Dracula Has Risen From The Grave

(1968) ***

Dracula's reign of terror was thought to have been over until a woman's dead body is discovered with bite marks on her neck. A local priest and the Monsignor take it upon themselves to stop Dracula by sealing the entrance to his castle with a cross. As the Monsignor performs the sealing ritual the priest begins to descend from the castle entrance. The priest falls and whacks his head on a rock. Blood flows from his head down to the ice where we see that Dracula is frozen within. The ice begins to crack and the blood flows into Dracula's mouth reviving him. He mesmerizes the priest and the two of them approach the castle. When he sees the cross sealing the door he gets pissed and demands to know who did such a thing. The priest outs the Monsignor and Dracula spends the rest of the film tormenting villagers and seeking revenge against the Monsignor.


This was another one of those films that was played quite often on channel 56 creature feature. The Christopher Lee Dracula with his burning red eyes was the Dracula I grew up with as a kid. He never said much but those eyes bore straight through you. I love this film for many reason's, most of all because it reminds me of Carol, my best friend from back when I was like 9 or 10. While other girls were playing house, we were playing Dracula dressing up in capes and sporting plastic fangs year round. This was one of the films we often reenacted with our friend Peter playing Dracula. Fun times.


I also think this is a very clever film. First of all, Dracula immediately gets a priest under his control. This is so smart, who would suspect a priest. Then he gains control of the girl who runs the local pub. Also a smart move, she can get all the men drunk leaving the town vulnerable. Where he makes his mistake is in going after the Monsignor's niece. She of course has a strapping young man named Paul for a boyfriend and he spells trouble for the count. All in all it's Christopher Lee who makes this film special doing his rendition of Dracula. The man never disappoints. A nice break from modern horror and a good watch. I recommend it.