Country: UK
AKA:
Horror of Dracula
A long time ago I watched a horror movie on
television. I had seen a few horrors before and was beginning to develop a
preference for the genre. There seemed to be one on every Friday night and
occasionally if you were really lucky a double bill. It wasn’t long before one
such Friday Fight Feature on Night Time TV was Hammer’s production of Dracula starring Peter Cushing as a
dashing, determined, younger Van Helsing and Christopher Lee as a full-blooded
and sexually charged Count Dracula. It was directed by Terence Fisher who is
now rightly regarded as an auteur. The only detraction to this stunning
production it seems has been the passage of time. The colour fading, and dulling
of light which can often hide the detail in a film recorded originally with an
emphasis on set design and colour photography. As well as a deterioration of
the sound quality through regular cinema screenings and copies of copies made
for distribution around the world. General ageing and wear and tear have all
played a part in lessening the impact of a once vibrant and visceral rendering.