like business-as-usual. Only in the seventh and final film in the series would Hammer make a serious effort to tinker with their Dracula formula.
So what's the final verdict? This is great, if you have a taste for camp. It's great, if you're in the mood for ineptitude. And Peter Cushing actually is great, as usual.
I'll end by quoting one of Dracula's lines in this movie. Toward the end, he says something to Van Helsing along the lines of: "You would pit your brains against mine? Against me, who has commanded nations?" This line always makes me smile, in light of what happens in the next five minutes of the movie. Watch it and you'll see what I mean...
In case you didn't know, this is the sixth entry in Hammer Studios' Dracula series - but it's only the second Hammer film to feature both Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. For that reason alone, this is mandatory viewing for horror fans - though it is a little depressing to see the two cult stars reunited in this somewhat lame vehicle, fourteen years after they made the legendary (and far superior) "Horror of Dracula" together.
Somehow, Lee always seems to get more press than Cushing, but in truth I've always preferred Cushing. Lee does nothing in these Dracula films but stalk around and look menacing; he speaks about 10 lines total in this particular movie, and never leaves his ruined church set. Cushing, meanwhile, gives his usual warm and endearing performance, and he basically carries the whole movie. He's class, whereas the rest of the production is decidedly crass.
The rest of the actors are a mixed bag. Christopher Neame is over-the-top and a little annoying as Dracula's henchman, though I guess he projects an appropriate aura of sleaziness. Stephanie Beacham does well with the thankless (as usual) role of Hammer heroine, and looks unbelievably hot in her standard-issue, low-cut Hammer gown. Caroline Munro is also lovely in this movie, though under-used; they should have let her become a vampire, right?
The plot is pretty routine. This movie was supposed to "update" the Dracula series, but the lord of the vampires ends up engaging in his usual shtick of biting young girls and hanging around in a cemetery, so this really feels like business-as-usual. Only in the seventh and final film in the series would Hammer make a serious effort to tinker with their Dracula formula.
So what's the final verdict? This is great, if you have a taste for camp. It's great, if you're in the mood for ineptitude. And Peter Cushing actually is great, as usual.
I'll end by quoting one of Dracula's lines in this movie. Toward the end, he says something to Van Helsing along the lines of: "You would pit your brains against mine? Against me, who has commanded nations?" This line always makes me smile, in light of what happens in the next five minutes of the movie. Watch it and you'll see what I mean...