Search - Dracula A.D. 1972 on DVD

"he's waiting to freak you out!"

Paul Beauparlant | east coast USA | 06/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"that tag line above is taken from the theatrical trailer that comes with this DVD. actually the trailer itself is a very nice appetizer for the movie and I'm glad it was included with the disc. the film itself begins with a flashback to the year 1872, one hundred years before the main body of the story begins. from the first frames of dry leaves blowing along a carriage path in London's Hyde Park a careening coach appears in view with a struggle aboard involving the evil Count Dracula vs. the honorable Professor Van Helsing. when the carriage capsizes the Count is left fatally wounded with a pierced wagon wheel spoke entering his heart.

The Professor dies in the accident but as the Count is reduced to ash a young assistant comes along to scoop up an amount of the ashes which he buries in a churchyard not far away.

we are then taken to modern times (1972)and a party at a posh London home.

the party is highlighted by the rock group Stoneground but apparently some hippy flotsam and jetsam have slithered onto the scene much to the distaste of the lady of the house! these slithering but groovy young people that have made themselves welcome at the party include Jessica Van Helsing the great granddaughter of the Professor. Also part of the group is Johnny Alucard(Dracula spelled backwards), a descendent of the assistant who had gathered the Counts' ashes 100 years earlier. As an aside, it was a treat to see Sal Valentino, the leader of Stoneground singing Alligator Man at the party. Sal used to be in the Beau Brummels. He kind of sounds like Dr. John when he sings. But anyway, after the party is shut down by the men in uniform via complaints from the Grande Dame, the crew dash off for drinks at a coffee bar called The Cavern. It is here that Johnny tries to lure his friends into a ritualistic 'black mass' that he will conduct that night, much to everyone's nervous apprehension. Everyone that is except Laura from the group played by Caroline Munro who finds it all quite exciting and cheerily suggests "it could be a giggle". well, later that night as they all gather inside a darkened candle-lit gothic church set for demolition(de-sanctified) Johnny begins his black magic, casting a deep spell upon them and building up to an unholy sacrifice. Laura volunteers and to everyone's horror is soon dabbled with blood and ashes from the 100 year old Count. Everything goes very badly very quickly and the friends flee from the scene too scared to answer Laura's cry's for help. Johnny, you see, has taken his heritage to heart and to rise 'the master' up from the unsacred ground is his mission, and poor Laura is his pawn. And yes, the master does emerge from the depths and eyes the present of Laura that Johnny has prepared for him. A word here about the performance of Christopher Lee as Dracula. Watching the actor's very expressive face was wonderful to watch. Merging from calm and steady to bloodthirsty lust to frightening aggression and even later as he falls under attack and is fearing for his life(or, unlife, i suppose)is a study of the actors repetoire of facial expertise. The next day all the friends meet again at The Cavern very worried about the absence of Laura. Johnny assures them she's just out of town. No one buys it and sure enough Laura is found dead outside the grounds of the old church. The Inspector from Scotland Yard eyes the corpse of a girl with seemingly all the blood drained out of her. He seeks out someone he believes can help with this gruesome murder, the grandson of Professor Van Helsing(Peter Cushing). Van Helsing gets on the case right away and is especially concerned as the dead girl was in his granddaughters circle of friends. I think i'll leave it at that and conclude by saying this is an excellent thriller from the early 1970's."