Les Maîtresses de Dracula

The film begins by a narrator telling us Dracula is dead..but his disciples live on to spread vampirism. It's all about a beautiful woman named Marianne Danielle (Yvonne Monlaur) going to a woman's academy to teach French. It gets complicated but she ends up spending the night in castle Meinster. She also meets young, handsome Baron Meinster (David Peel) who's chained up in the castle by his mother...because he is a vampire. She doesn't know this and lets him loose. It's a good thing Dr. van Helsing (Peter Cushing) is around!

OK--this isn't perfect. Some of the plotting is clumsy (i.e.--why didn't the Baron just turn into a bat and fly out of his chains?), Manlaur is a TERRIBLE actress and the fake bats are pretty laughable (I saw the strings at one point!). Still this is just great. It moves quickly and has some great performances by Cushing (of course), Feda Jackson (as Greta--tearing the scenery) and a GREAT performance by Peel. He's sexy, handsome and scary as hell as the vampire. Hard to believe he was FORTY when he did this! Also I'm lucky enough to have a copy of the pristine print they released on laser disc and VHS in the early 1990s. The color is incredible and the picture and sound are crystal clear.

I'm giving it an 8--I WANT to give it a 10 but Monlaur and some clumsy plotting (what happens to the two female vampires at the end?) really work against it. Still--a must-see!

This is my favorite Hammer Film! Wonderfully written, superbly acted! Peter Cushing is a joy to behold as the "not always playing with a full deck" Van Helsing. His memorable scene in which he exsises the vampires bite from his neck is brilliant! The set pieces and atmosphere are second to none and gives the film an entirely uneasy feeling yet the movie is so brezzy and fun! There are also quite a few chilling scenes which will stick out in your mind for a while after the conclusion. And what a conclusion it is! Fast paced, exciting and quite unique in vampire lore. David Peel is unique to say the least as the king vampire and although Dracula is not to be found in this one, SO WHAT!!! A brilliant film on all counts!

Charming though they are, the Hammer horror films usually lack a certain something for me. Not quite enough 'edge', hampered, I guess by censorship at the time, they are often lack the exotic and the 'strange' present in many that followed from Spain say or Mexico or Italy. 'Brides' is perfectly well made with an excellent performance by Marita Hunt as the governess, perhaps she should have had a larger part. The young foreign student was convincingly played by a pretty Yvonne Monlaur but I felt Cushing seemed ill at ease. He didn't have the gravitas he usually brings to the smallest of parts and David Peel seemed most bland in the central role although neither he nor the rest of the cast were helped by such rudimentary 'vampire' teeth. What, I must say, though is just how wonderful the film looks. Fantastic sets and costumes all photographed perfectly and if some of the dialogue fell a little awkwardly or the acting a little flat, the lush and colourful Gothic look still prevailed.

Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) returns to Transylvania to battle evil Baron Meinster (David Peel), a Dracula wannabe freed from captivity by a young schoolteacher (Yvonne Monlaur). Despite the title, Dracula is nowhere to be seen in this one. Still, it works as a sequel of sorts to Hammer's 1958 Dracula because of Van Helsing being in it. Christopher Lee wouldn't return for the sequel so it had to be written with Baron Meinster in place of the Count. David Peel is a poor substitute for Christopher Lee, but thankfully the film had Peter Cushing to pick up the slack. Cushing's performance is wonderful, as are those of Martita Hunt and Freda Jackson. Terence Fisher's expert direction and the great Gothic sets make this a very enjoyable Hammer horror film that fans will love.

The Brides of Dracula is not as good as 1958's Dracula(or Horror of Dracula), but it is almost as good and a very good follow-up, a near classic in fact. Yvonne Monlaur is rather wooden in the female lead role, the bat effects are truly laughable and the film drags a tad at the halfway mark but that's it for the flaws personally.

Hammer horrors are always at least visually good, and The Brides of Dracula certainly looks good. In fact it looks fantastic, to me it's one of the best-looking Hammer films. The photography is smooth, rich in colour and enhances the atmosphere rather than detracting and the sets are some of the most sumptuous and atmospheric of any Hammer horror. The music in its most haunting parts positively induces tingles down the spine and while there are a couple of clumsy loose ends the script is one of Hammer's most nuanced. The story is filled with marvellous atmosphere and Gothic ghoulishness and is always compelling and easy to follow, the standout scene is the ending which is like a fairy-tale nightmare come to life.

Terrence Fisher's direction is unflinching and the performances on the whole are very good, especially from a classy and typically impeccable Peter Cushing as one of the best screen Van Helsings and Martita Hunt as a sometimes sympathetic but genuinely scary Baroness, especially in the scene when she's standing behind Monlaur. Freda Jackson is chilling also and chews the scenery with glee(and not in a negative way despite how it sounds) and Miles Malleson brings some amusing comedy that doesn't feel out of place at all. David Peel is nowhere near in the same league as Christopher Lee- then again it's really difficult to follow Lee in any role really- but while a little fey in places he is a worthy and charismatic substitute.

Overall, a near classic if with its weak spots. 8/10 Bethany Cox