The Scars of Dracula ** (1970, Christopher Lee, Dennis Waterman, Jenny Hanley, Anouska Hempel, Patrick Troughton, Michael Gwynn) – Classic Movie Review 2779

A rubber bat creaks down a wire and dribbles ketchup from the corner of its mouth onto a skeleton in an open coffin, and this fades in and out on an image of Christopher Lee. Yes, it’s 1970 and Drac’s back in director Roy Ward Baker’s The Scars of Dracula!

Hammer Films return to the story and spirit of the Bram Stoker source novel Dracula, with its characters and central Europe locations, but add flashes of flesh and scenes of sadism, as well as ideas from Frankenstein, for the fifth and last of its period Dracula movies (though the updated Dracula AD 1972 and The Satanic Rites of Dracula followed).

A young man called Paul Carlson (Christopher Matthews) is on a trip and strays into Castle Dracula and spends the night but pays for it with his life. His brother Simon (Dennis Waterman) and girlfriend Sarah (Jenny Hanley) arrive to find him, and of course Dracula fancies a suck on Sarah.

Lee’s usual suave command in his most substantial appearance as the Count, a crazy-wigged Anouska Hempel’s eroticism as Dracula’s mistress Tania, and the dogged, conscientious playing of a callow-looking Waterman, a voluptuous Hanley and a bushy-eyebrowed Patrick Troughton as the faithful servant Klove whom Dracula likes to whip (cue gratuitous sadism) keep the film going.

Incidentally, in the earlier 1966 Dracula: Prince of Darkness, Dracula also has a servant named Klove (played by Philip Latham) but he appears to be a different character with the same name.

There are some effective moments such as the Count crawling up his battlements, scaling the walls of his castle, The Priest (Michael Gwynn)’s gory face-pecking death by rubber-bat attack and Dracula’s impressive demise by a killer bolt of lightning at the climax. But there is also too much crude 70s-style sex, violence and gore, with subtlety in the chills and eerie atmosphere left far behind.

Roy Ward Baker directs with a clumsy fist and James Bernard’s score knows no restraint either, while the pitiful special effects are truly rotten and production designer Scott MacGregor’s cheap sets with their painted backdrops especially feeble. Even diehard Dracula, Hammer or Lee fans might give up on this one, but, then again, young leads Dennis Waterman and Jenny Hanley are pleasant company, and there is plenty for Christopher Lee to do and say. It has its moments.

Also in the cast are Bob Todd as as Burgomaster, Wendy Hamilton as Julie, Delia Lindsay as Alice, Toke Townley as Elderly Waggoner, and the indispensable Michael Ripper as Landlord.

It is Toke Townley’s final film before his death on 28 September 1984, aged 71.

The previous episode Taste the Blood of Dracula sees Dracula meeting his end in a disused church near London, but this film opens with a resurrection scene in Dracula’s castle in Transylvania, breaking the series’ continuity.

The British Board of Film Classification trimmed the killing of the priest by bats and Dracula’s stabbing of the female vampire for UK cinema and video versions.

It is a Hammer Films production, made at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, and released by Anglo-EMI Film Distributors (1970) (UK) and American Continental Films (1970).

It is shorter than the usually noted running time, at 91 minutes.

The Scars of Dracula is directed by Roy Ward Baker, runs 91 minutes, is made by Hammer Films, is released by Anglo-EMI Film Distributors (1970) (UK) and American Continental Films (1970), is written by Anthony Hinds [John Elder], based on the character created by Bram Stoker, is shot in Technicolor by Moray Grant, is produced by Aida Young, is scored by James Bernard, and designed by Scott MacGregor.

It was released with The Horror of Frankenstein.

Dennis Waterman died at a hospital in Spain on 8 May 2022 at the age of 74. He appeared in 29 films, including Up the Junction and Scars of Dracula, most recently in 2020.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2779

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