Day 5 of 31 Days of Vampire Movies takes us back to the classics. This is Hammer Studio’s second outing with Dracula, only it doesn’t actually bring back Dracula, but rather Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing. I’m of course talking about The Brides of Dracula.
In this movie, Cushing’s Van Helsing finds himself facing off against one of Dracula’s heretofore unmentioned acolytes Baron Meinster, whose mother has imprisoned him in their giant castle because he hasn’t been able to keep his hands (or his teeth) off the village’s population of beautiful young ladies. Shenanigans begin when yet another beautiful, and a bit naive, young lady finds herself stranded in the village and befriended by the Baroness and taken to the castle for a late night snack for the Baron. She manages to escape, but not before the Baron tricks her into releasing him from his prison. She flees, and is rescued by Van Helsing and taken to her original destination, a girls’ boarding school where the Baron soon follows.
David Peel plays the dashing young Baron Meinster, but he’s hardly able to pick up where Christopher Lee left off in the charisma department. Peter Cushing, as always, brings his all to the role, portraying a kindly, lovelorn Professor Van Helsing as a complete gentleman who battles the undead like a true swashbuckling hero.
The Brides of Dracula doesn’t match the Horror of Dracula in plot or character (with the exception of Cushing, of course) but the setting, costuming, and ambiance are top notch. It’s a surprisingly visceral movie for the time, especially in the scene where Van Helsing brands himself with a hot iron to cauterize a bite wound given to him by the Baron. Like I said, its not the first movie in the series, but its definitely worth watching and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t yet seen it.