"I don t drink...wine."- The Dracula Thread

1252628303135

Comments

  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,370
    I wish I had realized this was a thread when I was going through my Hammer Horror Dracula marathon. I wrapped it up last night with the dreadful The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, which had a bit of entertaining kung-fu and not much else.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I wish I had realized this was a thread when I was going through my Hammer Horror Dracula marathon. I wrapped it up last night with the dreadful The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, which had a bit of entertaining kung-fu and not much else.

    I think it s maybe the worst Hammer film I have seen.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,370
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I wish I had realized this was a thread when I was going through my Hammer Horror Dracula marathon. I wrapped it up last night with the dreadful The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, which had a bit of entertaining kung-fu and not much else.

    I think it s maybe the worst Hammer film I have seen.

    Yeah it's really terrible, lends one or two others that I hadn't rated so favorably a more positive perspective.

    I think Dracula and The Satanic Rites of Dracula were my favorites. I didn't expect the series to end on such an awesomely different note but it clicked with me and I had a blast.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I wish I had realized this was a thread when I was going through my Hammer Horror Dracula marathon. I wrapped it up last night with the dreadful The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, which had a bit of entertaining kung-fu and not much else.

    Told ya. ;-)

    Yeah, they were out of their mind.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,370
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I wish I had realized this was a thread when I was going through my Hammer Horror Dracula marathon. I wrapped it up last night with the dreadful The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, which had a bit of entertaining kung-fu and not much else.

    Told ya. ;-)

    Yeah, they were out of their mind.

    You called it there. I had hoped it'd be so nutty and over-the-top that it was a blast but it did nothing for me, past some entertaining fight choreography in a few sequences.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,882
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I think Dracula and The Satanic Rites of Dracula were my favorites. I didn't expect the series to end on such an awesomely different note but it clicked with me and I had a blast.

    Yes, move love of SATANIC RITES.

    post-23021-0-44833900-1457089109.gif


    As bad as I think Legend Of The 7 Golden Vampires is, Hammer was by this time, in their death throes. Desperately trying to throw anything and everything into the mix to keep the spluttering engine ticking over. I can accept what led them to it, even if I think the ingredients just don't gel this time around.

    Kinda reminds me of that other great British institution, the Carry On films, that by the 1970s was (objectively, running out of steam). All the way up the the misguided attempt to get in on the soft core move craze with Carry On Emmanuelle. I watch the Carry Ons from time to time, but Carry On Emmanuelle is excruciating to sit through.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I wish I had realized this was a thread when I was going through my Hammer Horror Dracula marathon. I wrapped it up last night with the dreadful The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, which had a bit of entertaining kung-fu and not much else.

    Told ya. ;-)

    Yeah, they were out of their mind.

    You called it there. I had hoped it'd be so nutty and over-the-top that it was a blast but it did nothing for me, past some entertaining fight choreography in a few sequences.

    They were trying to jump on a few trends, and I'm never one to begrudge an experiment. But the substitute Dracula is terrible and the plot goes absolutely nowhere. I've seen recent Steven Seagal films with stories that make more sense than this one. The film could have accidentally ended up as a delicious stew of "crazy fun" and "bonkers action", but, sadly, it committed the worst sin of them all: boredom. Utter boredom. I'm talking B³: a Big Bag of Bore. I don't mind a film so wacky it makes you cry tears of joy. But The Legend Of The 7 Golden Vampires bit off more than it could chew and left us with an atypical Hammer flick that aimed its ambitions in too many cardinal directions at the same time. It's an incomprehensible mess.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,370
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I think Dracula and The Satanic Rites of Dracula were my favorites. I didn't expect the series to end on such an awesomely different note but it clicked with me and I had a blast.

    Yes, move love of SATANIC RITES.

    post-23021-0-44833900-1457089109.gif


    As bad as I think Legend Of The 7 Golden Vampires is, Hammer was by this time, in their death throes. Desperately trying to throw anything and everything into the mix to keep the spluttering engine ticking over. I can accept what led them to it, even if I think the ingredients just don't gel this time around.

    Kinda reminds me of that other great British institution, the Carry On films, that by the 1970s was (objectively, running out of steam). All the way up the the misguided attempt to get in on the soft core move craze with Carry On Emmanuelle. I watch the Carry Ons from time to time, but Carry On Emmanuelle is excruciating to sit through.

    Yes! Like I said, it shouldn't work as a film but it absolutely does and is so damn entertaining in the process.

    And yes, "incomprehensible" is a great description for it, @DarthDimi. I was paying attention but couldn't make any sense of the story throughout. It was a mess.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 2,895
    At least they didn't insert some random close-ups of Christopher Lee's eyes, like they did in Lust For A Vampire...
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    Venutius wrote: »
    At least they didn't insert some random close-ups of Christopher Lee's eyes, like they did in Lust For A Vampire...

    Oh, Lust. Yes. :-D I have seen the film a dozen times by now and I can hardly tell you what it's all about. Something keeps distracting me. ;-)
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 2,895
    Arf!
  • Posts: 14,799
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I wish I had realized this was a thread when I was going through my Hammer Horror Dracula marathon. I wrapped it up last night with the dreadful The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, which had a bit of entertaining kung-fu and not much else.

    I think it s maybe the worst Hammer film I have seen.

    There's a sequel to Carmilla, The Vampire Lovers I think it was called that was truly dreadful. More like a soft porn than a horror movie.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I wish I had realized this was a thread when I was going through my Hammer Horror Dracula marathon. I wrapped it up last night with the dreadful The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, which had a bit of entertaining kung-fu and not much else.

    I think it s maybe the worst Hammer film I have seen.

    There's a sequel to Carmilla, The Vampire Lovers I think it was called that was truly dreadful. More like a soft porn than a horror movie.

    That's why I like it. Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith are ... very generous.
  • Posts: 14,799
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I wish I had realized this was a thread when I was going through my Hammer Horror Dracula marathon. I wrapped it up last night with the dreadful The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, which had a bit of entertaining kung-fu and not much else.

    I think it s maybe the worst Hammer film I have seen.

    There's a sequel to Carmilla, The Vampire Lovers I think it was called that was truly dreadful. More like a soft porn than a horror movie.

    That's why I like it. Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith are ... very generous.

    It's very watchable, bit not as a horror movie.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    Ludovico wrote: »
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    I wish I had realized this was a thread when I was going through my Hammer Horror Dracula marathon. I wrapped it up last night with the dreadful The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, which had a bit of entertaining kung-fu and not much else.

    I think it s maybe the worst Hammer film I have seen.

    There's a sequel to Carmilla, The Vampire Lovers I think it was called that was truly dreadful. More like a soft porn than a horror movie.

    That's why I like it. Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith are ... very generous.

    It's very watchable, bit not as a horror movie.

    True. It is NOT horror, anything but. 😉
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 2,895
    The Vampire Lovers, like Carmilla itself, is a gothic romance - it's just that one of the lovers isn't alive! It's a pity it's got Arthur Daley in it, that's for sure, but surely le Fanu's story's a lot more recognisable in The Vampire Lovers than it is in Vampyr, Blood and Roses, The Blood-Spattered Bride, the 1989 version with Meg Tilly or The Unwanted? I'd say it was closer to Carmilla than the 2019 version with Jessica Raine, too. I've not seen the US tv series from a few years back, so I don't know how much of the actual story they used in that, but don't let a few topless shots (and Ingrid Pitt in the bath) put you off The Vampire Lovers, man!
  • Posts: 14,799
    Venutius wrote: »
    The Vampire Lovers, like Carmilla itself, is a gothic romance - it's just that one of the lovers isn't alive! It's a pity it's got Arthur Daley in it, that's for sure, but surely le Fanu's story's a lot more recognisable in The Vampire Lovers than it is in Vampyr, Blood and Roses, The Blood-Spattered Bride, the 1989 version with Meg Tilly or The Unwanted? I'd say it was closer to Carmilla than the 2019 version with Jessica Raine, too. I've not seen the US tv series from a few years back, so I don't know how much of the actual story they used in that, but don't let a few topless shots (and Ingrid Pitt in the bath) put you off The Vampire Lovers, man!

    I mistook both titles: The Vampire Lovers and Lust for a Vampire. I liked VL, it's a pretty good adaptation of Carmilla. But I think Carmilla is straight up horror.
  • Posts: 5,772
    Indeed, The Vampire Lovers is an adaptation of Carmilla, and I saw it (too) many years ago. It had two sequels, Lust for a Vampire, which I didn't see, and Twins of Evil, which I did (and the Collinson sisters were quite fetching). Note that Miss Ingrid Pitt was accustomed to the roles of vampire ladies, because she also played the other famous one, Countess Erzebet Bathory in Countess Dracula, and the part of a starlet turned into a vampire (alongside Jon Pertwee) in The Huse that Dripped Blood. And she served as a model for one of the main characters in Stephen Boyd's Solo, so here's a Bond connection to boot.

    And back to Carmilla, who can forget that movie :

    lf?set=path%5B2%2F1%2F7%2F3%2F3%2F21733724%5D&call=url%5Bfile%3Aproduct.chain%5D
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited August 2022 Posts: 23,448
    Lust For A Vampire is a film one can easily skip unless it's the season for topless girls. Twins Of Evil is also nothing special, except for the twins, that is.

    I love Le Fanu's story. I am astonished how little it is known. Yet the character of Carmilla has, in some shape or form, been in many films, some of which are strange as hell, like Roger Vadim's almost surreal Et Mourir De Plaisir. Carmilla has entered Batman lore, Japanese anime and manga,... Yet so few people have ever even heard of her.

    Edit: I am currently watching Nosferatu The Vampyre, the German version. One of my favorite sort-of Dracula adaptations.
  • edited August 2022 Posts: 15,785
    I like all three of Hammer's Carmilla trilogy, but I prefer THE VAMPIRE LOVERS mostly for Ingrid Pitt.
    I quite like the 70's era of Hammer horror. LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES is one that took me decades to warm to. Now it's actually one of my favorites. More of a Van Helsing adventure thriller rather than a straight up Dracula flick. Peter Cushing is great as usual, unfortunately John Forbes Robertson's Dracula (voiced by David
    de Keyser) is unmemorable. In addition his make up is poorly executed with none of the subtlety that served Christopher Lee in his last two outings.

    Of course the REAL reason I love LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES ..........

    show-photo.jpg?id=1792422

  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited August 2022 Posts: 2,895
    Ludovico wrote: »
    I mistook both titles: The Vampire Lovers and Lust for a Vampire.
    Ah, now the 'truly dreadful' verdict makes perfect sense! ;) That song in the middle - huh?!
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    Venutius wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    I mistook both titles: The Vampire Lovers and Lust for a Vampire.
    Ah, now the 'truly dreadful' verdict makes perfect sense! ;) That song in the middle - huh?!

    That was a very weird scene, indeed.
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 2,895
    Yeah - I'm not averse to the bizarre in horror films, but...wot?! :-O
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yeah - I'm not averse to the bizarre in horror films, but...wot?! :-O

    Let's face it: there is only one good reason to watch Lust For A Vampire.
  • edited August 2022 Posts: 14,799
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Lust For A Vampire is a film one can easily skip unless it's the season for topless girls. Twins Of Evil is also nothing special, except for the twins, that is.

    I love Le Fanu's story. I am astonished how little it is known. Yet the character of Carmilla has, in some shape or form, been in many films, some of which are strange as hell, like Roger Vadim's almost surreal Et Mourir De Plaisir. Carmilla has entered Batman lore, Japanese anime and manga,... Yet so few people have ever even heard of her.

    Edit: I am currently watching Nosferatu The Vampyre, the German version. One of my favorite sort-of Dracula adaptations.

    Carmilla got overshadowed by Dracula sadly. While Stoker's novel is my all-time favourite horror novel and my greatest "vampiric" love, I think Carmilla stands on its own and Le Fanu explored aspects of the vampire that have never been truly done before. Or after. People seem to only remember from it the homoeroticism. But there is so much more.

    On a side note, I'm watching Dracula Live from Transylvania at the moment. With Guy Hamilton. Gosh it's painful.
  • Posts: 5,772
    Not Guy. George. And I like Love at first Bite, so there.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,727
    I think those George Hamilton Dracula films were spoofs, weren't they?
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited August 2022 Posts: 2,895
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Let's face it: there is only one good reason to watch Lust For A Vampire.
    Indeed, so! Mind you, imagine my disappointment the first time I saw it and the famous promo photo of the newly-resurrected Yutte Stensgaard turned out to be better than the scene in the actual film...I suspect we've all felt the letdown of that one!

  • Posts: 15,785
    I remember the 1989 airing of DRACULA LIVE FROM TRANSYLVANIA and still have my VHS recording. Mostly George Hamilton cracking jokes, but I do like the location and atmosphere. Also, I like his interviews with Bernard Davies of the Dracula Society and Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally. Interesting stuff amid the jokey hosting.
    I do NOT like George Hamilton's haircut here. Dare I say, even worse than Timothy Dalton's 1989 LTK cut.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,448
    I am currently watching SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE, a very interesting pseudo-account of the filming of Murnau's NOSFERATU, the first "Dracula" film that was released exactly a century ago. I am rather happy in hindsight that Stoker's widow refused to give Murnau the rights to her late husband's characters. Count Orlok, enigmatically performed by Max Schreck, has become his own iconic image of a horror monster. I regret that Kinski's character in Herzog's film was named Dracula instead of Orlok. If Robert Eggers ever does the remake he originally planned to do, I hope the name and image of Orlok are re-instated. I see Nosferatu and Dracula as separate things now.
Sign In or Register to comment.