Dracula A.D. 1972

England's Hammer Studios did 9 Dracula or vampire films from 1958-1974:

1. Horror of Dracula (1958); 2. Brides of Dracula (1960); 3. Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966); 4. Dracula has Risen from the Grave (1968); 5. Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970); 6. Scars of Dracula (1970); 7. Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972); 8. The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973); and 9. The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974).

Christopher Lee plays the Count in all but "The Brides of Dracula" and "The Legend 7 Golden Vampires." 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 (1972, of course), which was Hammer's response to other successful vampire films at the time taking place in the modern day, such as "The Night Stalker," "Blacula" and "Count Yorga." The story revolves around a group of hip counter-culture youths performing a black mass in an abandoned church for kicks (although the ringleader takes it serious) and they revive the blood-sucking prince of darkness. Havok ensues.

Peter Cushing appears as Van Helsing's descendant. Christopher Neame plays the nutjob who performs the black mass with utter relish. Also on hand are the stunning beauties Stephanie Beacham and Caroline Munro. Stephanie plays Van Helsing's daughter and Caroline has a small but significant role. There are a couple of other early-70s hippie babes as well.

The first half of the film borrows heavily from the previous "Taste the Blood of Dracula" in that the Count is resurrected in roughly the same manner, although "Taste" is more effective. Which isn't to say that "Dracula A.D. 1972" isn't a decent entry in the series, albeit bizarre. The main problem with the film is that the story doesn't seem to know what to do once Dracula is resurrected. For instance, Cushing's final battle with the Count is fairly lame for various reasons (I don't want to give anything away), not to mention Lee only appears for about 10 minute in the entire film, which is usual for the series, of course.

Another problem is the score. It screams "early 70s" in a bad way, but doesn't mesh with what is essentially a serious horror flick. Of course some would cite that as part of its charm. I said "serious horror flick, by the way, because this is not a goofy or campy flick despite the colorful hippie elements and lousy score.

What works best is that it's a great period piece. You'll get a groovy glimpse of England's counter-culture, including the hippie girls and a live performance by the band Stoneground (who didn't go anywhere beyond this movie, likely because their sound & style was already passe by 1972). So, the first half is fun and compelling, whereas the second half just sort of goes through the motions and peters out.

BOTTOM LINE: "Dracula A.D. 1972" is hard to rate because, despite the mediocre-ness of the story's second half, the film is a fun experience with numerous highlights. Hence, as a Dracula story I give it a C+, but for entertainment value I give it a solid B or B+.

The film runs 96 minutes and was shot in England.

GRADE: B-

You really can't blame Hammer studios for trying to do something different with their long-running Dracula franchise by the early '70s. This film has its share of detractors and most of those slam it because it feels "dated" to them, or because the legendary Count seems oddly out of place amongst all those groovy "modern-day" hipsters, man. For me, the trouble with "Dracula A.D. 1972" has nothing to do with its welcome new setting -- after all, if we accept that Dracula is a supernatural being who can sustain himself throughout the ages, why wouldn't that also include his living amongst us during the late 20th century? -- but unfortunately, the problem is that very little is done to take full advantage of the circumstances.

The movie opens with a spectacular prologue set in the 1800's where a runaway horse-drawn carriage races through a shaded forest with two figures atop it, fighting hand-to-hand: Professor Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) and the vampire king himself, Count Dracula (Christopher Lee). In the midst of their struggle, the wagon crashes into a tree and is demolished. But the wise vampire hunter manages to grab a broken cart wheel and thrusts its wooden spoke into Dracula's chest, killing his enemy and reducing him to ashes. Van Helsing himself lives just long enough to witness Dracula's decay before succumbing to his death. But no sooner has the world become better off, when a young disciple of the Count (Christopher Neame) arrives at the scene to secure Dracula's remains in a vial.

We then leap to London "today" (meaning 1972, that is) where the disciple, now referred to as "Johnny Alucard" (cute), heads a naive young group of thrill-seeking teens (or twenty-somethings). They've tried everything they can think of for kicks, like crashing high society parties unannounced where they can boogey to the mod sounds of the performing rock group Stoneground (who do two songs). Alucard's latest scheme is to involve his gang in a devilish black mass. Gathering the guys and gals together inside the ruins of an old church, Alucard performs a satanic ritual which resurrects Dracula once more, and this time one of the naive chicks who is first to fall victim to him is raven-haired Caroline Munro. But Alucard and Dracula are more interested in corrupting Jessica (Stephanie Beacham), the blonde member of their little circle, who happens to be the great-granddaughter of the original professor. She is currently living with her grandfather (again played by Cushing) who himself is the descendant of the first Van Helsing, as well as being skilled in the black arts. He is a great asset to Scotland Yard when the mysterious murders start piling up, though much of the dull stretches in the movie lie within tiresome scenes of Cushing meeting with police investigators, and it's usually a challenge for me to remain alert for them any time I watch this.

It's never a bad thing to see Cushing and Lee in another film together, and they do get to shine in an updated climax where Dracula even gets to roar classic lines straight out of Bram Stoker's novel. Lee looks great as the count and he's magnificently ruthless in the few treasured scenes he has. But it's a pity that the filmmakers opted to keep Dracula confined to his claustrophobic quarters at the dilapidated church; he is never scene venturing anywhere else, so one then wonders what was the point of going through all the trouble of setting the story in modern society! The "20th century face lift" worked much better in other horror films of this era like COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE (1970) and BLACULA(1972). Though there are some moments to be savored with A.D. '72, this is somewhat of a missed opportunity and arguably the nadir of Hammer's Dracula series. **1/2 out of ****

I don't understand why people constantly put-down this movie (and its sequel Satanic Rites Of Dracula) They're both great fun and much more enjoyable than the stodgy Taste The Blood Of Dracula (in fact Satanic in my opinion is the best of the whole Hammer Dracula cycle in my opinion!)

I've noticed lots of people pointing to the 7O's factor as feeling very dated- (well, what else were people supposed to be playing in 1972- 90's techno music?) I quite enjoyed Stoneground's little performance and to knock the soundtrack by Michael Vickers is unfair as it is constantly enjoyable and funky to listen to. Add the ever-reliable Peter Cushing and a Christopher Lee who DOESN'T look like he's going through the motions (even if he had doubts about doing the movie) and a well-off-the-wall- but enjoyable nevertheless performance by Christopher Neame as Johnny Alucard and you get a lovely slice of 70's horror nostalgia! And I'm sorry anybody with a spirit of fun about them has got to love a movie with lines like "Tell us about the blood, Johnny!" By the way I noticed a previous reviewer was confused by the beginning of the movie and whether Christopher Neame was a descendant of the character in the 1880 prologue- well of course he was! I thought that was made clear.... (by the way, interesting note of trivia, Mr Neame claims that when he was bit by Christopher Lee in the movie he did indeed become a full-fledged initiated vampire- he even lists it on his CV as a proud fact! See the Flesh and Blood Hammer Documentary for the full story.....)

Pythonesque, outlandishly stylish in parts - criminally battered out in others - 'AD, 1972' is a hugely enjoyable film. It is an excellent party movie - both in terms of subject matter and as an accompaniment to much alcohol, although this role was perhaps the final nail in the coffin for any fondness Lee had for Dracula. One has only to see his response to George Lucas putting fangs on a Yoda doll on the set of 'Attack of the Clones' to gauge this. Christopher Lee has often said that 'the Wicker Man' was his best film. The British film cognoscenti laud that film because of its chronological signposting of the beginning-of-the-end of the British film industry. He made 'Dracula: AD 1972' at the same time and his mono-syllabic - almost no-syllabic - role is perhaps what he compared Lord Summerisle to.

It's flaws, however, are what makes the film so enjoyable. Here is the old-men-of-Hammers' idea of what youth culture was like in the 1970s. Loads of RSC twits pretending to be cockney - Ben Elton, Damon Albarn and Jamie Oliver must have studied this film intensely. Stephanie Beecham's character - to the squirming of female viewers and the anger of male audience members - dates the ugliest man in Christendom, here. Van Helsing should have killed him first then made up an excuse: "He was an . . . ugh . . . yes, that's right an ugh-monster!" 'The Stoneground' - a kind of 'Mungo Jerry meets the Doors at Kenny Lynch's House' - achieve celluloid immortality - though I can find none of the tracks found here in their (only?) eponymous album. It is true that, had the filmmakers made a cardboard standee of Lee in costume instead of including the actor no-one would have noticed. Lee does not so much "phone-in" his performance as be photographed without his knowledge and have that photograph put on the internet then beamed back in time. Peter Cushing is the bedrock of the movie. The maestro portrays Van Helsing with calm dignity and a conviction unworthy of the manure that is the script. The above could be taken as advice not to see the film - but don't avoid it, you'll have the time of your afterlife.

In the Nineteenth Century, Professor Lawrence Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) vanquishes, destroys Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) and dies. A rider keeps Dracula's dust in a vessel and his ring. In the present days (1972), in London, the mysterious rebel Johnny Alucard (Christopher Neame) that worships Dracula lures his friends, including Jessica Van Helsing (Stephanie Beacham), and resurrects the vampire. Dracula plans to destroy Professor Abraham Van Helsing and his granddaughter Jessica to take revenge on their ancestor Van Helsing.

"Dracula A.D. 1972" is the seventh and the weakest Hammer's film of the famous vampire. Anyway, it is an entertaining with Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and the gorgeous Stephanie Beacham in the lead roles. Further, this film is dated and nostalgic in 2017 when compared with the other Hammer films. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Drácula no Mundo da Minissaia" ("Dracula in the World of the Miniskirt")