6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Three respectable gentlemen searching for excitement help one of Count Dracula's servants resurrect the vampire.
Starring: Christopher Lee, Geoffrey Keen, Gwen Watford, Linda Hayden, Peter SallisHorror | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital Mono
German: Dolby Digital Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono (Spain)
English SDH, French, German SDH, Japanese, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The second Dracula sequel in Warner Home Video's first volume of Hammer Horror Films is 1970's Taste the Blood of Dracula (or "TtBoD"), the fourth followup to the famed British studio's successful 1958 release, Horror of Dracula, and the next in line after the Blu-ray in the volume, 1968's Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (or "DHRftG"). While DHRftG is notable for the brevity of the title character's appearance, he doesn't even appear until the halfway mark of its immediate sequel, except for a brief prologue that recycles footage from the previous film's end. In the initial conception of TtBoD, Dracula was not supposed to appear at all. Christopher Lee was tired of the role, and his salary was getting too rich for Hammer's budgets. A new story was created in which a successor could assume Dracula's mantle and continue his legacy of horror. The bones of that narrative are visible in the finished film, but Hammer's American distribution partner (i.e., Warner Brothers) refused to accept a Dracula film that couldn't use Christopher Lee's name on the marquee. With appropriate rewrites (and, presumably, payments), the star returned. But although there's even less of Lee's Dracula in TtBoD than in its immediate predecessor, TtBoD is the better film. Because scrivener Anthony Hinds (still writing under the name John Elder) began with the notion that he couldn't depend on Lee's presence alone to create an atmosphere of dread, he was forced to dream up something new. As a result, TtBoD is thoroughly infused with discomforting elements of Victorian prurience that would shortly fuel the Seventies exploitation bonanza. The Dracula legend has always thrived on linking sex and bloodlust, but Hinds spiced the mixture with a large helping of sadism, a general flavor of depravity and a strong hint of incest, all of it cloaked in a veneer of hypocrisy. Initially trimmed for both its U.K. and U.S. releases, TtBoD was eventually released in its uncut R-rated version on a Warner DVD in 2004. The same version now appears on Blu-ray.
Although Hammer staple Arthur Grant shot both Taste the Blood of Dracula and Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, the two films look very different, because DHRftG was directed by cinematographer Freddie Francis, who had Grant use colored filters for key portions of the film. TtBoD has no such effects, and its photography is more consistent with the typical Hammer style. Warner's MPI facility has newly scanned TtBoD at 2k from a recently created IP, and the results on this 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray are very good indeed. The sedate Victorian (or, technically, if we go by the date of DHRftG, Edwardian) houses and the dark ruins where Dracula is reborn provide a suitable contrast with the painted ladies of the East End brothel and the bloody deeds of Dracula's various "servants". The transfer has picked up copious fine detail in closeups and medium shots, while long shots tend to soften, depending on either lighting conditions or depth of field. Colors are excellent, especially the deliberately overstated reds of blood that bubbles and swirls in the goblets prepared by Lord Hartley for Dracula's resurrection (and later spurts from several victims). Blacks are deep and solid, which is essential for a film with so many night scenes and decrepit interiors. A fine grain pattern is readily observable throughout. Like its accompanying sequel in the first volume of Hammer Horror Films, TtBoD has been mastered with an average bitrate of 29.94 Mbps, which far exceeds the historical WHV approach, and the compression has been skillfully performed.
TtBoD's original mono track is encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA 1.0, and to my ear the source material is somewhat superior to that of DHRftG. Dialogue is always clear, as are the sound effects. The melodramatic score by Hammer regular James Bernard has a somewhat fuller and less brittle quality than on some of the earlier films, though it by no means sounds like a modern recording.
Other than a trailer (480i; 1.78:1, enhanced; 2:26), the disc has no extras. Warner's 2004 DVD was similarly featureless.
Four more sequels followed TtBoD, though the last (The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires) did not feature Christopher Lee. For Hammer Films, Dracula became an early version of the hockey-masked Jason; no matter how often people killed him, he kept coming back for his fans. Despite Dracula's minimal presence, TtBoD is one of the more effective sequels and, and for fans of the Hammer style, is highly recommended.
1968
1972
1969
Dracula / Warner Archive Collection
1958
Collector's Edition
1966
1970
1959
Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride
1973
Collector's Edition
1962
Collector's Edition
1960
The Mask of Satan / La maschera del demonio | The Mario Bava Collection
1960
25th Anniversary Edition
1992
1979
Includes "Drácula"
1931
Collector's Edition
1967
2012
Season 1
2013-2014
1971
1933
1972