CORRECTION: I thankfully first named Dennis Waterman correctly, but then later inexplicably called him “Michael Waterson”. I don’t know where that slip came from, except that I used to know a guy named Michael Waterson. Maybe because of that? I don’t know. In any case, my apologies.
In the UK, Dennis Waterman was the co-star of two great classic TV shows - The Sweeney (a cop show) and Minder, where he played a kind-hearted muscle for hire, co starring George Cole.
Dennis Wateman was one of our top actors. I know he was in The Sweney, but i've not yet watched that. I grew up with him in Minder, a classic, and i also loved him in New Tricks.
Dennis Waterman was always pretty bland though. He seemed to always be in shows where he was paired with another actor who was an absolute legend, and so he obtained fame mostly through just being there. He had slightly more charisma than Gareth Hunt and Lewis Collins though, I'll give him that.
The best thing about this film was that it FINALLY gave Christopher Lee some stuff to do in a film and let him have actual dialogue/interaction with other characters. (i.e. Rather than have him just stay hidden with his victims brought to him, or just snarl with the occasional line, like his counting in TtBoD, he had actual conversations with other characters and real interactions with them.)
Scars of Dracula is one of my guilty pleasures.. I love that we get a little origin story of Michael Ripper and the village town folk, and why they mind their own business and not want to get involved. Love the fact that Christopher Lee has more to do. Dracula climbing up the wall and Klove are great additions that make the movie better. I hear that the Hammer Dracula series is coming out in 4k and that they're starting with Scars of Dracula. I don't know why they wouldn't start with Hammer's Dracula? Do you or anyone else have any information on this? Keep up the great work. Your videos are awesome!!
@@gingerladd6900 Yes - hell, I have a funny story about a similar thing happening to me once! Back in the 1990s lsd/magic mushrooms were all the rage in the UK so of course I had to experiment with hallucinogenics to see what the fuss was about...... Long story short, me and some buddies were out in the local woods one night and I somehow got trapped in a bush. Try for the life of me I just couldn't get out and I thrashed around in it for what seemed like forever (but what I was told was about 5 minutes) - I'm surprised I'm not still stuck in the darned thing now!
@@VampireJack10 Well I can relate, I took magic mushrooms once, walked home through the park and tried to make out with a tree{it was windy, so it seemed the tree was kind of into it}
My wife and I JUST watched this yesterday! I agreed and laughed with you throughout the whole presentation. After many years since I had seen it last, I actually enjoyed it more than I used to. There is something so comforting about Hammer, even at their worst.
I stand by Scars Of Dracula as one of my Top 3 Hammer Dracs! From beginning to end there's never a dull moment and for me, That's all that matters for this entry. I agree it's a "paint by the numbers" film but it's a big step up from the dreary "Taste The Blood of Boredom"! I thought the Paul sequences were pretty funny, almost like something out of a Benny Hill "mini- film" but with dialogue! This is where the Hammer Dracula series ends for me and the wistful conclusion to James Bernard's score in this movie is soothingly fitting.
I suppose if one tried hard enough to be clever it wouldn’t be that difficult to make a mockery out of many Hammer films. What is significant about this particular film is the violence and the ferociousness which Lee brings to the screen in his portrayal of the sinister Count. No other Lee Dracula movie comes close in my opinion. Bad acting and set design be damned! Lee’s wrath unleashed is what I come for and the shockingly sadistic scene whereby Klove earns his “Scars of Dracula” is worth the price of admission. Love this one.
Lol!!! And there is something odd about the fact that Scars of Dracula is the one being rumored to come to 4k soon... great video as always my friend!!
When you went on the tangent about villagers telling each other how to kill vampires, it made me recall the scene in Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter when the hero has to figure out the vampire's weakness by repeatedly trying to kill a converted victim. I'll say one good thing about this film, it has a good title.
For me this ranks as my 123rd favourite movie. In context that means it ranks just above Get Carter (1971), and The Shawshank Redemption (1994). It's fair to say that i love it!
Scars is my favourite Hammer Dracula. It has the best representation of the character, Lee's best performance in the series and he has plenty of lines this time (unlike Prince of Darkness, which is my least favourite for the opposite reason - Dracula is portrayed as a growly/hissy monster with little intelligence behind it).
@GrumpyGringo Ripper is one of those character actors who, no matter how small the part, always makes his role memorable. Many of his Hammer roles were one or two sceners and yet you always remember him.
My second favourite behind the first one though the only one in the series I don't particularly like is Satanic Rites of Dracula. Scars is nasty, Klove is awesome, Lee gets more to do than most of the films, and there's a bit more Stoker in it than usual. The bat sucks, can't defend it lol.
Daniel, I remember reading an article about Christopher Lee in 1973 about his plans to step away from the character of " Dracula " He said he was " spinning his wheels ".He bought a second house in California to be closer to the Hollywood opportunities at the time. That's when we saw him in " Airport 77 ", " How The West Was Won-Mini Series ", Poor Devil with Sammy Davis Jr-TV Movie. Over at Disney with Bette Davis in " Return to Witch Mountain ". Also international films like " The Three/Four Musketeers " with an all star cast., I thought he was suburb as Rochefort in that. " .and yes " The Man with the Golden Gun ". Hammer attempted to pump fresh blood into the Dracula series in current time with " Dracula AD 1972 ", and " The Satanic Rites of Dracula in 1973 ". Other than being reunited with Peter Cushing as "A" Van Helsing family member, the franchise was pretty much finished. Looking forward to your review on those two. A funny note. He died in a church in " Taste the Blood of Dracula ", and was brought back in his castle...cape and all laying on a table.. For a few seconds, they run his disintegration scene from ' Taste the Blood ..." backwards.
Actually, according to the 1976 non-fiction book on horror films titled "Living in Fear", "...Lee announced in 1974 that he was through with the part [of Dracula] for good, although it remains possible that a suitable script might tempt him." Well, we all know what happened after that statement, unfortunately... absolutely nothing.
I got this and Horror Of Frankenstein on Blu-Ray, and I haven't watched them yet. I didn't realize they were shown as a double feature back in the day. Now I feel like I should make a night of it and watch both back to back. lol
I like Scars, it's good, violent, sexy fun though not the best in the series. My least favourite is Taste the Blood of Dracula which plays like a prurient Victorian morality tale with Dracula popped in
@burninghdvids5785 Father Brennan. Brugenhagen was the man Father Brennan (Troughton) sent Ambassador Thorn to find but he was all burned and messed up. I had to Google it I couldn't remember Father Brennan's name when I first posted. Lol
This was the first horror movie I've ever watched. I was seven years old and I immediately fell in love for Dracula's *FANGS* . Decades later I would make them myself and cosplay a vampire in Halloween Parties. So much nice memories from my childhood. Greetings from Brazil.
I can see all the flaws. But...I've always liked it. Even 'the well dodgy rubber Bat'. Suspect the problems were actually mainly low budget. The plot could also have done better with more vampires rather than poor old Clove being tortured. It feels 'confined' in scope.
The bat effects were never particularly effective for Hammer (a practical reason for why they didn't have Dracula turn into a bat in "Horror of Dracula"), but this one is particularly embarrassing. It looks like they picked it up at their local Party City. But, as you said, you can blame that on the budget limitations. Loosing the U.S. funding would really hurt Hammer going forward.
Fun fact: Dennis Waterman is a legitimate TV icon in the UK and was high profile for 60 years, and still nobody talks about his role in Scars Of Dracula.
I'm really looking forward to your breakdown and review of Dracula A.D. 1972, especially with the iconic line "...black mass and that sort of jazz?" haha, kills me every time! :p
The reason Christopher didn’t want to come back, was he did not want to be type cast, and he also was sick of the role.. But he came back because the studio convinced him, to come back, he also love the studio crew and actors , they were like a family.
I mean so what if youre type cast? hes an actor, his job is to act, so stop whining and just be thankful you got the role in the first place... its not like playing dracula is a hard thing to do, he literally has the easiest acting job in the world... less than 5 minutes of screen time and next to no dialogue
@@JassminaVellucci They would emotionally blackmail him to do these, basically telling him, "If you don't do it, we can't make the film and all your friends in the cast and crew are out of a job."
I know people who like this one the most out of the whole series, and even though my fave is 1 and then 4, this one is probably my third favourite. I even think it has a thicker atmosphere than the first and fourth even. Though Simon and the girl are rather bland characters, the development of Draculas servant, the genious sets, some really awesome special effects (No, not the bat ofc. I think we can all agree on the bat being the low point of the film), the first time Dracula is actually appropriatley violent, Dracula making use of bats as servants, Chris Lee looking more undead than he ever did, Bernards most beautiful end credit music yet, the epic death scene...I could actually go on for a while, but lets keep this short: Any movie that starts with something as awfull as this bat + a break of long established canon will be judged by cynical eyes through the lense of cheapness. If "Shawshank Redemption" would start with such a scene, you would also judge it subconsiously for its cheesiest and worst things from there on too. Thats just how the human brain works, but we can be better than that I think, witht he power of reason! If you can ignore the bat and the no canon resurrection, then this is imo definitley NOT where the Dracula series went downhill, my dear friends of the night!!! 'Dracula AD 1972' on the other hand... :D
Ngl… I really like this one 😭😂 I’m yet to see Dracula Has Risen from the Grave or Brides. But honestly might be my third favourite behind the original and Prince of Darkness.
Dennis Waterman became a really big star on Brit TV in the Sweeney and particularly in Minder which was a fantastic comic drama that ran for years. You wouldn't have understood a word of it because of the cockney rhyming slang
@cobwebschannel Troughton had been a very busy character actor before taking over from William Hartnell as Doctor Who in 1966, and he worried that playing The Doctor for too long would result in him being typecast. "Scars..." was made the year after he handed the role over to Jon Pertwee, so he was saying yes to absolutely every movie and TV offer. He'd been in "The Gorgon" and "The Phantom of the Opera" (so good) for Hammer before, so I'm sure they were happy to get him back on screen again. He was a tremendous actor.
Two other things i know Michael Gwynne for are the early 60s comedy film, What A Carve Up (in America known as No Place Like Homicide) starring Sid James, Kenneth Connor, Shirley Eaton, and Donald Pleasence. He also guest starred in the first episode of classic British sitcom, Fawlty Towers.
I have a set of Hammer trading cards that I got before I saw this film. One of them shows a fairly gory image of Dracula drinking the blood from the stab wound in Tania's stomach. I was really disappointed when I finally watched the film and found out it was a deleted scene. I think I'm right in that Scars of Dracula and Horror of Frankenstein were supposed to be what we now call reboots, as Hammer worried that Lee and Cushing were getting too old to appeal to younger audiences (and probably thought that Lee would refuse to do any more Dracula films in any case). It seems obvious that it wasn't intended to have Chris Lee in it, and wasn't supposed to be in the same continuity as the previous Dracula films, hence the quickly added prologue (which makes no sense as Dracula disintegrated in a church in London in the previous film, but his cloak and remains are now back in his castle (but laid out in exactly the same way as we last saw them)). It's essentially a weak remake of Hammer's original Dracula (as Horror of Frankenstein is a (supposedly) comic remake of Curse of Frankenstein). You've got a guy (who seems like he might be the lead) going to Castle Dracula. He meets Dracula (who seems fairly normal at first), and is seduced by a vampire woman. Dracula bursts in, goes nuts, attacks the vampire woman, and eventually kills the 'lead'. His friend (who is sadly not Van Helsing, and more sadly not Peter Cushing) investigates his disappearance, while Dracula sets his sights on a woman he first spied in a photo. At least it gives Christopher Lee a decent amount of dialogue, uses Dracula crawling down the walls of his castle from the book, and has the grisly church massacre. That looped screaming when the Count is on fire at the end lives rent-free in my head though!
Great review, love the James Bond references, so funny.. I always laugh at the end where the lightning strikes the metal rod and glows red hot, Im sure it's where George Lucas got the idea for Lee playing Count Dooku lol
I've always found it ironic that this is a legit contender for worst Hammer Dracula film and yet it's the one that gives Lee the most screentime and the most dialogue of any of the films. Also, I think if any deity takes out Dracula in the end, Zeus gets the credit.
I’ve got all the Hammer Dracula films except for Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, for some reason, it’s unavailable on Blu-Ray in the UK. Fun fact, Patrick Troughton played the second Doctor in Doctor Who. Although before my time. My first Doctor was Jon Pertwee followed by Tom Baker, who is my favourite Doctor. As always, a great video! 😊
I have a massive soft spot for this one, it's one of my comfort movies. I like how cheesy and 70s it is. You can tell that the 'Carry On' comedy films were popular in the UK at the time and Hammer wanted to cash in on that. I love how much screen time Michael Ripper gets. I made a hammer-inspired vampire comic a couple of years ago and I pulled the most inspiration/visual references from this one.
Personally i love this one, it's my third favourite, after Risen From The Grave, and Ad 1972. I know continuity is an issue, but i can easily overlook that. I love how Dracula is at his most brutal in this. When he stabs his bride it establishes that silver can destroy a vampire, which Van Helsing mentions/uses in the following two films.
I mention continuity because he was destroyed in a church just outside London, the bat pukes blood on him in his castle, and it looks like a much earlier time. In the previous film Roy Kimnear mentioned cars, suggesting late 1800s/early 1900s, i'd guess this one seems more like it's set in the 1700s.
Comely starlets, plenty of red, a giant bat puppet, and Patrick Troughton: what's not to like? Even the less regarded Hammer Dracula movies are pretty good, and I LOVE Scars of Dracula! -- and Roger Moore is my favorite cinema Bond!
Oh, so, so many bonus points for the Roger Moore inserts! Not my favorite Bond, but Im still quite find of his performances in the role. Still, absolutely made my night with those!
I find the assessment of this film to be completely fair, and yet, seeing Dracula and his Brides, makes Scars feel like a perfectly acceptable entry into the Hammer Dracula canon, unique as they all are. It also marked the end of the Gothic period of the series, favoring instead the modern times of a new youthful generation wanting to see themselves reflected in cinema. Pandering to audiences has always been a blessing and a curse to the film industry and its evolving trends of fan service and artistic expression. When both the same and the new make money, you split the difference and make a fortune.
x My younger brother used to tie bedsheets together and rappel down from his 2nd Floor bedroom window. o He did this until one time one the knots came lose and he fell halfway. x That explanation of what Dracula is reminds me of the bit on Calvin and Hobbes where Calvin keeps trying to explain that "Bats are bugs." x I added Scars of Dracula to my May Watchlist. x I will watch Krampus tomorrow night.
You’re on a roll, totally cracking me up right now😂Very entertaining! And Paul’s kind of cute, I love me a ginger but no way I’d want any action from him - he’s probably crawling with all kinds of STDs🤣
Unpopular opinion: I liked Dracula A.D. 1972. Especially Johnny Alucard's character. In some ways, it was an unintentional comedy. It's not a so bad that it's kind of good sort of movie. It's far more entertaining than scars. I haven't seen the satanic rites or the last sequel yet.
Well to make up for your Dennis Waterman slip, how about you review a pretty good old British horror that seems to get overlooked. Fright (1971), The gorgeous Susan George of Straw Dogs fame, George Cole, Honor Blackman, Dennis Waterman, Ian Bannen, John Gregson. Well worth a look if you like creepy tale.
Scars of Dracula I dont mind at all, yes done by Roy Ward Baker, this is the most violent and goriest Dracula films in the series. Know of a few scenes that were cut and have seen them included. Think Dennis Waterman and Jenny Hanley work well together and like Patrick Troughton. Again you have Michael Ripper as the pub landlord. Just subscribed to your channel mate, enjoy and love all horror and like your channel seams good, will definitely watch more of your videos when I can. Thank you mate.
Do you like Mummy movies? There is a Hammer Horror Mummy movie from 1971 called Blood From The Mummy's Tomb. I'd be curious to see what you thought of it.
Very much an average Hammer Dracula film but it’s still a Hammer film. I feel with a better budget this film could have been much better. I actually like the music in this film quite a lot and there is something about that matte painting of the castle I like. It’s clearly fake but it’s what I would envision Castle Dracula looking like.
This has got to be your best review ever! 😂 Love the humor and the Bond clips (I also love Roger Moore Bond)! Probably not going to try to find this movie to watch. 😂
a silly question: If you're going to cover all Hammer Dracula's movies are you going to review LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES???? it's kinda a Hammer movie, Peter Cushing plays Van Helsing and Dracula is in it.
I agree that this is a bland movie. Most of the scenes, to me, seemed to want to be variants of things that Hammer had already done better. And this movie didn't do it better. Roy Ward Baker is a terrific director. As "Roy Baker," he directed Marilyn Monroe in "Don't Bother to Knock" in 1953, and he made the terrific Titanic film "A Night to Remember." He directed the Avengers episode "Too Many Christmas Trees.'" He directed "Five Million Years to Earth," "The Vampire Lovers," "Asylum," "And Now the Screaming Starts" and "Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde." Somehow his magic deserted him for this movie.
In my opinion the 70s were the Golden age of horror movies but when it came to vampire horror movies they were sucky. And this is coming from somebody who watches all things horror and is not a purist! It might sound cliche or cheesy but my first tattoo was a Bram stoker's Dracula quote. All I can say is I don't blame Christopher Lee...
I do agree with most of your wonderful comments, this film is way below the standard of the franchise. Poor sets & script. The Cinematographer, is no Jack Asher BSC, who painted with white light, with little spots of colour, too create a sense of the supernatural or danger. He made the sets of Bernard Robinson looks even more grand picking out detail that no other Cinematographer could achieve. The director was no Terence Fisher, his artistry in direction & editing, in my opinion makes him way above the likes of David Lean & many other directs of the period. Christopher Lee was first class as always, so was the majority of the cast. Lets face it the budget, for this film was it's downfall. A 4k version won't improve its faults, so won't be getting a copy. Now the Curse of Frankenstein Dracula, Revenge of Frankenstein, The Mummy ,The Hound of the Baskerville's , SHE ect I will be first in line to get 4K edition.
The bats were not well done and the sets looked like the sound stages they were. I guess they needed the American money after trying to go it alone on this one. Not a lot of story, and seems disconnected from the rest of the series, that is, it does not have continuity with the film before it or after it. I guess they had to let Christopher Lee speak more (probably with him changing the written dialogue?) to get him to play the character. Overall, a fairly uninspiring entry. It would be hard to give it a rewatch.
This and the next were the low points. They made Horror of Frankenstein the same year which was the worst of that series. The following year they made their most commercially successful movie: On The Buses!!
For me Scars is the worst horror film Hammer ever made. At least Horror of Frankenstein was supposed to be a black comedy. Scars is flat as a pancake, terrible performances, that bendy rubber knife stabbing, the awful looped scream at the finale, terrible dialogue, zero direction. It’s absolutely bloody awful. I love it.
A really poor effort on a variety of levels. I love Christopher Lee and he looks especially evil in this movie, but the sets, cheap effects and ridiculous violence add nothing. They should’ve stopped after TTBOD. Hard to believe Roy Ward Baker directed this crap.
CORRECTION: I thankfully first named Dennis Waterman correctly, but then later inexplicably called him “Michael Waterson”. I don’t know where that slip came from, except that I used to know a guy named Michael Waterson. Maybe because of that? I don’t know. In any case, my apologies.
SIR DENNIS WATERMAN,
A REAL LEGEND,
In the UK, Dennis Waterman was the co-star of two great classic TV shows - The Sweeney (a cop show) and Minder, where he played a kind-hearted muscle for hire, co starring George Cole.
Minder is a classic!!!!!!
Dennis Wateman was one of our top actors. I know he was in The Sweney, but i've not yet watched that. I grew up with him in Minder, a classic, and i also loved him in New Tricks.
Dennis Waterman was always pretty bland though. He seemed to always be in shows where he was paired with another actor who was an absolute legend, and so he obtained fame mostly through just being there. He had slightly more charisma than Gareth Hunt and Lewis Collins though, I'll give him that.
I actually like the bat vomit part; vampire bats will vomit blood into each others mouths to share food.
The best thing about this film was that it FINALLY gave Christopher Lee some stuff to do in a film and let him have actual dialogue/interaction with other characters. (i.e. Rather than have him just stay hidden with his victims brought to him, or just snarl with the occasional line, like his counting in TtBoD, he had actual conversations with other characters and real interactions with them.)
Scars of Dracula is awesome! Bat (aka vampire disciple) dripping blood is actually so appropriate!
"You think I don't watch your movies? You ALWAYS come back!"-Buffy Summers, 5.01 "Buffy v Dracula"-"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
Scars of Dracula is one of my guilty pleasures.. I love that we get a little origin story of Michael Ripper and the village town folk, and why they mind their own business and not want to get involved.
Love the fact that Christopher Lee has more to do. Dracula climbing up the wall and Klove are great additions that make the movie better.
I hear that the Hammer Dracula series is coming out in 4k and that they're starting with Scars of Dracula. I don't know why they wouldn't start with Hammer's Dracula?
Do you or anyone else have any information on this? Keep up the great work. Your videos are awesome!!
Really love that you're injecting your humor into this review. Great stuff.
"Dracula getting Uber Eats" especially good.
You had me with the James Bond clips 😂. Oddly enough, this is one of my favorite Draculas for some reason. Great review!
Thanks, glad you appreciated good ol’ Roger Moore!
I adore EVERY single Hammer Dracula movies - EVERY single one.
@VampireJack10 I never liked the last two that took place in the 1970s.
Me too it's my favorite film series
Even the one he gets killed by a bush?
@@gingerladd6900 Yes - hell, I have a funny story about a similar thing happening to me once!
Back in the 1990s lsd/magic mushrooms were all the rage in the UK so of course I had to experiment with hallucinogenics to see what the fuss was about......
Long story short, me and some buddies were out in the local woods one night and I somehow got trapped in a bush. Try for the life of me I just couldn't get out and I thrashed around in it for what seemed like forever (but what I was told was about 5 minutes) - I'm surprised I'm not still stuck in the darned thing now!
@@VampireJack10 Well I can relate, I took magic mushrooms once, walked home through the park and tried to make out with a tree{it was windy, so it seemed the tree was kind of into it}
My wife and I JUST watched this yesterday! I agreed and laughed with you throughout the whole presentation. After many years since I had seen it last, I actually enjoyed it more than I used to. There is something so comforting about Hammer, even at their worst.
I stand by Scars Of Dracula as one of my Top 3 Hammer Dracs! From beginning to end there's never a dull moment and for me, That's all that matters for this entry. I agree it's a "paint by the numbers" film but it's a big step up from the dreary "Taste The Blood of Boredom"!
I thought the Paul sequences were pretty funny, almost like something out of a Benny Hill "mini- film" but with dialogue! This is where the Hammer Dracula series ends for me and the wistful conclusion to James Bernard's score in this movie is soothingly fitting.
I suppose if one tried hard enough to be clever it wouldn’t be that difficult to make a mockery out of many Hammer films. What is significant about this particular film is the violence and the ferociousness which Lee brings to the screen in his portrayal of the sinister Count. No other Lee Dracula movie comes close in my opinion. Bad acting and set design be damned! Lee’s wrath unleashed is what I come for and the shockingly sadistic scene whereby Klove earns his “Scars of Dracula” is worth the price of admission. Love this one.
Christopher Lee has always been my favorite Dracula. I watched these movies at a young age and they gave me nightmares. They still hold up for me.
Lol!!! And there is something odd about the fact that Scars of Dracula is the one being rumored to come to 4k soon... great video as always my friend!!
I love the shock on Dracula's face when Paul throttles him. He's like "f@ckin' hell mate! Chill." 😂
When you went on the tangent about villagers telling each other how to kill vampires, it made me recall the scene in Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter when the hero has to figure out the vampire's weakness by repeatedly trying to kill a converted victim.
I'll say one good thing about this film, it has a good title.
Loved scars of Dracula I’m working on a fan fiction that begins after this movie ends and ends with van helsing chasing Dracula. In. Dracula ad 72
Your critique of this film had me laughing 😅 good job
haha Thanks very much 🙏🏼
For me this ranks as my 123rd favourite movie. In context that means it ranks just above Get Carter (1971), and The Shawshank Redemption (1994). It's fair to say that i love it!
Really enjoyed your review, it was so funny, especially the Roger Moore James Bond comparisons.
I think Scars of Dracula is one of the best Lee Dracula films.
I rate it in the top three, after "Horror of Dracula" and "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave".
@ yeah I would rate it the same.
Hey, Daniel, only three more films to go! Are you going to review "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" as well?
This movie rocks
Scars is my favourite Hammer Dracula. It has the best representation of the character, Lee's best performance in the series and he has plenty of lines this time (unlike Prince of Darkness, which is my least favourite for the opposite reason - Dracula is portrayed as a growly/hissy monster with little intelligence behind it).
You didn't mention how bad the day for night photography in this film is and for Hammer that's saying something!
Big fan of Michael Ripper. Always smiling when a Ripper sighting occurs in Hammer Films.
@GrumpyGringo Ripper is one of those character actors who, no matter how small the part, always makes his role memorable. Many of his Hammer roles were one or two sceners and yet you always remember him.
Just bring over a plate of blood cookies and Drac's your fiend -- I mean friend !
I love the bat puke scene
My second favourite behind the first one though the only one in the series I don't particularly like is Satanic Rites of Dracula. Scars is nasty, Klove is awesome, Lee gets more to do than most of the films, and there's a bit more Stoker in it than usual. The bat sucks, can't defend it lol.
Daniel, I remember reading an article about Christopher Lee in 1973 about his plans to step away from the character of " Dracula " He said he was " spinning his wheels ".He bought a second house in California to be closer to the Hollywood opportunities at the time. That's when we saw him in " Airport 77 ", " How The West Was Won-Mini Series ", Poor Devil with Sammy Davis Jr-TV Movie. Over at Disney with Bette Davis in " Return to Witch Mountain ". Also international films like " The Three/Four Musketeers " with an all star cast., I thought he was suburb as Rochefort in that. " .and yes " The Man with the Golden Gun ". Hammer attempted to pump fresh blood into the Dracula series in current time with " Dracula AD 1972 ", and " The Satanic Rites of Dracula in 1973 ". Other than being reunited with Peter Cushing as "A" Van Helsing family member, the franchise was pretty much finished. Looking forward to your review on those two. A funny note. He died in a church in " Taste the Blood of Dracula ", and was brought back in his castle...cape and all laying on a table.. For a few seconds, they run his disintegration scene from ' Taste the Blood ..." backwards.
Yep
Jenny was dubbed I believe
Actually, according to the 1976 non-fiction book on horror films titled "Living in Fear", "...Lee announced in 1974 that he was through with the part [of Dracula] for good, although it remains possible that a suitable script might tempt him."
Well, we all know what happened after that statement, unfortunately... absolutely nothing.
Hi Daniel. I actually feel that Scars is one of the better Dracula movies. 7.5 / 10 for me. xx
I always think of the bat as really a demon sent by a Satanic coven .
No matter how low the production budget got, it seems Hammer made damn sure that the cleavage was still on point.
I got this and Horror Of Frankenstein on Blu-Ray, and I haven't watched them yet. I didn't realize they were shown as a double feature back in the day. Now I feel like I should make a night of it and watch both back to back. lol
it only went down hill when they went to 1972... scars of dracula is bad ass...
I like Scars, it's good, violent, sexy fun though not the best in the series. My least favourite is Taste the Blood of Dracula which plays like a prurient Victorian morality tale with Dracula popped in
Patrick Troughton was not only the 2nd Doctor on Doctor Who he was also the priest in the original The Omen.
Hugan Hagen
@burninghdvids5785 Father Brennan. Brugenhagen was the man Father Brennan (Troughton) sent Ambassador Thorn to find but he was all burned and messed up. I had to Google it I couldn't remember Father Brennan's name when I first posted. Lol
@EddieBloecher I've been mispronouncing that name for 48 years lol
@burninghdvids5785 Lol Oh Hell that's ok I'm 56 and my wife points out stuff I had been mispronouncing for years as well! Lol
@@EddieBloecher Yes, he's the character played by Ralph Ineson in the recent "First Omen."
A+ video!
LOVE IT! Awesome review and comedy, very funny!
This was the first horror movie I've ever watched. I was seven years old and I immediately fell in love for Dracula's *FANGS* . Decades later I would make them myself and cosplay a vampire in Halloween Parties. So much nice memories from my childhood.
Greetings from Brazil.
It’s far fetched enough to have bat puke create Dracula’s flesh and bones, but also a formal suit with shoes??!
That's how I get dressed every morning.
That’s some magical puke
Christopher Lee must have had a no nudity clause in his contract with Hammer.
I can see all the flaws. But...I've always liked it. Even 'the well dodgy rubber Bat'.
Suspect the problems were actually mainly low budget. The plot could also have done better with more vampires rather than poor old Clove being tortured. It feels 'confined' in scope.
The bat effects were never particularly effective for Hammer (a practical reason for why they didn't have Dracula turn into a bat in "Horror of Dracula"), but this one is particularly embarrassing. It looks like they picked it up at their local Party City. But, as you said, you can blame that on the budget limitations. Loosing the U.S. funding would really hurt Hammer going forward.
Thanks for the response. Your spot on.
Love your videos I'm so glad i got to meet some Hammer Stars Christopher Lee, Ingrid Pitt, Veronica Carlson, Michael Ripper, Martine Beswick 😊
That’s so cool!
By the way i presume most of the movies in your collection are horror & sci fi ? Love your videos my friend ❤️
Fun fact: Dennis Waterman is a legitimate TV icon in the UK and was high profile for 60 years, and still nobody talks about his role in Scars Of Dracula.
I'm really looking forward to your breakdown and review of Dracula A.D. 1972, especially with the iconic line
"...black mass and that sort of jazz?" haha, kills me every time! :p
Simon is played by Dennis Waterman not Michael Waterson he's a very famous British TV actor from the early 60's to early 2010's before he passed away.
The reason Christopher didn’t want to come back, was he did not want to be type cast, and he also was sick of the role.. But he came back because the studio convinced him, to come back, he also love the studio crew and actors , they were like a family.
I mean so what if youre type cast? hes an actor, his job is to act, so stop whining and just be thankful you got the role in the first place... its not like playing dracula is a hard thing to do, he literally has the easiest acting job in the world... less than 5 minutes of screen time and next to no dialogue
@@JassminaVellucci They would emotionally blackmail him to do these, basically telling him, "If you don't do it, we can't make the film and all your friends in the cast and crew are out of a job."
Shame on you. When this film came out, we fans didn't care and liked it anyway. Give it a rest dude❤
I know people who like this one the most out of the whole series, and even though my fave is 1 and then 4, this one is probably my third favourite.
I even think it has a thicker atmosphere than the first and fourth even. Though Simon and the girl are rather bland characters, the development of Draculas servant, the genious sets, some really awesome special effects (No, not the bat ofc. I think we can all agree on the bat being the low point of the film), the first time Dracula is actually appropriatley violent, Dracula making use of bats as servants, Chris Lee looking more undead than he ever did, Bernards most beautiful end credit music yet, the epic death scene...I could actually go on for a while, but lets keep this short:
Any movie that starts with something as awfull as this bat + a break of long established canon will be judged by cynical eyes through the lense of cheapness. If "Shawshank Redemption" would start with such a scene, you would also judge it subconsiously for its cheesiest and worst things from there on too. Thats just how the human brain works, but we can be better than that I think, witht he power of reason!
If you can ignore the bat and the no canon resurrection, then this is imo definitley NOT where the Dracula series went downhill, my dear friends of the night!!!
'Dracula AD 1972' on the other hand... :D
Ngl… I really like this one 😭😂 I’m yet to see Dracula Has Risen from the Grave or Brides. But honestly might be my third favourite behind the original and Prince of Darkness.
Dennis Waterman became a really big star on Brit TV in the Sweeney and particularly in Minder which was a fantastic comic drama that ran for years. You wouldn't have understood a word of it because of the cockney rhyming slang
Michael Gwynn is also in the pilot episode of "Fawlty Towers" - one of the greatest comedy series' of all time.
@cobwebschannel Troughton had been a very busy character actor before taking over from William Hartnell as Doctor Who in 1966, and he worried that playing The Doctor for too long would result in him being typecast. "Scars..." was made the year after he handed the role over to Jon Pertwee, so he was saying yes to absolutely every movie and TV offer. He'd been in "The Gorgon" and "The Phantom of the Opera" (so good) for Hammer before, so I'm sure they were happy to get him back on screen again. He was a tremendous actor.
Troughton also played the grave robber in the opening of "Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell".
Two other things i know Michael Gwynne for are the early 60s comedy film, What A Carve Up (in America known as No Place Like Homicide) starring Sid James, Kenneth Connor, Shirley Eaton, and Donald Pleasence. He also guest starred in the first episode of classic British sitcom, Fawlty Towers.
Great upload as always Daniel sir,
I have a set of Hammer trading cards that I got before I saw this film. One of them shows a fairly gory image of Dracula drinking the blood from the stab wound in Tania's stomach. I was really disappointed when I finally watched the film and found out it was a deleted scene.
I think I'm right in that Scars of Dracula and Horror of Frankenstein were supposed to be what we now call reboots, as Hammer worried that Lee and Cushing were getting too old to appeal to younger audiences (and probably thought that Lee would refuse to do any more Dracula films in any case).
It seems obvious that it wasn't intended to have Chris Lee in it, and wasn't supposed to be in the same continuity as the previous Dracula films, hence the quickly added prologue (which makes no sense as Dracula disintegrated in a church in London in the previous film, but his cloak and remains are now back in his castle (but laid out in exactly the same way as we last saw them)). It's essentially a weak remake of Hammer's original Dracula (as Horror of Frankenstein is a (supposedly) comic remake of Curse of Frankenstein). You've got a guy (who seems like he might be the lead) going to Castle Dracula. He meets Dracula (who seems fairly normal at first), and is seduced by a vampire woman. Dracula bursts in, goes nuts, attacks the vampire woman, and eventually kills the 'lead'. His friend (who is sadly not Van Helsing, and more sadly not Peter Cushing) investigates his disappearance, while Dracula sets his sights on a woman he first spied in a photo.
At least it gives Christopher Lee a decent amount of dialogue, uses Dracula crawling down the walls of his castle from the book, and has the grisly church massacre. That looped screaming when the Count is on fire at the end lives rent-free in my head though!
Great review, love the James Bond references, so funny.. I always laugh at the end where the lightning strikes the metal rod and glows red hot, Im sure it's where George Lucas got the idea for Lee playing Count Dooku lol
I've always found it ironic that this is a legit contender for worst Hammer Dracula film and yet it's the one that gives Lee the most screentime and the most dialogue of any of the films.
Also, I think if any deity takes out Dracula in the end, Zeus gets the credit.
Thank you Zeus 🙏🏼
Have you ever done a review of The Abominable Dr.Phibes?
I second the motion!
I’ve got all the Hammer Dracula films except for Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, for some reason, it’s unavailable on Blu-Ray in the UK. Fun fact, Patrick Troughton played the second Doctor in Doctor Who. Although before my time. My first Doctor was Jon Pertwee followed by Tom Baker, who is my favourite Doctor.
As always, a great video! 😊
I have a massive soft spot for this one, it's one of my comfort movies. I like how cheesy and 70s it is. You can tell that the 'Carry On' comedy films were popular in the UK at the time and Hammer wanted to cash in on that. I love how much screen time Michael Ripper gets. I made a hammer-inspired vampire comic a couple of years ago and I pulled the most inspiration/visual references from this one.
Personally i love this one, it's my third favourite, after Risen From The Grave, and Ad 1972. I know continuity is an issue, but i can easily overlook that. I love how Dracula is at his most brutal in this. When he stabs his bride it establishes that silver can destroy a vampire, which Van Helsing mentions/uses in the following two films.
I mention continuity because he was destroyed in a church just outside London, the bat pukes blood on him in his castle, and it looks like a much earlier time. In the previous film Roy Kimnear mentioned cars, suggesting late 1800s/early 1900s, i'd guess this one seems more like it's set in the 1700s.
Comely starlets, plenty of red, a giant bat puppet, and Patrick Troughton: what's not to like? Even the less regarded Hammer Dracula movies are pretty good, and I LOVE Scars of Dracula!
-- and Roger Moore is my favorite cinema Bond!
Oh, so, so many bonus points for the Roger Moore inserts! Not my favorite Bond, but Im still quite find of his performances in the role. Still, absolutely made my night with those!
I find the assessment of this film to be completely fair, and yet, seeing Dracula and his Brides, makes Scars feel like a perfectly acceptable entry into the Hammer Dracula canon, unique as they all are. It also marked the end of the Gothic period of the series, favoring instead the modern times of a new youthful generation wanting to see themselves reflected in cinema. Pandering to audiences has always been a blessing and a curse to the film industry and its evolving trends of fan service and artistic expression. When both the same and the new make money, you split the difference and make a fortune.
x My younger brother used to tie bedsheets together and rappel down from his 2nd Floor bedroom window.
o He did this until one time one the knots came lose and he fell halfway.
x That explanation of what Dracula is reminds me of the bit on Calvin and Hobbes where Calvin keeps trying to explain that "Bats are bugs."
x I added Scars of Dracula to my May Watchlist.
x I will watch Krampus tomorrow night.
when he bites, tanya, oh god she loves it,, shes so lucky. i always wanted dracula to bite me like that
You’re on a roll, totally cracking me up right now😂Very entertaining! And Paul’s kind of cute, I love me a ginger but no way I’d want any action from him - he’s probably crawling with all kinds of STDs🤣
I like it. Always have. the Sheer chessyness is why its so Good
😎👍
I love all Hammer films.
Good or Bad.
1:05 DENNIS WATERMAN,
I was wondering if you were going to make the Fright Night connection. 😉👍
Patrick Troughton was also in The Omen
Unpopular opinion: I liked Dracula A.D. 1972. Especially Johnny Alucard's character. In some ways, it was an unintentional comedy. It's not a so bad that it's kind of good sort of movie. It's far more entertaining than scars. I haven't seen the satanic rites or the last sequel yet.
Love the comment about Dracula getting Uber Eats. Lol
Killer Scars t-shirt! Where did you get it?
Well to make up for your Dennis Waterman slip, how about you review a pretty good old British horror that seems to get overlooked. Fright (1971), The gorgeous Susan George of Straw Dogs fame, George Cole, Honor Blackman, Dennis Waterman, Ian Bannen, John Gregson. Well worth a look if you like creepy tale.
Actually, Daniel, Dracula climbed down the castle wall in Stoker's novel, not up.
Paul couldn't win for losing and it ended up killing him.
I use this as a sequel to Horror of Dracula because the refuse to release Dracula, Prince of Darkness on digital.
Scars of Dracula I dont mind at all, yes done by Roy Ward Baker, this is the most violent and goriest Dracula films in the series. Know of a few scenes that were cut and have seen them included. Think Dennis Waterman and Jenny Hanley work well together and like Patrick Troughton. Again you have Michael Ripper as the pub landlord. Just subscribed to your channel mate, enjoy and love all horror and like your channel seams good, will definitely watch more of your videos when I can. Thank you mate.
I love Satanic Rites, it's one of the best Dracula movies. AD1972 isn't great.
It's not Michael Waterson. It's Dennis Waterman!
Do you like Mummy movies? There is a Hammer Horror Mummy movie from 1971 called Blood From The Mummy's Tomb. I'd be curious to see what you thought of it.
Not one of the better Dracula films, but you can't go too wrong with Patrick Troughton in your movie....
🦇
I just want to know why every single one has a Paul and Maria 😂
Very much an average Hammer Dracula film but it’s still a Hammer film. I feel with a better budget this film could have been much better. I actually like the music in this film quite a lot and there is something about that matte painting of the castle I like. It’s clearly fake but it’s what I would envision Castle Dracula looking like.
Paul the Baker > Paul the Student
This has got to be your best review ever! 😂 Love the humor and the Bond clips (I also love Roger Moore Bond)! Probably not going to try to find this movie to watch. 😂
haha I appreciate that!
a silly question: If you're going to cover all Hammer Dracula's movies are you going to review LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES???? it's kinda a Hammer movie, Peter Cushing plays Van Helsing and Dracula is in it.
I agree that this is a bland movie. Most of the scenes, to me, seemed to want to be variants of things that Hammer had already done better. And this movie didn't do it better.
Roy Ward Baker is a terrific director. As "Roy Baker," he directed Marilyn Monroe in "Don't Bother to Knock" in 1953, and he made the terrific Titanic film "A Night to Remember." He directed the Avengers episode "Too Many Christmas Trees.'" He directed "Five Million Years to Earth," "The Vampire Lovers," "Asylum," "And Now the Screaming Starts" and "Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde." Somehow his magic deserted him for this movie.
In my opinion the 70s were the Golden age of horror movies but when it came to vampire horror movies they were sucky. And this is coming from somebody who watches all things horror and is not a purist! It might sound cliche or cheesy but my first tattoo was a Bram stoker's Dracula quote. All I can say is I don't blame Christopher Lee...
How can you not like Roger Moore.
I do agree with most of your wonderful comments, this film is way below the standard of the franchise. Poor sets & script. The Cinematographer, is no Jack Asher BSC, who painted with white light, with little spots of colour, too create a sense of the supernatural or danger. He made the sets of Bernard Robinson looks even more grand picking out detail that no other Cinematographer could achieve. The director was no Terence Fisher, his artistry in direction & editing, in my opinion makes him way above the likes of David Lean & many other directs of the period. Christopher Lee was first class as always, so was the majority of the cast. Lets face it the budget, for this film was it's downfall. A 4k version won't improve its faults, so won't be getting a copy. Now the Curse of Frankenstein Dracula, Revenge of Frankenstein, The Mummy ,The Hound of the Baskerville's , SHE ect I will be first in line to get 4K edition.
The bats were not well done and the sets looked like the sound stages they were. I guess they needed the American money after trying to go it alone on this one. Not a lot of story, and seems disconnected from the rest of the series, that is, it does not have continuity with the film before it or after it. I guess they had to let Christopher Lee speak more (probably with him changing the written dialogue?) to get him to play the character. Overall, a fairly uninspiring entry. It would be hard to give it a rewatch.
Dracula's closed eyes glowing is the worse!
Yeah.....this film made no sense at times 😂
This and the next were the low points. They made Horror of Frankenstein the same year which was the worst of that series. The following year they made their most commercially successful movie: On The Buses!!
They were released as a Double-bill.How unlucky would you have to be to catch this?
@ actually I would have enjoyed even if thinking it was crap at the same time
I’ll say this, I’d watch Scars of Dracula any day over Horror of Frankenstein.
yes, that one is the pits
For me Scars is the worst horror film Hammer ever made.
At least Horror of Frankenstein was supposed to be a black comedy.
Scars is flat as a pancake, terrible performances, that bendy rubber knife stabbing, the awful looped scream at the finale, terrible dialogue, zero direction.
It’s absolutely bloody awful.
I love it.
A really poor effort on a variety of levels. I love Christopher Lee and he looks especially evil in this movie, but the sets, cheap effects and ridiculous violence add nothing. They should’ve stopped after TTBOD. Hard to believe Roy Ward Baker directed this crap.