Movie Review: Scars of Dracula (1970)

Scars of Dracula (1970) directed by Roy Ward Baker

This late entry in the Hammer Dracula series starts with the local villagers burning the castle of Dracula (Christopher Lee) who has sucked the blood out of one of their daughters. The fire ruins most of the castle but fails to kill the vampire. Years later, Simon (Denis Waterman) is celebrating the birthday of Sarah (Jenny Hanley), his girlfriend. She's also infatuated with his younger brother Paul (Christopher Matthews), a Lothario who has to leave town because of a tryst with the burgomaster's daughter. He flees to a countryside town where the local innkeeper won't give him shelter. He heads to the local castle where he is hosted by Dracula, to his everlasting peril. Simon and Sarah search after Paul, leading into a conflict with Dracula (and those incompetent villagers).

The movie doesn't stint on gore or cleavage, typical Hammer offerings. Lee gets a lot of screen time, which helps, though his performance is less than in other Dracula films. The plot is a bit ramshackle, with some seemingly random killings and a slow investigation. Dracula commands a lot of bats which do some of the killing for him, especially a slaughter at the start. The fake bat unfortunately looks very fake (how does it hover in place?), and when a group of bats appears, they only fly through the scene one at a time, underlining the fakeness at the cost of terror. The ending is more satisfying with a dramatic and unexpected kill for the Count. Also, it's fun to see Patrick Troughton (the Second Doctor in Doctor Who) as Dracula's lackey.

Mildly recommended--this was just okay. Lee's other Dracula films are more satisfying.