The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)

Satanic Rites is a direct sequel to Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) set two years later. Cushing returns as scholar and hunter Lorrimer Van Helsing, with his granddaughter Jessica having morphed from Stephanie Beacham into a red-haired Joanna Lumley. Lee is back, too, playing the Studio's version of the Count for the final time; he hung up the cloak afterwards.
I’m glad the hipsters were excised from the plot this time, but adding elements of a second-rate spy novel into the mix instead was even less desirable.
There are some life lessons to be learned from it, though, such as: always put more than one bullet in your gun; for a quiet life keep your bitches chained in a basement; and previously ignored apotropaics can be used in a pinch.

2 governing circles out of 5

Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

It's the first in Hammer's Dracula series not to use the previous film's ending (Scars of Dracula (1970)) as a starting point. Instead, it places the Count and the Van Helsing characters together in a new, invented scenario, and as bizarre as it sounds the majority of what follows really is set in 1972.
The juxtaposition of the established formula and the swinging, urban London with its hip 70s lingo is a hurdle, but the addition of Cushing and Lee help ease the viewer over it. The contemporary music, however, is more of a problem.
The script aims for clever and ironic but often ends up silly and comedic.
It was good to see an efficient police service for a change, reflective of the role they played during the era, keeping the degradation of moral values away from the classes that found it unsavoury.

2½ derelict happenings out of 5