THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA : WARNER BROTHERS BLU RAY : REVIEWED SCREEN CAPTURED GIFS AND GALLERY

SPOILERS ALERT! IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING, MOST YOU WHO HAVE come here to read this review will know that 'THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA' was the last film in the Hammer Dracula series, to star Christopher Lee as The Count, and also the final time that Peter Cushing would star as Lee's Van Helsing. . .  but I'll say it anyway, because that detail helped to shift and style the film, a film that at first, looks NOTHING like a Hammer Dracula movie!

SUCH WAS THE DISTRIBUTORS unease at what they took to be a miss matched plot, featuring a James Bond type villain vampire, and not knowing how on earth to market it, 'THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA' sat for five years gathering dust in the Warner Vault after production wrapped in 1973, until SIX years later when ex Amicus Films partner, Max Rosenberg picked it up with his bargain basement company, Dynamite Films to then, crop, chop and re-edit the film and before kicking it out in the US, to see if it had any more takers, than the UK limited release had failed to attract . . .

IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING, MOST YOU WHO HAVE come here to read this review will know that 'THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA' was the last film in the Hammer Dracula series, to star Christopher Lee as The Count, and also the final time that Peter Cushing would star as Lee's Van Helsing. . .  but I'll say it anyway, because that detail helped to shift and style the film, a film that at first, looks NOTHING like a Hammer Dracula movie! Such was the distributors unease at what they took to be a miss matched plot, featuring a James Bond type villain vampire, and not knowing how on earth to market it, 'THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA' sat for five years gathering dust in the Warner Vault after production wrapped in 1973, until SIX years later when ex Amicus Films partner, Max Rosenberg picked it up with his bargain basement company, Dynamite Films to then, crop, chop and re-edit the film and before kicking it out in the US, to see if it had any more takers, than the UK limited release had failed to attract . . .

ROSENBERG'S also recrafted the title, 'COUNT DRACULA AND HIS VAMPIRE', offers all you need to know about, why Amicus films always had such naff titles when they hit UK cinemas. It's true, SATANIC RITES, is nowhere in the same realm as Cushing and Lee's first Hammer DRACULA outing in 1958. But back in the days of 1958, Hammer were not only treading on new ground, they were also actually creating some very new earth, ALONG with those steps! Back then, critics blew their gaskets and censors were forever poised with their red pens!  What The Satanic Rites of Dracula gives us is, had it been succesful, a NEW direction and and style, just like back in 1958! 😉

'SATANIC' THOUGH IT HAD STEAM, arrived late at the platform, and after Lee had played the Count in FIVE other Hammer visits to Castle Dracula, wearing out the terrified villagers and squeezing the last drop of any originalty from his many buxom wench-like drought stricken vampires victims. The 'SATANIC' concept was new, refreshing and quite savvy. But it would take decades, before an audience would finally see the point, of more than Dracula's fangs. The truth is the 'Hammer Dracula Truck' had long run out of fuel and backers, the Gothic scene was thought of, as past it and well worn, long beyond the point of predictable. Hammer films were looking for a new direction, a post- Gothic box, in which to repackage and wrap Lee's Dracula. A Dracula which was still bankable and box office, if only they could get Lee to agree to return and also create a 'new scene'.

IT WAS 'THE SCENE', in the truest post psychedelic sense, that provided the new direction and path. For traditionalists, this caused a problem, in two ways. One, the film that had first stepped into this new setting for the Hammer Dracula return . . . after the hit and miss garish and gory 1970 'SCARS OF DRACULA'. .  was DRACULA AD 1972. Based in London, with a gang of hip and trendy 'youngsters' it was dressed in flared pants, flower power vests, platform shoes and had a soul and funky 'Shaft-like' score. And two, all these rebooted qualities even in 72, were slightly out of date and late, by the time Hammer brought their new and relevant setting to the big screen. It's never a good idea to bring in 'men in suits' and already in their late 50's to create a trend or fashion, their idea of youth / gang langauge and lingo for 'the kids'. Their spin and take, has usually already been long taken away and past it.

AND SO, it was declared, even though the NEXT film, would be in some sense a sequel to DRACULA AD 1972, it would drop most of the fashion statements, and focus the concept not on long hair, hot pants and 'time', but craftily pick up a genre, that had been picking up BIG box office returns and small screen profits and followers for the last few years. The world of Spies, Intrigue, Bankers, Science and the James Bond Villain! The script writer, in my personal opinion got it spot on, not just with SATANIC RITES but DRACULA AD 1972 also. Hammer had run out of DRACULA puff, both 'SCARS' and 'TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA' suffer from Christopher Lee's reluctance to appear in the films, reducing his screen time, affecting the story, side tracking into support casts love stories and 'dirty mac brigade' titillation . ..  more importantly, everything produced after the 1968 DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS, failed to provide DRACULA with a worthy and competent advisory. Van Helsing Hammer's box office vampire slayer, was AWOL! It was only when Cushing returned, and the story was given some historical character back bone detail, that Dracula truly engages in, that we are to some respect, back in the frame of anything resembling what we love about that 1958 classic. Danger. Emotion. Conflict and Reason. 

THE SCRIPT WRITER for both films, AD and Satanic was Don Houghton. Don had written episodes of the BBC series DOCTOR WHO, ACE OF WANDS and 38 episodes of drama and doctor stories in tv's 'EMERGENCY WARD 10'. Though not really responsible for the flapping fashion, the 'cool man' dig it lingo, Don's feel for drama and tension is spot on and would serve him well just a few years later, in the very popular tv series, 'The Professionals'. Houghton's mixing of the Hammer Gothic DRACULA, with a wink to black magic and the historical baggage of the Van Helsing family, worked like a treat! For some, that is. As in 1972, there are still some traditionalist Hammer fans, that will not watch AD or Satanic Rites nor except the changes that Broughton brought to these productions. . .   Even though, there are many moments of high drama within the re-connection and appearance of Lee and Cushing, battling on the screen together again, that offer some great scenes and moments. Moments that had not been seen in previous Hammer Dracula movies, for quite sometime.

IF YOU HAVE SEEN any of the grotty, blurred and rip off VHS and DVD's of 'SATANIC RITES' over the past 30 odd years, you'll have an idea of what most of the story is about, even though watching the fuzzy film, was like it was being reflected on a Fun House Mirror! Needless to say, all that pirated, time wasting and expensive lack of visual quality, has now all gone! The TECHNICAL WONDER of the remastered film, has like the story, been pushed into a NEW AGE, and lovingly remastered onto BLU RAY! 😚😉

SO DOES THE WARNER BROTHERS BLU RAY get THE RITES... RIGHT? Firstly, the good news is, you can take all your previous DVD dodgy copies and put them to rest or in the trash. The Warner Brothers scare ANOTHER MAJOR HIT with their remastering. The colours are beautiful and quite vivid. Skin tones and texture are not waxy, but look real and features are sharp. The blacks are BLACK. There is great depth to interior shots and some of Director Alan Gibson's focus pulls, are a treat to watch. 

SEVERAL TIMES I saw things on screen, I had never seen before. The close up's on Cushing's face, are very clear, as with the details on Christopher Lee's facial reactions, they look surprisingly powerful and different, if you have become used to that blurred DVD version. During the DRACULA death scene, new ellements can now be seen and these too look amazingly clear and again contain touches, you would have not seen before. While watching all these new qualities, you'll be pleased to hear... just THAT! The quality of the audio is excellent. I have watched this blu ray, exactly as I watch all my movies, wearing headphones. I don't want to missed anything! Presented as it was, back in 1973, the soundtrack in mono with a musical score, that has never sounded better. I could not hear any distortions, even when the Valerie Van Ost vampire screamed or the motor cycles or thunder rumbled!

WARNER BROTHERS yet again, score maxium points, continuing their very high standard of remastering excellence, first started with their outstanding Hammer Horror Collection Volume One release box set. Any Hammer, Cushing, Lee, Dracula fan or collector, who has suffered years of the dire poorness of previous releases of this film, would be truly missing out on what is now, the best gob-smacking experence of the film, at last available to watch, enhanced and worth every penny or cent! HIGHLY recommended! 

 

 A FULL REVIEW, GALLERY AND SCREEN CAPTURES from WARNER BROTHERS remastered blu ray of DRACULA AD 1972, coming VERY soon . . 

 

WARNER BROTHERS 'SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA' REMASTERED SECOND PCASUK HALLOWEEN COMPETITION NOW CLOSED : WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 18TH

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Here is our SECOND PCAS Halloween Competition. Last night, we launched our first with prizes of Warner Brothers Collective Archive release of Hammer films, 'Dracula AD 1972' REMASTERED blu ray! The competition is still live and doesn't close until November 14th! Now we have another remastered Warner Brothers Hammer Dracula film, starring again, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing : 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula'. The last time Cushing and Lee fought as Van Helsing and The Count! Warner has been very generous in also sponsoring this competition and we have FIVE COPIES to give away as prizes!

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO, is answer our competition question, send you answer to us ONLY using our Facebook Message, please. Any answers posted on this post, will be deleted and made void. Lots of luck everyone! It's a SUPERB remastering of a classic and quite different Hammer film, and Lee and Cushing REALLY do their thing! I hope you are having a great Halloween, Good Luck and have fun! - Marcus

THE WARNER BROTHERS Archive Collection release of The Satanic Rites of Dracula will go on release from NOVEMBER 13th 2018. You can palce your order HERE!

ALL PCAS COMPETITIONS are open to everyone, whoever and wherever YOU are! CLICK HERE for the above Warner Brothers / Hammer films DRACULA AD 1972 blu ray COMPETITION! If you want to enter at The FACEBOOK PCAS FAN PAGE, that version of the competition is HERE!

SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA MOMENTS OF TERROR RARE BEHIND THE SCENES CONTACT SHEET PHOTOGRAPHS

#MOMENTSOFTERRORMONDAY! 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula' The first of FOUR great fearsome clips for this week's themed post Little did we know when this scene played out on the big screen, that it would be the last time we would see Cushing's Van Helsing destroy Christopher Lee's Dracula for Hammer films . . . some felt a little cheated, by the method and staging of this symbolic scene. Dracula for them it seemed, has been thwarted by getting tangled in a bramble bush and poked by a piece of woodland fencing!!!!

I MAY BE in the minority . ..but I thought it was rather well done, and the pace of the scene, was a master stroke. It's almost graceful. Dracula is captured by his own thirst for revenge on the Van Helsing family. It is his anger and frustration that sees him trapped by the 'holy hawthorn' . ..the more he claws, the harder he pushes to reach Van Helsing, on the other side of the bush...the more the thorns hold him..until finally, he falls. Van Helsing doesn't even hurry to deliver that stake. 

AND THEN what appears to be a Crucifixion...and the pace changes again, what started as snarling and gnashing ...all slowly winds down. As time claws back the years, accompanied by the low musical score , flesh turns to bone, bone to ash...and finally dust. When compared to the blood and thunder action of all the other Hammer Dracula exits... this one is almost like a grotesque ballet. ....and the little nod to the final shot of the first Hammer Dracula in 1958, when only his signet ring remains . . . is a very good touch.

#MOMENTSOFTERRORMONDAY! VAN HELSING'S (Peter Cushing) granddaughter Jessica Van Helsing (Joanna Lumley) while investigating what appears to be a secret base for 'creepy goings-on' stumbles upon a cellar . ..with some unexpected creepies..and we don't mean spiders! Look out for actress Valerie Van Ost, who appeared with Peter Cushing in the pre slasher cult movie, 'Corruption' (1968) . .. Ost went on to leave the acting profession and become a theatrical agent!

#MOMENTSOFTERRORMONDAY!A bit of a shocking experience (sorry...) for one of Dracula's henchmen. In Hammer Dracula films of old school, he usually had one poor soul who did his bidding... one KLOVE played by Patrick Troughton in 'Scars of Dracula' (1970) and by Phillip Latham in the 1966, 'Dracula, Prince of Darkness' . .. now, there is an army of funky waitse-coated motor cycle ridding thugs, to protect him...complete with state of the art, CCTV! Michael Coles Inspector Murray, has a bit of a rough up with one, in this scene. Typical (see tv UK series 'The Sweeney') punch up, but with a very satisfying ending! Take that, villain!

IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA  . .

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY: BEHIND THE SCENES AS THE HAMMER PARTNERSHIP BOWS OUT

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY : Carrying on from our 'Satanic Rites' posts yesterday and prompted by several requests for more info on, this the last Christopher Lee / Peter Cushing Hammer Dracula film, we thought it would be interesting, to dig through our files and see what we could come up with, at short notice. Quite a bit, it turns out! So, here is a whip around the set at Elstree studios, with some rare images and the under pinning story of, Cushing and Lee's last stand off, as Vampire Hunter and the Lord of the Undead, Dracula.

ON NOVEMBER 13TH 1972, Peter Cushing began work  for Hammer films, on what would be , the last time he and Christopher Lee would lock horns, as Dracula and Van Helsing. In 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula' Cushing would be playing Lorrimer Van Helsing again, continuing the time-line from earlier in the year, when he had returned to fight the Undead Count in, Dracula AD 1972. During the shooting 'Satanic Rites' would be known to inquiring press and trade papers as 'Dracula is Dead and Well and Living In London', which needless to say, made Christopher Lee's eyebrows rise so high, as to permanently stick to to any castle ceiling. Well known for his less than enthusiastic opinion on the last four Hammer Dracula films, after Satanic was made and on release, Lee publically stated that the film was a non-event'.

PETER CUSHING'S FEE was £6,000, plus his accommodation at his favorite 'Brown's Hotel' in Mayfair, London. On top of this was a fee of £25 for his driver. Alan Gibson, barely out of his seat on directing and editing duties on Dracula AD 1972, returned. Michael Cole as Inspector Murray also returned, unfortunately Stephanie Beacham was unavailable to repeat her role as Jessica Van Helsing, so the role was taken by Joanna Lumley. There was also a reunion for Cushing with both Freddie Jones- Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed and William Franklyn - Fury At Smugglers Bay.

IN THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA, Van Helsing is on call once again following a lead from Inspector Murray, when several well established figures are found to be involved in a black mass at a well heeled country estate called Pelham House. It turns out, one of the magic sect is an old friend of van Helsing's, a Nobel-prize winning bio chemist by the name of Professor Julian Keeley (Freddie Jones). Van Helsing is on the trail and visits Keeley, to find him terrified, exhausted and hysterical. On enqueuing as to his work, which has clearly pushed over the edge with pressure, Keeley reveals he has developed an 'accelerated strain of bacillus petis - the bubonic plague! 

SOON AFTER THIS the supernatural element of the plot kicks in, as Murray and Jessica stumble upon a nest of vampire girls in the cellar at Pelham House, and the feverish work that Keeley has been burning the night oil preparing has been sponsored by a reclusive tycoon called, D. D. Denham. 

IN A KEY SCENE Van Helsing meets and confronts Denham, and exposes him as none other than Dracula! After a clever bit of business, with the Count, Van Helsing is bundled off to Pelham House. Here on the 23rd day of the 11th month, the Sabat of the Undead, Dracula will release the deadly plague and fulfill the Biblical prophecy of Armageddon.

CUSHING'S SCREEN TIME as with Dracula AD 1972 is limited, but what there is, has been carefully managed and distributed to provide the story with Hammer high points of drama and suspense. There is a superb exchange between Cushing and the damaged and babbling, cow - faced Julian Keeley, played in the key that only Freddie Jones can play, and frighteningly play well. Prof Keeley is totally under Dracula's power, prompting lines like, 'Evil and violence are the only two measures that hold any power. And nothing is too vile, nothing too dreadful'. Keeley drools. 'You need to feel the thrill of disgust, the beauty of obscenity' 

AFTER VAN HELSING'S, laboured and obvious, deciphering of the 'secret' behind Alucard's surname in Dracula AD 1972, Cushing's check list of anti vampire precautions and lore, is kept to a bare minium, although the items that can repel Dracula have now added a new twist and and one epic addition. The stand off with Denham and Van Helsing is one of the key points in the whole film, and as Cushing draws the pistol loaded with the silver bullet, you feel he means it! Lee looks powerful and majestically attractive. It is to Lee credit that at no time does his performance reveal even a hint, of his disillusion with the role.

IT IS CUSHING who gets the perhaps the best line in the film when facing William Franklyn's disbelieving  Colonel  Torrence, who asks Van Helsing if they are dealing with 'hobgoblins, witches and things that go bump in the night'. 'Hobgoblins are fantasy creatures of the nursery. As for witches they certainly exist, although 90 per cent of them are charlatans. Things DO go bump in the night. Quite often!'

AGAIN CUSHING  was responsible for rewriting Van Helsing's lines. One line he was particularity bothered by was when Van Helsing says that the vampire lives in mortal dread of silver. 'This bothers me,' he wrote on the script 'because Dracula wears a ring of silver!', but the reference stayed in the script, unchanged.

CUSHING CLIPPED a biblical quotation from a newspaper and pasted it onto his script. It read, 'Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans XII, 21. 

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