Amazon.com: It was only a matter of time before Christopher Lee's Dracula visited Swinging London, arriving fashionably late for the party in 1972. In Dracula A.D. 1972, Count D was dispatched in the 19th century with a carriage-wheel spoke. The vampire's ashes and fancy ring are handed down to a young Londoner named Johnny Alucard (Christopher Neame) who looks as though he's seen A Clockwork Orange too many times. Proposing that his hippie posse look for new kicks ('yet as old as time'), he holds a Black Mass and summons you-know-who. Peter Cushing joins Lee yet again; luscious Stephanie Beacham, in an amazing shag haircut and purple velvet, is Cushing's granddaughter. She considers grandpa's scientific interests 'way out,' but then again, their last name is Van Helsing.. The time-period switch makes the grooviness seem laughable, although otherwise this is an acceptable outing, especially for Lee's suave, overtly sexual take on the role. It was his penultimate entry in the Hammer Dracula series, and is certainly better than the finale, The Satanic Rites of Dracula. --Robert Horton
Digital Life Reviews
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Cushing and Lee make this a worthwhile watch.
Dracula A.D. 1972 is a campy instalment in the Dracula series made by Hammer Films. The gist of the movie is that Dracula gets resurrected in 1972 by a young acolyte, Johnny Alucard and seeks to destroy the remaining Van Helsings, i.e. Dr Van Helsing [Peter Cushing] and his beautiful, hippie granddaughter Jessica [Stephanie Beacham].
Though Christopher Lee reprises his role as the malevolent count, his screen time is quite limited and I felt too much screen time was wasted on portraying the debauchery and free-swinging lifestyle of 70s Hippie culture - drugs, sex and rock n roll. But, when he does appear, Lee is magnetic as the count and doesn't disappoint in his performance.
But the best performance in this movie is Peter Cushing's 20th century Van Helsing - he is assured, intelligent and above-all single-minded in his determination to save his granddaughter Jessica from the vampire's clutches. ... Read More
Rating: - More hip than horror
England's Hammer Studios did 8 Dracula films from 1958-1973:
Horror of Dracula (1958)
Brides of Dracula (1960)
Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966)
Dracula has Risen from the Grave (1968)
Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)
Scars of Dracula (1970)
Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)
Christopher Lee plays the Count in all but the second one, "Brides of Dracula;" in fact, Dracula doesn't even appear in this film, which explains why some consider it non-canonical. Peter Cushing also stars in four entries as Van Helsing.
By the time of the seventh film the creative well was apparently running dry and Hammer decided to spice up the series by bringing the Count to present-day London (which was 1972, of course). A group of hip counter-culture youths perform a black mass in an abandoned church for kicks (although the ringleader takes ... Read More
Rating: - Like, Taste the Blood of Dracula, kids!
For reasons known only to the author, Bram Stoker's Dracula never included the line "Sergeant, I'll bet you a pound to a pinch of s**t that there's a little piece of hash at that party, and if there is, I've got them.", but the early 70s saw that particular oversight put right. Dracula A.D. 1972 saw Hammer trying to pump new life into the old Count with a new creative team whose big idea was basically to rehash the plot of Taste the Blood of Dracula in the 1970s with Christopher Neame in the Ralph Bates role as Johnny Alucard, here conning a thrill-seeking group of with it kids (Michael Kitchen and Caroline Munro among them) into making a date with the Devil with a Black Mass at the deconsecrated church that not only holds Lawrence Van Helsing's body (Lawrence? Whatever happened to Abraham?) and Dracula's ashes. "Okay, okay. But if we do get to summon up the big daddy with the horns and the tail, he gets to bring his own liquor, ... Read More
Rating: - Hammer's Misguided Idea of Dracula in Swinging London: Still Enjoyable (Not as a Horror, Though)
Christopher Lee's Dracula comes back again, this time in Swingin' London of the early 70s. It is a misguided idea of Hammer still trying to cash in on the name of the Count. Considering Hammer's "Dracula" saga started back in 1958, it is obvious that they should have stopped by the late 60s when things changed drastically in pop culture. But they did make this one, which turned out an unintentional comedy (sort of) with blood-sucking vampires and "funky" rock music.
Once again Dracula returns. The man responsible for his resurrection is named "Johnny Alucard" (Christopher Neame) - yes, "Alucard" - and there is a young beautiful woman named Jessica Van Helsing (Stephanie Beacham), niece of Peter Cushing's Professor Van Helsing. So now you know the rest of the story. In short, Dracula seeks the blood of her.
Though the film is not scary and its plot is very thin, "Dracula 72" is full of overacting and silly ... Read More
Digital
Life Shop
Alan Gibson items subject to availability. Some restrictions
may apply. VHS
Dracula Ad 1972 presented by digi2005.com Digi2005.com is
an Amazon.com
Associate
Digital Life Music News:
On the Net: Beyonce music videos dominate YouTube - Modesto Bee
A number of high profile musicians have made enormous dents on YouTube: Soulja Boy, Rihanna, the Jonas Brothers and Chris Brown among them. But Beyonce is giving them all a run for their money. Her video for "If I Were a Boy" has been watched by more ...
more News
- Cushing and Lee make this a worthwhile watch.
