Title: Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1965)

Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Rating: ‘Not Rated’

Running Time: 90 Minutes

Format(s): Letterboxed

Extras: Commentary track w/ Christopher Lee

Trailers

Short "Behind the Scenes" footage

Directed By: Terence Fisher

Starring: Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Francis Matthews, Suzan Farmer, Andrew Keir

Reviewed by: Joe O'Leary

Hammer fans rejoice! Sick of watching worn out VHS copies of your favorite Hammer films? Well, Anchor Bay is bringing them out on DVD, and one of the first offerings is Dracula, Prince of Darkness .

While Universal Studios was horror movie king of the 30s and 40s, England's Hammer Studios took over the crown in the late 50s up through the early 70s. Hammer took the classic, gothic monsters and dusted them off for a new generation. With vibrant colors, atmospheric sets, and copious amounts of blood and violence, Hammer Studios brought something new to the monsters of old.

Dracula, Prince of Darkness was the third in Hammer's Dracula series, after 1958's Horror of Dracula and 1960's The Brides of Dracula . Since Brides did not have Dracula in it, Prince of Darkness is really a direct sequel to Horror,. The film opens with the final climactic battle between Dracula and Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) from Horror, with the Count being reduced to dust by sunlight. Ten years later, Father Sandor runs into four British travelers, and warns them to stay away from the local castle. But gosh, what a surprise, this is where the travelers end up anyway. There they are greeted by a modern day "Renfield" type character, who has only one agenda: the resurrection of his master, Dracula. The resurrection of the dead Count's ashes is quite a bloody scene (for 1965 anyway), and that's where the fun begins…

Director Terence Fisher expertly builds the film toward the resurrection scene, with the travelers getting picked up by a black, driverless stagecoach which wisks them off through a dark, eerie forest to the gloomy castle. As with most Hammer horror films, the atmosphere is desolate and forbidding, a presence in itself. Christopher Lee plays a truly evil Dracula, but with a twist in Prince : the Count is silent throughout the film! (Not that Dracula speaks very much in any of the other installments…) This gives the Count a sinister, more feral feel. Peter Cushing is missed in this film, but Prince still holds it's own, especially the ending which has one of the most creative demises for Dracula that I've ever seen.

Side one of the disk contains a clean, restored widescreen print of this movie. You may notice some pixelation here and there (that's when certain objects seem to shimmer due to their compression onto disc), but the print is so good compared to VHS that this is not a major issue. The sound is Dolby Digital mono, and is clearer and a bit fuller than its VHS counterpart. You can also choose to watch the film with running commentary by Christopher Lee and the other principle cast members. The commentary is great, and much more interesting than I expected, as the cast reminisces about making the film and working for Hammer Studios in its heyday.

Side two really makes this disk a Hammer fan must-own. It contains a short 8mm "home movie" of the cast and crew filming the final climactic scene of the movie. It's silent, with commentary by Lee and other cast members. It also contains an episode of the BBC series "World of Hammer" entitled "Dracula and the Undead." I had never seen this show before (since it was only broadcast in England), and enjoyed the trip down memory lane, as the show highlights a variety of Hammer vampire movies. It is hosted by Hammer's Curse of the Wererwolf star Oliver Reed, and my only complaint is that the show doesn't provide the viewer with any useful information. It's fun nonetheless! Finally, as if all that isn't enough, the disk also contains the trailer for Prince, as well as a trailer which billed Prince with another Hammer movie, Plague of the Zombies.

Anchor Bay should be highly commended, as they could have just transferred an old unrestored print to DVD (like some studios are doing!). Instead, they have delivered a great print of a classic Hammer film, packed with extras. Let's hope Anchor Bay releases the whole Hammer horror catalogue this way!