Watched: 10/13/2026
Format: DVD
Viewing: Unknown
Director: Terence Fisher
Part of the Hammer horror explosion, The Horror of Dracula (1958) may be a horrendous adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, but it is a banger of a movie. And as Hammer knew immediately, Peter Cushing could flip the evil intensity he'd shown as Victor Frankenstein in The Curse of Frankenstein the year prior and create a bonafide horror hero out of Van Helsing, while Christopher Lee looked at Bela Lugosi and said "hold my beer".
This Dracula is not some smooth bastard here to make off with your virgins, this is the first in a series of movies where Dracula is a straight up menace who is not going to do a bunch of magic tricks to scare you - he's just going to murder you with his bare hands and scary eyeballs.
It has bits of the book, but feels like someone forced to tell the story of Dracula who saw the 1931 movie once while blitzed and is cobbling pieces together as they go. I have to accept that that's fine as I do like the movie for what it is - an earnestly told story with the actors leaning into it.
Storywise, subsequent installments would build out what an absolute bastard this Dracula is, and Cushing would delight as the iron-willed Van Helsing. The follow up doesn't even have a proper Dracula - it's a different vampire.
Anyway, if you're looking for a bit of Dracula that isn't all cheesy melodrama, this is your choice. No romantic subplots here, no oceans of time. Just vampiric dickery an a Dracula who loves making a dramatic entrance.
I may just feel compelled to watch these Draculas again.
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