(1960)
Director Terence Fisher
Starring Peter Cushing, Yvonne Monlaur, David Peel, Martita Hunt, Freda Jackson, Miles Malleson, Andree Melly, Marie Devereux, Michael Ripper

While most “normal” critics would look down on a horror film, yes… even ones from Hammer Studios, this is a perfect example of how well made these pictures really were, from the acting, the production design, to the look and lighting of the entire running time. If you ever doubted that, just watch this 2K scan of The Brides of Dracula recently released by Shout Factory on Blu-Ray.

This is a sequel to Horror of Dracula, or rather a continuation of sorts. Much like Hammer’s Frankenstein sequels followed the mad doctor and his exploits instead of the creature, the studio’s first sequel to their big vampire hit followed the hero, Van Helsing, rather than the evil Count. Granted, all of that changed with the upcoming sequels, but it is interesting to take note of the alternate path they started down, before Lee was returned to wearing the teeth and cape in 1966. It really could have been an on-going series for Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, doing battle with a variety of toothy undead. Let’s just ponder that for a minute, shall we?

Okay… enough dreaming. Let’s get back to our review!

The idea or concept started out under the title Disciple of Dracula, going through three writers before it was finalized, under its current title. No matter how it got to the final product, I stand proudly when I state that next to their original Dracula film, I feel this is the best “Dracula” film in Hammer’s filmography, especially when you compare it to all the later day titles in the series with Lee. It doesn’t take long into the running time to see the reasons for that statement either.

Yvonne Monlaur plays Marianne Danielle, a teacher on her way to a new position at a school for young women. On her way, she is mysteriously stranded at a small inn, that seems to make the innkeepers very nervous. Before they can figure out what to do, the strange (and seemingly feared) Baroness Meinster appears at the inn and offers lodging for Marianne at her home, the Castle Meinster. While her invitation might have some nefarious reasoning behind it, it doesn’t turn out the way the Baroness had planned. In fact, Marianne unwittingly unleashes a terror unto the local community.

Peter Cushing returns as Van Helsing, who’s reputation has seem to grow throughout the country, continuing on his quest to destroy the vampire evil within the world. Of course, it doesn’t take him long to realize there is something afoul after seeing the bite marks on a young peasant girl that had recently found dead. As the newly freed Baron Meinster starts his reign of terror, Van Helsing does what he can to stop this undead plague from spreading through the village, including the girl’s school where Marianne is teaching.

One thing that viewers can immediately notice is just the look of the film. The colors run rampant here, from the blooming costumes, the lighting from the sun coming through the glass windows, or just the tinted lighting used to create the mood, cameraman Jack Asher giving us what Italy’s Mario Bava would start showing us a couple of years later. Maybe it is this new Blu-ray that helps show off these brilliant and vibrant colors, but it is just amazing to watch the film for the look alone. Just stunning. Of course, with director Terence Fisher leading the production, he also creates a wonderful look with different camera movements and angles, showing viewers just how much style you can put in these little horror flicks, not that the critics would ever admit it! Plus, with Asher and Fisher working together on how the film is going to look, it is the sets of Bernard Robinson that once again are just stunning, and even more so when you realize how little budget they had.

While Cushing gives us his usual excellent performance, he has a different foe here with the Baron, and one that truly puts Van Helsing to the test. David Peel brings the character of the Baron to (undead) life and gives him power in both his ability to draw sympathy from the viewers, as well as show his dominance, forcing his will onto others, including his own mother.

While Monlaur has that heavy French accent, it never takes away from her performance, showing a very innocent woman about to make the gravest of wrong choices. She has the “Hammer Glamour” look, but also had the talent behind the beauty. The other “brides” are played by Marie Devereux and Andree Melly, both giving standout performances. We get to see Devereux raising from her recently buried coffin, with the wonderful Freda Jackson cackling over her, while Melly plays a fellow student teacher that falls under the counts trance, and bite. Once Melly becomes one of the “brides”, with her toothy smile, she becomes one of the most recognized vampire women from the studio. When you see her, you’ll know why.

One of the things that I’ve always loved about Hammer is the character actors they have in different roles, even if they are minor ones, and Brides is no different. Miles Malleson plays a doctor who is almost as much fun to watch Van Helsing, giving it his all to steal each and every scene! Same goes with Henry Oscar and Mona Washbourne who run the school, who don’t spend a lot of time on screen, but they give their characters enough depth to make them real. Of course, you get to see Michael Ripper, a real Hammer staple, as a coachman in the beginning of the film.

The makeup effects were done by Roy Ashton, creates one of the best holy water burns ever committed to film. It creates a starting effect, not to mention just looking real as hell!

As good as this film is, and the way it looks, this new release from Shout Factory is even better because of all the extras you get with it. First of all, we get an all new audio commentary by Steven Haberman and Constantine Nasr, who both fill our ears with a ton of great information about the film, the making of it, as well as pointing out plenty of little things that we might have missed on previous viewings.

Also on this release, we get two episodes of the The Men Who Made Hammer segments, both with Little Shoppe of Horrors publisher and Hammer historian, Richard Klemensen. The first one is on Terence Fisher, one of Hammer’s greatest directors, and the other on cameraman Jack Asher. Each segment shows just how essential they were for the films they worked on for the studio. There is also a featurette on Malcolm Williamson, who did the score for the picture. And then a brilliant The Making of Brides of Dracula, where we get to hear from actress Yvonne Monlaur, screenwriter Jimmy Sangster, Assistant Director Hugh Harlow, Art Director Don Mingaye, model maker Margaret Robinson, producer Anthony Hinds, narrated by Edward De Souza. The importance of these featurettes, is the archiving all of this important information about this particular film, from the people that worked on them, as well as the scholars that really know these films inside and out. It’s like we’re getting multiple history lessons here and all of them worth taking! So kudos to Shout Factory for putting this together, and all the scholars that worked on these for putting their time and effort into these as well. All Hammer fans are eternally grateful for your hard work.

While Shout Factory has been cranking out a lot of these re-mastered Hammer classics, I would say that this particular title is definitely a must for your collection.