Prichards12345 Again dispensing with Peter Cushing's Van Helsing: this movie pits Dracula against a would-be-medical student. Dracula Has Risen From The Grave raises some interesting points around Atheisim vs Religion - a departure for the series that helps keeps things fresh. Unfortunately the story itself is not particularly engrossing. It opens in typical Hammer Horror fashion, with a murdered village girl stuck up a bell in a church, and dripping blood - unconvincingly - down the bell rope. One wonders how she got there?At least this time the Count is a little bit more central to proceedings in this third Christopher Lee Dracula effort. Director Freddie Francis, while not exactly at home in the Gothic milieu, at least makes the movie look good by using various filters and lighting tricks. The script is a bit up and down, with its central section, set in yet another pub owned by Michael Ripper, not exactly a compelling place for Dracula to hang out.The basic plot concerns The Count's desire for revenge against the Monsignieur who, following the opening outrage in the church, sticks a ruddy great cross over the door to Castle Dracula, thereby barring him from it. But revenge is surely one of the hoariest clichés in horror flicks and it's fairly apparent that Hammer found it difficult to provide good motivations for their vampiric villain.Barry Andrews, later to appear in Blood on Satan's Claw, isn't really all that charismatic, but there are compensations to be had from Rupert Davies' crusty old priest, and Barbara Ewing's feisty (and sexy) barmaid Zena. The less said about Ewan Hooper the better...Lee looks as magnificent as ever in the title role, though as usual is not given enough to do.There are some finely realised sequences in this movie - the staking of Dracula for example, Lee writhing while blood erupts from his chest, and then pulling the stake out when the atheist student is unable to pray, is horribly effective - even if it goes against vampire lore.More sexually open than previous Dracula flicks, this is a mixed bag overall but still decent.

Leofwine_draca Dracula Has Rise from the Grave is the fourth film in Hammer's Dracula series and the third to star Christopher Lee. The action follows straight on from the events at the climax of Dracula: Prince of Darkness, with the Count being accidentally being unleashed from his watery grave and proceeding to wreak havoc on a local community in his quest for the niece of the local Monsignor.This is a classic Hammer Horror film with all of the vibrant colour photography and richness of both set and costume that the studio is best known for. Christopher Lee gives an imposing turn as Stoker's famous vampire, appearing bestial and suave at the same time, and there's a noticeable added erotic content to his conquest of various women. Plus he gets actual dialogue, which comes as something of a surprise given his silence during most of the running time of these films. Freddie Francis brings his assured directorial style to the film, automatically increasing its quality.The film falters slightly in its lack of a dedicated opponent, but Barry Andrews (BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW) does his best as the rugged 'beefcake' up against the infamous vampire. Rupert Davies gives the film's best performance as the dedicated Monsignor, battling his advanced age as well as the worst evil known to mankind, and it's good to see the likes of regulars Michael Ripper and George A. Cooper in supporting roles. Really, though, this is a film all about the women: Veronica Carlson is a classic damsel in distress, and Barbara Ewing (nowadays a respected author) is one of the most voluptuous of all Hammer ladies.

Bonehead-XL After the success of "Dracula: Prince of Darkness," Drac was back. Hammer's long-running series had begun in earnest. Whether the quality of the last two entries was kept up throughout the sequels is a manner of opinion. Yet maybe it's clear that the strongest quality control wasn't in place here. "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave" begins with two continuity errors. An additional victim of Dracula's is discovered in a bell tower, an effective scene that couldn't possibly happen during the last film. The story is set 12 months after the 1895-set previous film. Yet dates within the film read 1905. Just goes to show that Hammer's Dracula series was full of as many continuity eras as Universal's Dracula series.Once again, Dracula is dead and, once again, a holy man appears to tell the villagers to let go of their superstitions. In order to prove to the locals how dead Dracula is, Monsignor Mueller, along with his unnamed Priest sidekick, head over to Dracula's castle with the intention of blessing it. While Mueller is exorcising the Count's abode, the other priest stumbles down a cliff and bumps his head, allowing blood to drip through the ice into the sleeping vampire's mouth. Finding himself unable to enter his newly blessed castle, Dracula seeks revenge on the Monsignor. Because this is a Hammer film, he does so by seducing the man's attractive, nightgown wearing niece.Terence Fisher was originally supposed to direct "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave" but had to drop out suddenly at the last minute. This left long-time cinematographer Freddie Francis to step behind the camera. Francis had made numerously films before, including a few of Hammer's, look very handsome. His contribution makes "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave" one of the best looking of the series. Francis employs some psychedelic colors throughout the film. Before arising, Dracula's presence is suggested by yellow lighting at the edge of the frame. When biting one of his victim's, the screen around them glows bright red. As the sun sets on the film's final night, an amazing purple color dominates. The Bava-influenced color is distinctive but Francis still packs in some old Gothic atmosphere. A sequence in the middle of the film takes place on rooftops of the city, a novel approach. The fog-soaked black-and-white buildings might be some of the most memorable moments from the film.As opposed to last time, Christopher Lee actually has dialogue. Though it's still kept to a minimum, he hisses and growls his way through several lines. Though Lee was reportedly disinterested in being in the film, just by standing there, he's still a threatening form. Rupert Davies steps into the role of the knowledgeable vampire hunter. He's more interesting then last time's Father Sandor. He has the same fallible quality that Cushing's Van Helsing had. Dracula roundly kills his butt during their one encounter. Ewan Hooper's unnamed priest fills the Renfield role. What's interesting is that he still feels guilt while under Dracula's control. Veronica Carlson is the film's resident eye-candy, looks incredible, and has decent chemistry with Barry Andrews as her boyfriend. Perhaps more interesting, though, is Barbara Ewing as Zena, the local bad girl that Dracula first turns into a vampire. Amusingly, she's jealous of Dracula pursuing another victim, wondering why she isn't enough."Prince of Darkness" kept its action small-sake and mostly inside Dracula's castle. "Risen from the Grave" returns the thrilling action element that "Horror of Dracula" had to the series. My favorite minor bit is when Drac leaps through a glass window, while there are plenty of carriage chases. The film is noticeably creative with its gore as well. At one point, Dracula is impaled with a fence post. Because a prayer wasn't said over his body – a new rule – he rises back up, pulling the stake from his heart. The Count has an especially spectacular demise this time, falling backwards onto a golden cross, impaled through the heart, and writhing in agony before he finally dies. "Grave" doesn't skimp on the scares either. Dracula cornering his female prey continues to be frightening and intense. Lee pushing Veronica Carlson unto the bed is blatantly a sexual violation. The film nails this home by having the virginal Carlson push her baby doll out of bed. As lovely as Carlson is, I think Ewing is sexier as the scantily clad bar maid.Lee spends much of the film chilling in his coffin in the bar basement, waiting for his victims to come to him. When the Count is off-screen, the film instead focuses on Monsignor Mueller and the relationship with his niece and her boyfriend. Young Paul is an atheist. When he reveals this to the Monsignor, he's scandalized and bans Maria from seeing the boy. However, after Dracula starts feeding on the girl, and fights the older man off, he reveals Maria needs someone who loves her near by. Amusingly, she even sneaks out of her bed at night to be with him. The romantic subplots in these movies were frequently disposable but I actually rather like this one.The combination of a neatly constructed screenplay, an interesting cast, a speedy pacing, colorful direction, and some decent scares, makes "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave" one of the best of the Dracula sequels. It's also got one of the best titles and probably my favorite movie poster of all time. "Obviously," as the tagline goes.

GL84 Fearful that Dracula's reign of terror will continue, the efforts of a local monsignor to rid a town of the fearful creature launch a flurry of activity on his daughter and forces her boyfriend to finally stop him.Frankly, this is one of the best in the series and one of Hammer's better-crafted efforts here. Among the many good points in this is that the pace of this one is just a lot livelier than the majority of their other films, settling into a pace that is quite a bit of fun to behold. The opening scene is a great highlight, as it's the sequence where Dracula is revived with the fury of the oncoming storm, the howling wind, and the fevered attempt to complete the ceremony combine together with a perfectly timed jump that still gets many viewers into a pretty creepy, nicely atmospheric setting. Even in the rest of the film, there are some good moments. The numerous attacks throughout the village are quite well, a ghastly staking sequence near the end is handled expertly, full of the traditional Hammer blood and color, and in general this one tends to utilize the pace better than many of their peers which is one of the greatest parts here. This leads to the film's embracing of traditional Gothic overtones mixed in with the rest of the action, getting the genuine sense of classic Hammer through and through in the film from costumes to camera angles to setting, with the scenes at the castle being undoubtedly the most fervent example of classic Gothic setting while the shots in the village manage to contain the same overall feeling. This also has the best bedroom-romancing sequence in the series, lushly erotic and quite sensual that is largely influenced by other films. This version of the bite, though, has the advantage of a great bloodsucker paired with one of Hammer's better-looking leading ladies. Here, it's absolutely certain we properly associate the bite with sexual deflowering, throwing in a shot of her hand pushing her baby doll from the edge of the bed as she's being sucked which is quiet beautifully filmed that leads even more to the erotic quality of the scene. The shots in here are marvelous in the grand overall design of Hammer films, and it certainly ranks as among the best from the time period. There is a continuous use of overhead shots in here that don't look like anything else at the time, and are a joy to behold. Watching the town from overhead while trying to center on the action in the middle of the screen are some of the greatest compositions in the genre, and give the film a higher appeal. While the film may not have much for Dracula to do like always since he basically just seems to be there in the periphery of the story and never really has much of anything to do here, these other factors make it that much more enjoyable.Today's Rating/PG-13: Violence and some sexual themes.