Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5542 in VHS
• Released on: 1995-05-02
• Rating: Unrated
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 86 minutes

Amazon.com
When Christopher Lee declined to reprise his role as Count Dracula in a sequel to the enormously popular The Horror of Dracula, Hammer went another direction and instead followed the investigations of vampire hunter Van Helsing (Peter Cushing). He doesn't actually appear until the second act, after French schoolteacher Marianne (Yvonne Monlaur, a big eyed, thick-lipped, curvy young beauty in the Bardot mold) inadvertently releases Baron Meinster (David Peel), a young disciple of Dracula, from his castle prison in a cursed mountain village. This handsome vampire bites his way through a bevy of glamorous beauties in low-cut blouses and frilly nightgowns as he woos his sexy savior, while Van Helsing relentlessly tracks him back to Marianne. Director Terence Fisher, working from a rather convoluted (and at times incomprehensible) script, makes his mark through a series of marvelous set pieces. In one of the most memorable, a twisted old woman plays midwife to a reborn undead, coaxing her out of the ground as hands push through the earth. In one harrowing moment Van Helsing sears his neck with a branding iron and treats it with holy water after being bitten. Cushing is his usual dashing self, more than making up for the handsome but hardly commanding Peel, and you might recognize Marita Hunt, who plays the withered Baroness, as Miss Haversham from David Lean's classic Great Expectations. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Van Helsing carries on.
Transylvania. Land of dark forests and fathomless lakes. Dracula, monarch of the vampires, is dead. Yeah, right. Around Castle Meinster villagers fear that the undead walk among them. In this first sequel to "Horror of Dracula," both Dracula and Christopher Lee are conspicuous by their absence. The action centers on Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) as he battles the effeminate Baron Meinster (David Peel) and his minions. Freda Jackson steals the show as Greta, the insane familiar of the vampire. Picture a female Renfield. She screechingly implores a recently buried victim to rise from the grave. This resurrection scene is a definite high point as the pale hand gropes upward through the dirt. Van Helsing stakes the old Baroness Meinster to a couch after the young Baron corrupts her with the vampire's kiss. Mother love, indeed. Van Helsing is more physical than intellectual in this flick. At one point, he jumps into thin air and catches the handhold of a giant windmill blade. Using his body weight, he drags the great blades into just the right position, and the full moon casts a giant, cross-shaped shadow. In addition, after Meinster bites Van Helsing on the neck, one of the the greatest scenes in vampire cinema ensues. Van Helsing's self-cure is of searing heat and cooling holy water. The viewer can only stay silent before this powerful visual image. The usual Hammer lush color photography, plunging necklines, and diaphanous gowns are present. David Peel lacks Christopher Lee's towering image of unholy lust, but there is enough to like about the movie to make ownership worthwhile. A must for classic horror fans. ;-)

Brides of Dracula is a Hammer classic
Despite the fact that "Dracula" doesn't actually appear in "Brides of Dracula", this film is still one of the best of Hammer's vampire movies.

It's got everything that one falls in love with when it comes to Hammer horror: Great gothic atmosphere, wonderful period sets and costumes, and of course a great story to complement it all.

The plot is fairly simple in this one: The countess has her son chained up in his bedroom. A fair maiden visiting the castle see him and unwittingly sets him loose. He wreaks havoc in the village, turning maidens into vampires. Naturally, when vampires attack Dr. Van Helsing can't be far behind-and Peter Cushing plays him to utter perfection.

"Brides of Dracula" is definitly the most unusual of the Hammer "Dracula" series-but it certainly stands out as one of their best. Fans of gothic horror will no doubt be pleased. END

"Brides of Dracula" finally comes to DVD (see below)
Although the plot has holes in it (three credited writers, including Jimmy Sangers-who wrote the original script-Peter Bryan, Edward Percy, and uncredited Anthony Hinds as well as some rewriting by Fisher and Cushing), "Brides of Dracula" still has marvelous acting from Peter Cushing and most of the cast and a number of strong set pieces created by Terry Fisher. It's a worthy sequel to "Horror of Dracula" and probably should have been called "Van Helsing: Vampire Killer" vs. "Brides of Dracula" since Dracula is no where to be found. A young French school teacher inadvertantly releases Baron Meinster (David Peel) from his castle prison when she stays at the Meinster home. The Baron proceeds to wreck havoc on the local village. Dr. Van Helsing (Cushing) shows up just in time to do battle with Meinster and is, himself, bit by a vampire. Van Helsing must cleanse himself in one of the most harrowing and brilliant sequences in the film.

The DVD won't feature any extras nor will you find it under it's title here at amazon.com. Instead, you'll find it under "Phantom of the Opera" as it is being bundled with that film (as well as the classic Fisher film "Curse of the Werewolf", "Paranoic", Cushing's marvelous "Captain Clegg" and "Kiss of the Vampire"). I've listed the ASIN code as well as the website address for the title below.

I can only hope that Universal does a solid job in the transfer as this is being released as a two disc dual sided dual layered budget release (it lists for $29.99). Evidently it's also being released in the UK although I don't know if it is going to be released as part of a pack of Hammer movies like the US release.


ASIN:B0009X770O

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009X770O/ref=cm_aya_asin.title/103-7994494-6895042?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance