The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)

Directed by Alan Gibson. Starring Peter Cushing, Michael Coles, Joanna Lumley, William Franklin, Freddie Jones, Christopher Lee, Richard Vernon, Barbara Lu Ying, Maurice O’Connell, Valerie Van Ost.

There’s nothing left in the tank for Hammer’s seventh and final Dracula picture with Christopher Lee as the Count. He’s hardly in the movie at all until the last twenty minutes, which is set in modern day (like Dracula A.D. 1972)and shows a satanic cult led by you-know-who threatening to unleash a terrible plague upon the planet. More of a fatuous conspiracy thriller than Gothic horror for the first hour, but the talkiness and convolutions don’t inspire great interest, and the funky music is more appropriate for a parody of the genre. Stiffly-directed and short on suspense, the final confrontation just doesn’t cut it. Release in the States delayed until 1978.

38/100