In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Thursday 18 September 2014

Brides of Dracula (1960)

Hammer’s follow-up to Dracula (1958) didn't have Christopher Lee as the main antagonist, but it did have gutsy Peter Cushing as Dr Van Helsing, thankfully.
The sets and costumes are magnificent, but the ‘brides’ are flimsy, useless additions to a script filled with illogical turns and modified vampire lore that outright contradicts its predecessor.
At times the gothic tones are closer to Tennessee Williams than to Bram Stoker. It shows that Hammer were either still experimenting with form or willing to take risks, but the script needed a lot more work.

2½ basic facts ignored out of 5

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