HAMMER FILMS 'THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA', narrowly missed being landed with the crass
title of ' Dracula is Dead...and Well and Living in London' when
shootinmg began in November 1972. When the film was distributed in 1979
by Dynamite Films in a heavily edited version, the curse of having bad
title came back to haunt it, when it was released as 'Count Dracula and
His Vampire Bride' The Legend of the Seven Golden
Vampires, was also released and stamped in the US by Dynamite Films in
1979 in a heavily edited version as 'The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula', and
was alternately known on the US trailer as The 7 Brothers and their One
Sister Meet Dracula. Subtle? Hardly... Christopher Lee was never
comforatble with the dragging of his rep and the Count into 1970's
London, and 'jumping on a Number 21 red double decker bus, to Battersea'
Thankfully, it never got to that point and did quite well. But these
titles almost pushed it past that point...
INTERESTINGLY,
Dynamite Films was owned by Max Rosenberg, the one time, one half of
the Amicus films partnership, with Milton Subotsky. Throughout the 60's
and 70's, Amicus were sometimes seen as Hammer's competition, though
they never pulled the box office receipts that the Hammer House of
Horror pulled. Although Tales from the Crypt did VERY well. How ironic,
that Rosenberg would one day be distributing his own 'hack edit' job of
Hammer's two final vampire films!
