Hello, and welcome to Castle of Horror, the show dedicated to horror movies and awesomeness. We are a feat Spot top one hundred horror podcast. This week we have a look at the nineteen sixty eight Hammer Dracula film Dracula Has Risen from the Grave. This is episode four hundred and sixty two. Bear in mind if you haven't seen today's movie, we're going to be talking here about up from the perspective of horror fans who have seen it,
So warning spoilers ahead. From Denver, Colorado, I'm your host, Jason Henderson, publisher at Castlebridge Media, home of the Castle of Horror anthology. With me from Austin is Tony Savaggio, lead singer and Basins of the band Deserts of Mars and lead guitarist of the band Rise from Fireus Hey Loo, Tony Howdy Howdy, also in Austin. Mister Drew Edwards is the writer creator of the long running underground comic Halloween Man,
which you can find at Global Comics. He is a Best Writer Ringo nominee, Austin Chronic Best of Boston Award winner and a member of the Pen American Fellowship Say Hello.
Drew who has done this thing? Uh?
And finally also in Denver color. Commentary from a woman that I walked with on a on a walking tour of Haunted Denver this weekend, Julia Guzman of Guzman Immigration of Denver Cy.
Hello.
Hello. I have to say that the ghost tour was led by the host of Kessel Horror podcast, So that was pretty That's true.
It was really, it was really a blast. It was I spent like two weeks studying for that, and then and then and then we hit and it was it was great. We all learned all about haunted uh, Haunted Denver all.
Right, super entertaining, super interesting.
Oh thank you. Some of it even brought me to tears. There was like there's like one element of it that literally just made me cry every time. So I was I was really moved by that. Okay. Dracula Has Risen from the Grave is a nineteen six British supernatural horror film directed by Freddy Francis and produced by Hammer Film Productions. Francis was the director of Tales from the Crip, Who's
like one of my favorite Amicus movies. It is the fourth entry and Hammer's Dracula series third to feature Chris Furley as Count Dracula. This is number three with Chris Furlee the and the film stars Rupert Davies as a clergyman who exorcises Dracula's castle and in doing so, Udding unwittingly resurrects the Count back from the dead. Dracula Has Risen from the Grave also stars Veronica Carlson, Barry Andrews, Barbara Ewing, Ewen Hooper, and the One and Only beloved
Michael Ripper. It was followed by Taste the Blood of Dracula in nineteen seventy. All right, so let's get our opening thoughts, just a few thoughts to get us going. I cannot wait to talk about this movie. This movie is so beautiful that it has been oftentimes my desktop on my phone. Let's go Drew, Julia Toni, and then I'll go monsieur Drew. What are your opening thoughts? Dracula Has Risen from the Grave.
I think this is a really really interesting entry in uh the Dracula the Hammer Dracula canon. I think this is one of the first that that really seems like it's aimed squarely at the youth culture, and you have this much more skewed idea of religion, and you have, of course a you know, a a main character who is an atheist, which I think is a really novel
idea for this, this kind of vampire movie. I think that it's got a lot of really interesting, conflicted kind of characters, which is really really really great when you put them up against the in particular the Christopher lee Uh version of Dracula, who, above anything else about his character, is definitely not conflicted. You know, when he has a goal, he goes right for it. You know, everybody else in this movie is much more, let's say, all over the
place in their journey. I think also, unlike a lot of the other Hammer movies, and this isn't a knock necessarily because I enjoy almost I mean, you can go back through this podcast and listen. I enjoy almost every Hammer movie we review. But a lot of the characters have a much more point A to point B kind of arc to them in this movie. And I, you know, as somebody that has spent my life writing, I really appreciate that. And I don't know, I just think it's real.
You know, we'll get more into it, but especially this time watching it, because this is a movie I have seen a lot, and it is in fact one of the first DVD that I ever bought. You know, it's so it's a movie I've seen a hell of a lot, but I got even more out of watching it this time when we were doing it so close to some of the other Hammer Draculus. You know, I think it's it's it's an interesting jump in both style and and
you know text as well. And you know, I don't want to give necessarily my whole thesis statement in my opening thoughts, because I do have a lot of thoughts, but I kind of want to save it for the conversation. But needless to say, I think this is a really interesting.
Movie, wonderful. Thank you very much for kicking it off. That's great, Julia. I think you liked this one a lot. I mean you seem to what are your what are your thoughts?
I mean I liked a lot of things about it, But there was I sort of it was two minds going through, Like some of the movie felt pretty unoriginal, and then other then there was a couple of things where I was like, well that's really interesting, but it's just kind of I think, I don't know, I didn't get a whole lot from the script, but I did, like, I mean, I know you're a big fan of the set, Jason, and the yeah, the idea, a couple of the ideas
behind it, especially the you know, the atheist hero that was very interesting. So I think there's some moments that I'm looking forward to discussing and hearing what you guys have to say. But I feel like a lot of it was just kind of like, okay, like checkbox, a bunch of checkboxes for a Hammer Dracula film, which you know, I mean, that's that's what makes it a Hammer Dracular film, is that text boxes. So I think it's fine.
I love that idea that you could have a Hammer Dracula film be sort of like a James Bond movie, that there has to be like points along the way that you have to do the thing, you have to have a certain element, you have to have the plot do a certain thing. And that's really wild that just you know, this is the third Christopher Lee Dracula movie, and already there are recognizable elements that they have to hit. Tony, what are your thoughts.
Julia, I think Rain actually commented on something really similar, likes like, how many drag movies do we have? And how many this, this, this, and this now I I yeah, there you get I, you know, but even that, like I was kind of in between you and Drew because I don't know if this is Mike, this certainly wouldn't
be up there my favorite Dracula movie. But one thing I love about watching these hammered Dracula is even if there is kind of hey, Dracula's going to do this and then this is going to happen, et cetera, he is going to, you know, seduce this woman, Like there's I have yet to see one where there isn't like several things that are fascinating or interesting you know that, Oh well look, you know this one has a lot of this rooftop stuff. It's got you know, an.
Arc for the character.
It's got a you know, Draculu's helper being a priest, you know, his Renfield.
Like Andrew was saying, like.
That's that's interesting that that doesn't happen very often. So there's all these bits, you know, the while they do with while they deal with crosses, there's also a prayer slash you know, mystical like ritual element to it. As well for getting rid of a vampire in this So the way that they go through the mythos as well
is really interesting. So while it's not my favorite, I've always just really intrigued at how you get something interesting no matter what, and that that's something you can't say.
For for kind of every franchise.
So I really enjoy I enjoy that aspect perhaps the most.
I really I thank you very much to me. I really appreciate that there is a continuity such because we've talked all the time about how films of this era often wouldn't really bother attempting much at continuity, and so it's always so wonderful when they actually do, like when you leave Frankenstein's Monster underground and you find them later
underground and a block of ice, I mean. And so it's always nice when when you're like, hey, they're they're doing a continuity thing, even when they know that that people we barely people of of prior decades before home video, you know, you had no reason to expect that they
would remember how the last that ends. But I love that they do this, and and uh so, uh uh, let's just go right into it, because I want to talk about Dracula in this So first I want to talk about how he is resurrected, because Hammer Dracula always starts out dead and always gets resurrected, well, with a few, with a few, uh, with some with some exceptions, but often it feels like the cliche. It feels like one of the rules of the road that they're hitting.
And that would be the first one of the ones I'm talking about where I'm like, oh, here we go again with somebody just delivering blood to Dracula.
Yeah. So you remember at the end of Dracula Prince of Darkness, Uh, Dracula and Barbara Shelley were out on the eye and the ice was was over a river, over running water in a moat around Dracula's castle, and so the the roving anti vampire priest shot at the ice and Dracula fell in and it was great. I mean, I just never get enough of the beautiful awesomeness of that of Dracula's icy demise. It never looks real, but it looks like you're on a dark ride with Dracula
in it. And I dig that. So in this movie, Dracula's still under that ice. I just think that's great. They don't even bother to mention it to his dialogue. They're just like, Dracula died a year ago and later we find him in a river.
Well they say did they say? They do say, did you know did he not die in your mountain stream or whether something to the Okay.
Well, you didn't get he didn't flow that far. That's the other thing. He's kind of got stuck right outside the castle, like we expect him to kind of flow out to see, but nope, he did kind of got stuck on the grating or something.
Yeah, I mean so much for running water, Like, doesn't seem to have run very much right.
Well, you know, he's sort of large, so he just get hung up on something and you know, so he's there, which is so silly. I would have been great there, Like Dracula, you know, he gets his blood. He's like, oh crap, I'm just stuck in this bike because rebirth. I'm here at the bottom of a damn with a giant catfish. That's just like it's stuck there making friends with the catfish. And you know when we get out of here.
What I love about the beginning of this movie is you sort of have to accept that deer in all of the action of uh, Dracula Prints of Darkness. Yeah, Dracula mosied over to this church, killed a girl, hung her up, hung her up in the bell tower, and they went right back into the age.
It's a really good point because he had been dust prior to that, until they until they hung up Paul.
I guess if okay, wait, wait, wait, you've lost me and I just watched this movie. Why don't we start from the beginning.
Okay, Dracula Prince of Darkness the movie before this, Remember, Dracula starts out as dust because he had turned to dust at the end of the first movie. Okay, Then the two couples come to visit Dracula in his castle, and then in the night, one of them, Paul, is murdered and hung up by his heels and his throat slit, and that blood brings Dracula back.
Right.
Yes, of course, this movie establishes that wild Racula is awakened and messing around with those couples and doing all this stuff he does in that movie. He also went into this town and killed a girl and hung her up in a bell tower, and then went back to the business of Dracula, Prince of Darkness, and then he got killed on the ice.
It happened, but before Dracula was killed. It's not something else I thought maybe I thought maybe it was somebody another vampire that don't.
No, there's there's a time lapse, okay, the which is why we get all the depressed villagers that won't go the church because the shadow of the castle falls on it. It's a bit it's a bit convoluted, I admit. But one of the things that I love about it is that if it means is if this monsignor had just let the townspeople not go the church, right, none of this would have happened.
Okay, so so so on on playing monign advocate here, I would say that he would rather save their souls than save their bodies. Now, of course if they turn advantage.
Yeah, but he is. But that's the That's the thing that's kind of fascinating to me about this character is he's sort of he reminds me a bit of Father Sandor from from the previous movie, but he's in Sandor is kind of charming in his abrasiveness. This guy, when he goes abrasive, just he kind of you know, oscillates between being very warm and fuzzy and then being a
straight up dickhead. And the way he he sort of bullies this this drunken priest into going up into the mountains and performing an exorcism with him is super dickish.
And I I don't know if that was intentional, but I kind of hope it was because I think this movie has a much more complex relationship with a religious authority figure that it's sort of it's sort of getting you know, if you look at this in the the Larger Cannon of Hammer vampire films, you know, like you think think about twins of evil, like Peter Cushing's character in that who is a minister, but he's also just a straight up villain. This character, yeah, this character is
not that. But it is showing a sort of a starting of a strained relationship with with religious faith in these movies that I find really interesting.
That's the the I like. I like that you said that. I just want to point out that this You're right, that this guy is very conflicted because, for instance, when they climb up to Dracula's castle and by the way, okay, one thought at a time when they climb up to Dracula's castle. He does allow the priest to remain behind. He's like, look, it's okay if you know, if you don't have the energy.
Yeah, because his premise was that he needed a guide, basically right, But.
He leaves him behind, and because the guy's too afraid to go up, and I thought it was it's actually fairly mention of him to leave him behind, Like he's like, it's okay, you can you can wait here. You don't have to go all the way.
But you know what a bit even more minshi, Yeah, just letting the people be right and not setting in motion a Dracula rampage.
I suppose. I suppose that is true, but I just wanted to mention.
That nobody does achieve his task of making the castle Dracula proof anyway.
Coaches, Well, that that's sort of Drew's points is that is that you know these things, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Like he goes to exercise the castle and make it so Dracula can't use it, and Dracula goes on a gosh darn rampage.
The only reason Dracula goes on a rampage is because he accidentally got brought back to life, which was not the intention of the right.
Yeah, I'm just saying that this is a movie that would be better off if everybody in this movie would have been better off if he had just said, you know what, you're a drunk priest. Yeah, olive your breath, best life. You know, let's maybe build a new church that's not in the shadow of Castle Dracula. I will say, I will say, you know, I'm not saying any of
this is to the movies detriment. I actually like this stuff about this movie because I think it makes all the characters much more interesting because he is well intended, Like he's not you know, he's not cartoonish when he's being he thinks he's he thinks he's doing the right thing, and it's sort of the road the hell is paved with good intentions.
We had no idea that, you know, his buddy was gonna fall down and bleed all over Dracula's.
That day.
There's something he.
Does believe in Dracula. It's not like he's like, you're a bunch of superstitious so and so's so.
Well, nobody, I mean, nobody would have been like, yeah, come up and go, come come with me, come bleed on Dracula.
This sounds like a good thing.
And then when Dracula can't go to his house, he's like, oh, okay, well now everybody gets a Dracula problem, right, everybody gets a Dracular problem.
Now.
Christopher Lee has more dialogue in this movie than he does. You know, it's not a lot, but the way he's he is used, it's so afe, like you know, I I did it in my opening, you know, but like the who has done this thing? Who has done this thing? I love that lying delivery and how super offended he is that somebody performed an exorcism on his castle. And I I also, you know, you want to talk about Dracula in this movie. I love how personal this attack is.
This isn't just him wanting food. You know, he is mad at this monsignor, and so he's going to go direct and directly to him and fuck up his life.
I mean, think about it. That's where Dracula keeps his stuff. Yeah, you beat this too.
All my Dracula stuff is in my castle. I got one cake, now one?
What would Jason do if I just changed the lock on his office?
Right, exactly, Yeah, all my stuff.
Who has done this thing?
Exactly, But but it's even more it's even more of an affront all jokes aside by the fact that it's worms. I mean, these people are so this Dracula especially, these people are so below him in every way that he can think of the fact that they barred it from his castle home. It's just a I mean triple affront ten times a front, right, I saw you. Okay, now that's it. And you you know it's it's just such a fundamental just it's pas it's petty.
And I love it when villains are motivated by pettiness. I I it's it's both grandiose and relatable at the same time.
Well, Dracula always is all about revenge, like he often is is saying, you know, I'm going to take my time getting my revenge and spreading it across centuries. So you know, this is a common thing for him to like pick somebody and really want to want to want to get him.
Well, you know, and this it's like, you desecrated my castle, so I'm going to desecrate your niece.
Yes, yes, and and exactly so I I I want to keep talking about Dracula, But I do want to mention this castle has completely changed now in universe, we now have a there's no explanation for this at all.
But in universe, Dracula's castle is now impassable, so there's there's no road leading up to it anymore. There's no more mote, there's there's only a castle at the top of a mountain that you have to climb. So either the townsfolk have destroyed the road, which I think is a reasonable assumption, or or magic has happened and caused
the countryside to be totally differently shaped. Doesn't matter. We now have a completely different surrounding for the castle, and there's no way to just ride to You can't just ride a coach up to the castle door anymore, which makes no sense, but that's what we're going with.
And I mean it's always kind of been sort of magical, yes, and you can imagine some kind of a between the magic and the villagers probably doing something.
By the way, I did have a question.
I probably should have looked this up, but you know, we asked some experts here. How is there any mention of how they make him so bloodshot? Makeup wise?
Yeah, he has contact lenses. Contacts like that can have been fun to wear.
I was curious, that's what I figured, but I was like, well, it says.
In the IMDb that this time around it was they were better than about the past ones because they're cut smaller, so they're not like bothering in the inside of his eye. However, that makes that means that that at one point they're actually you can actually see the edge.
Right, I mean, but it's effect.
It is super bloodshot all the time, and it looks it adds to the kind.
Of here I feel like, just gets better and better every movie, so that you know, he's gorgeous.
In this film. He's absolutely gorgeous in this movie. No, he he is presently. Yes, you think you're right about the wig is he's in great shape, so he looks very like just strong and fit when he's standing there. And the lighting is so fantastic every time he shows up. It's like he always steps out of the shadows and he's his face is always lit more than anything else around him. It's just great. He looks fantastic.
Yeah. Yeah, he has these really long legs, so he's able to just like heap all over the place. His sort of animalism is on display, and it's funny to think of Dracula Christopher Lee Dracket. So when I say Dracula, unless I say otherwise, I'm just talking about Lee Dracula in this thing. But so Dracula as he showed up in nineteen fifty eight was very urbane in that one.
You know, he has a lot of dialogue and he's like, well, it'd be very agreeable if you would, if you would look into my library and make sure everything goes to blah blah blah blah blah. He talks a lot, you know, and with each movie he's you know, in the previous one he's completely mute. In this one he has a few words. We've come up with all kinds of you know,
no prize theories for it. But the bottom line is these guys don't want this Dracula talking very much, which I find strange because he has a really great voice. But on the other hand, this is the this is the hammer Dracula. This is hoppening.
Maybe he's expensive to if if you give him lines, it costs a lot of money.
You know, That would make a lot of sense to me, But I don't think that's it, because I because, yeah, don't know, I don't think that's it. I don't think that's how you know.
I I think at least in this one, they probably thought, well, he was effective as a mute in the last one. But we don't want to do the exact same thing again. So what if we just give him a minimal amount of dialogue so when he does speak it has because I feel like when he does speak in this it has a lot of impact. And you know some of that is just because you know, Christopher Lee has a
great speaking voice. Yeah, but you know two, I think you know, he seems so like this isn't Dracula just going around and randomly raising hell, Like this is Dracula very purposeful and like I'm going to this town, I'm targeting this specific group of people, and I'm going to ruin their lives.
Yes, yeah, it's yeah, that that's like. And the funny thing is in the in the nineties, eighties and nineties when the erotic thriller became a big thing, this was a major plot idea that got transported into like people in suits. Is this person like laid off my dad when I was a kid, and so I'm going to go into their life and ruin everything about their life. Like that's a that's a common trope for a kind of I.
Think it's something that we, you know, because Dracula didn't like up and honestly up until you know, we've started to get back to more of a overtly evil Dracula. But but you know, with with the popularity of Anne Rice, for a long time, we had the conflicted Dracula, who wouldn't who wouldn't operate like this, even though in Stoker's novel, you know, is obviously not conflicted at all.
And in this film you have the conflicted Renfeld.
Renfield, he's too and he's great, He's he's wonderful. And you know, I think I think Dracula, like you know, there's there's something to be said about maybe you know, other vampire characters, but I think Dracula works best in this mode, like I I, at least for my.
Yes. Yeah, Also it's it's further upfront now that I remember it, because he has even has to steal a coffin. That's true, yes, but.
It's also again coming from Hey, I am Dracula, you gotta fear me. I have my own cool coffin. Everything about this has been you know, I've gotten over the ages. I ruled a school is great, and then now that is his you know, his house has been exercised. Uh, he's even got to steal a coffin. It's just I mean, it's gotta just burn him up the whole time, Like you can't just can't do that to do you know who I am, I'm Dracula, But I think that's just awesome.
That reminds me of there was a there was a comic mini series about Doctor Doom where Doom winds up transported to another planet and he winds up there naked it alone on another planet, and so it's like, what does Doom do if he has to start from nothing? And the first thing he does is kills an animal to make some clothes and a mask, and the next thing he does is find a gang and take it over. And then by the end of the first so that the whole notion was that uber menshed like Dracula and
Doctor Doom. Sure, okay, take it all away. By the end of the movie, they're going to be built up again. And yet somehow with the problem is in these little ninety minute stories. It doesn't quite ever happen for him. He always winds up somehow killed and back to dust.
I'm picturing that that could go so many different ways, Like he could have killed like some cute fuzzy creature or something he never killed, and like, oh my god, what's wrong with you? Chinchilla's I pity you. I don't I don't fear you at all. Gurbals like, oh my god, it's doctor Doom though, like I understand.
That tumbles up beneath Doom.
Yeah, the first encounter is not like, oh man, look at this guy with his spur and he's you know, it's not a wolf pelt.
It's like a bunch of Gerbils and he's together.
I actually would probably be even more afraid of that guy, because they would be like, what the hell is wrong with.
Well, that's what I'm saying it instead of beer, it's pity.
And also that you'd be like, how long did that take you.
To make to make this code of man? Everybody hung this alien guy? He's really in dire streets. Okay, so we talked. We talked a little bit about Dracula. I want to talk some more about the Hammer universe. Once again, we are back in the Hammer versus. This is only the third Christopher Le Dracula movie. There aren't very many, so when we talk about setting the vocabulary, this is one of them. And boy oh boy. So this rooftop
set by Bernard Robinson. So instead of a small village in most of this movie, we're in a large city called Kinnenberg, and it's made up of all of these very close together buildings and people live in these multi story town homes and they have these big clay tiled rooftops that are close together. So the young people sneak out at night and jaunt around the rooftops of the city to meet one another. It is the coolest. I don't know if that's ever. I don't know if that's real.
I don't know if anybody ever lived in a town where you just sort of wander around the rooftops all night.
I don't know.
I don't care. It is a great concept for this movie, Like, yeah, all right, Connenberg, you just hang out on the roofs all the time. It is great. It's a neat looking set, just just.
Really the sets in this and the whole rooftop set up to me. Almost feels like they looked at the end of Curse of the Werewolf with a werewolf having a rampage across rooftops. Yes, and like the higher ups and Hammer was like, get me more rooftop action, Yes, because I mean it.
Oh you're so right.
Yeah, absolutely, talk about a movie that makes such good use of its it sets though, like and it does really give you a sense of geography, you know, like because you have the bakery and bar where our hero Paul lives, you have the Monsignor's apartment, and you get the sense of kind of how far they are from, which is not far.
You get the senses like it's like, you know, probably like one hundred and fifty yards, like they're they're really they're really close together. You know. You gotta like turn a couple of corners so that if you're chasing Dracula, he can turn a corner and be and be gone. Yeah.
Oh.
Also, of course nineteen sixty this is nineteen sixty eight, So Mary Poppins came out in nineteen sixty four, and it has a lot of stuff on the rooftops, you know, so there's there are definitely predecessors. Boy, it's cool I mean, I just there's also another like so that looks beautiful. So when Dracula is fleeing onto the rooftops, that's really cool. There's also a moment when Dracula comes to Veronica Carlson, who we haven't really talked about yet, and he sort
of stands in her bedroom. She's sitting on the bed and he sort of stands there half in darkness. It is so incredibly well constructed as as as a as an image that it looks almost like a poster, like it should be a poster. Really locking in all of this movie is really good.
And you know, even again back to the room top scenes, like they decided to do that because it gives you such a great uh there's so much action that can happen across those I mean, look at any daredevil anything right for Mars. Yeah, but you can you know, you can flow across that so well, and it looks it looks cool, you know, and it gives us something again,
it gives us something different. Even though there are you know, horse drawn buggies and carriages and everything like that, they give us something different here to break that up.
And that's all the rooftop stuff. You mentioned the horse drawn carriage.
You know.
So Black Park, which had played the woods of Transylvania many times in these movies, is back again playing Transylvania. So it's still Black Park. However, the reason everything else looks different is because we moved from Brace Studios to Pinewood, and which is where Star Wars would be shot in like less than ten years. So you know, it's it's it's a stranger. It's a strange adjustment to to be
in these very different sets. But but part of their move to Pinewood means that they could build a more expansive set like that rooftop set. So you know, that's how that's how it goes. Do you want to talk Drew? You had some thoughts about Uh, forgive me, I I don't think that we've covered this. We talked about it
extensively beforehand. But the whole question about the youthfulness of the main characters, and the the whole question of religion and debating religion, going to visit your girlfriend's you know, parental figures and offending.
Them, so which I think is something a lot of people can relate to.
Yeah, I mean, the last movie was a bunch of young. Married's right, it was ye.
That they don't they don't feel like this. This feels much more even though it's it's set in the you know, the whatever the ham Hammer time period is, this one is yeah, you know really yepkay huh okay, Well, the the vague Victorian past of of the Hammer Escape to use Jason's the use Jason's like, this feels very like the the you know, the hero kind of looks like the lead singer of the Who.
Yes, there's a both. There's a little bit of Jagger and a lot of Robert Daltrey. Yeah.
Yeah, and so they've style already styled him to look a little bit more rock and roll. But he feels a lot young like, like you know, the the you know, the characters in in Dracula Prince of Darkness are even if they're supposed to be comparable age like, they feel you know, they're they're married, their upper class, you know, they have a much more establishment feel about them. This guy, he's a self taught scholar. He's always reading. Yeah, he
says stuff like, well, I'm interested in truth. I'm interested in truth. He's he's an atheist, which, again incredibly novel for the incredibly christian Hammer Dracula series, and just you know, like his whole relationship with every you know, from his girlfriend to the way he interacts with his boss, to the fact that he even has a boss, and he's not like this independently wealthy, you know, nobleman. It just
feels much more contemporary. It feels like Hammer is trying to do a character that is a little more relatable and a little bit more you know again, a little bit more appealing directly to youth culture. Even the fact, even the fact that he does have a bit of a scuffle with the older religious authority figure who again acts acts out. Even though he's he's very polite, he doesn't you know, necessarily say anything disrespectful. He doesn't say, well,
you're an idiot for being religious. He just says like, well, I myself am not religious, and the mon signior acts very petulant about it afterwards.
Maybe that's the message, but also but also the message end up being that if you're not religious, then you can't win, Like because when he's trying, when he actually gets Dracula because he's an atheist, it doesn't work. But when he gets killed by a cross and there's a priest who actually manages not only to be a priest and believe, but also so break the spell of Dracula that spelled that Dracula had on him. Then he crosses himself and that's like he's like, Okay, I get it.
Now I have to be like I was wrong. So I kind of feel like that's the lesson is maybe the opposite.
By the way, before I'm exercised for Dracula's Castle, of course, I meant Roger Daltrey, and I think I did it wrong.
But I think you said the right thing. I don't. I don't.
I think I I was thinking like about five different things at once.
Just in case, just in case. Roger Daltrey, by the way, did some excellent horror work himself, especially in Legacy, which was written by Jimmy Sankster. And yeah, really really.
Yeah, it's very he's very definitely our guy is very dull Trey in his Oh yeah. And I wonder if that was if he was if that was purposefuler, I mean, makes if it was, it was a good idea.
I have to believe that it was purpose because I really do think they were trying to release, you know, and to Julia's point, you know, I you know, ultimately this is a supernatural vampire movie, so like, you know, no atheists and fox foxholes. But the fact that they
even like that's his arc is still kind of interesting. Also, the fact that the fact that you have this rubbing up against this corrupted priest who is basically bullied into being the Renfield in this movie is incredibly like I said, there is a much more even if they do end on the side of like I said, we're not at Twins of Evil yet, you know, we're not We're not
there yet. But the fact that this movie even has a slightly more complicated relationship with Christianity is you know, does feel light years away from from Prince of Darkness already. And I just think that that's that's interesting, you know, you know, and again I'm not saying it's the most complicated writing ever, but it does it does, you know, give everything maybe a bit more of a of a you know, dare I say it bite to it, and
you know the fact that you have a mind. The Mond Senior, who would have been one hundred percent you know, even in his bluntness, would have been portrayed as charming the way Sandor was the fact that he can come
across is kind of petulant and kind of dickish. That even there is again much more complicated, because as I said, you know, the young hero, you know, Paul, even when he's having this conversation like the the you know, the mon Sior does kind of make him feel like he can speak freely because he leads into well, I think, yeah, I think people are don't speak the truth, don't speak their honesty enough. And so that's that's what Paul does.
And then he kind of gets he literally gets ejected from their their home, even though again he's perfectly polite about it. He's not, you know, he's actually very respectful.
He told his story in the book that people and this is true for all of us. If I say to you, you know, you can tell me anything, you know, be honest with me. I appreciate honesty. And then you tell me that you like to kill murder rabbits or whatever, I'm not going to be like, oh, thanks for me, thanks for sharing. Horrified, be horrified.
No.
But my point is, like I'm saying, I wouldn't you know, yeah, most of us wouldn't. And even and if you would. It's probably because that's like like I wouldn't let me.
Put it this way.
I would never there's never. I'm never horrified by stories that my clients tell me because I'm fully ready for their for their story. But if somebody tells me this in the in the wild, like in my house, I might be horrified, you know what I'm saying.
So like that makes for good drama. The fact that he's that it's a it's a twist. He goes, tell me your mind and then he's offended. That's actually more interesting than if he hadn't been.
Well. This dinner, this dinner sequence is incredibly relatable. Yes, I mean, it's it's it's so you know, I mean, who of us has not had a awkward family dinner?
You know, it's it's again, and I just I have to believe, I have to believe that, you know, that's intentional, that they were trying to, you know, appeal to people that you know wouldn't necessarily you know, again, because like how how far This might only be the third Christopher Lee and the fourth you know Hammer Dracula movie, but it's still you know, Hammer had been around and had been a viable brand in horror movies for for over
a decade at this point. And you know they so they're trying to, you know, see what they can do with the formula and maybe broaden their appeal a little up.
Oh absolutely, and they're always tweaking it. You know that the the you know that these these are these movies are coming around really quickly. You know, they're not not I mean, well except for the big expanse between nineteen fifty eight nineteen sixty six, But after that, they're like the Taste the Blood and Scars one year together, you know, Dracula AD and then Satanic Rites separated by a year.
Well that's if only you're talking about the Dracula series. I mean that's not even counting you know, or Frankenstein movies or standalone hammer horror films like The Reptile or or.
Right, and that that is the kind of thing that it fills my heart with delight. I love being able to anytime you have something that amounts to kind of a family of filmmakers who keep coming back. And that's why I talk about the Beach Party movies so much. I love that those movies came like every six months like somehow they were able to just churn those things out using the same people over and over and over again.
It's it's cool, It's it's fun, all right. So let's see the Let's get back for a moment to the end of Dracula, like his fall, and then we'll come around to whatever we'll pick up whenever we missed. But oh, go ahead, Joy, what is it?
Well okay, I mean, if you want to come back to it. But we haven't talked about the females at all.
Well, let's talk about Veronica, but I definitely want to talk about the priest more too.
Yeah, okay, then we can save the big cross impalement until later. So I do want to talk about the female stars, So moving in order of lesser importance. The bar Maid who is ZENI rude.
I've been telted on behalf of the bar Maid that she is of lesser important than anything else in this film.
Yeah, okay, all right, I'm offended on her behalf, So all right, I love the Barmaide. I think she is a really neat character. Zina. She's called and she is sassy, and she has a cool high nineteen sixties wig, and you know, which makes her so distinctly a hammer creature basically where she's she's sexy and weirdly semi Victorian, but also kind of nineteen sixties. It's like, and uh, you know, she's funny, So I like what she seems like she's.
Got an unrequited, unrequited crush on.
Oh sure, yes that, But also I feel like she just wants to be loved. I mean, is that so wrong? She to quote downloads? She uh, clearly, you know, is just make I feel like this character. You know, the actors are always, not always, but often have backstories for their character that nobody else knows it was about. I feel like this actor really has quite an elaborate backstory for this character because I just there was so much to her, given that she doesn't have nearly as many lines,
you know, as some of the other characters. But I really got that she's just, you know, she's trying to make it in this world. And it's like Alice the the you know, the TV show Alice, and she doesn't have uh you know, she doesn't have money, she doesn't have education. She's a woman, so she can't really do much except for be a barmaid. And but she wants to be loved, she wants you know, companionship, and so
this guy, you know, she's really into him. And then when Dracula, when she's under Dracula spelled, then she's like, why am I not enough for you? Why do you need her like you have me? She says it twice. She gets slapped, and she still says it again. She's like, you have me. I felt bad for her that character.
Really, I I agree with you. She's she's very kind of you know, she's funny, but she's also very trad and like the way after she gets bit, the way she's like still going around the bakery with her you know, neck wound covered up. And then even after Dracula kills her, you know, you see her corpse and she's got the little budding vampire frames, but she's got this like frozen grin almost like she was killed by the Joker on
her face. And Dracula just is like destroy her, you know, like I don't even want her around as another vampire you know he has.
Yeah, he totally throws her away, I mean uses her and throws her away quite literally uses her and throws.
Her AWAYA is a user. Here is this horrible person.
And this is the well, this is kind of the first time I can remember him actively, not just oh no, something happened to one of my brides, but just like, no, you're not good enough.
I'm moving on.
Big time and you're not coming along the right the way the way it's horrible, well.
The way Dracula, uh, you know, I was talking about this before we started recording. The way Dracula goes about the two attacking the two women is very different, Like he is very abusive towards Zena. But with Maria that is the character's name, right, Maria. The other.
I kept saying movie.
With Maria, he's more tender, and he's more traditionally seductive. It's more uh you know, reserved. You know, it's not it's not the sort of uh you know, dominating you know, and then abusive. Uh you know, because we've seen Lee's Dracula in this mode somewhat before, Like he is kind of that way the Barber Shelley's character in in you know, Prince of Darkness, but he is very mean spirited towards Zena.
And you know that that sort of under under current of classism that Tony keeps talking about is I think readily apparent in that relationship. It's like, well, of course I'm not going to keep you around as one of my brides. You're you're just a barmaid, you know, Like you know, I'm Dracula. I could have any woman I want.
I should, I should, you know, have the cream of the crop, the greatest, you know, you know, like, so that's why I'm going to go after the monsignor's daughter, because you know she's she's more innocent, and you know, of course that's going.
To and the revenge.
Revenge, of course, the revenge. The revenge is never fought away, is it.
He reminds me a lot in this movie of John Makovich in Dangerous Liaisons. You know, the way he's the way he's always a predator, but he's but he's a predator against different women differently. Is very similar.
Wow, that's very much. I agreed. Agreed.
Do you try to make her a little less sympathetic, though, because even when she's confronted with trying to uh, you know, get it on with with our hero. Uh, whenever she's caught, she's like, I was gonna take your manu.
And each other? Like wait, I know what's going on.
She's not to touch his crotch, and his girlfriend's like whoa, whoa, whoa.
That whole sequence to me seems like something that probably would have been you know, is supposed to be funny. But but in contemporary lie like because you have the
hero who apparently doesn't drink that much. He says, only beer, and so he drinks three schnops and is you know, horned up and drunk, and she's gonna take advantage of him, which to contemporary eyes probably seems even sketchier than it does in this movie, because the movie, you know, that plays out much more lighthearted, even the fact that you know, he's not entirely opposed to her coming on to him while he's drunk.
I mean yes, but also like she knows exactly what she's doing. Oh no, And to the again she actually gets caught, it's still like I don't know, I'll see what I can do, what can I get away with here?
Ben Hill, Okay, we're talking about a totally different time.
But like missus Roper, you know.
And she you know she is. I think it would be even different if it was an unattractive woman like she is objectively as attractive as the lead woman, if not more. I mean she's she's styled differently. Obviously she's got more, she's got more cleavage. Her clothing isn't as nice, but you know she you have a you have a nice girl blonde and a fiery red head.
That's well, there's there's also like when she comes back to the the bar, then she's actually standing around with pretty much just a corset.
Yeah, weird, like.
No shirt basically, and so it was it was one of these things like it's it's a weird again. It goes back to that class kind of thing, like we're supposed to see her more. What they're trying to do is code it more like you know, she would get
seduced by Dracula in a weird way. But it's just you know, that's her lot, that's she's like, yeah, I'm you know, her sexuality is part of her character in that like kind of that's her, that's her brand, you know, And it contrasts it's very like I said, I think I said before, like it's a very So she's she's the Rizzo to our our Maria is Sandra d And he's definitely definitely the Hey, I'm cool, I'm I'm the Zuko of the this screw.
What's what's interesting to me, you know about her is even though the movie kind of judges her for her you know, overt sexuality, she doesn't judge herself.
Oh exactly.
Yeah, yeah, unless I guess you could read the way Dracula treats her is her own judgment of her. There's an interpretation there. But but I am choosing to not to not slut shame Zena.
But no, I mean, she's that's her. That's that's her.
Hey, I've I live in in my own terms, and I take what I want is her character, right, which again is why when she tries to use that as a vampire and gets tossed aside, it is, like you said, it's more tragic because you know, Draculas used to like, well, you know, I've got a vampire women in every town. So the fact that he chose this to just be super petty and I am completely through with this, this plaything is yeah, you know triple evil.
Well said, yeah, it is interesting to me also that her look, but we talked a little bit about, you know her, it is it is more distinctly of a it's kind of a sixties look much more of her her hair.
She's kind of got the I mean, this is a contemporary show, but it was set in this time period. She's kind of got a Christina Hendricks and Madman hairdo well.
I was gonna say, it looks like like laughing hair Like it looks like like you know, Joanne Worley and all these other people who are wearing these like shaggy shaggy wigs. It's total it is totally sixties up. Whereas Veronica Carlson, Sure she's also a sixties girl, but her hair is more classic. I mean it is long, and it is it is, you know, as straight as you can possibly get it.
And and she's she's kind of got the more boring part because she she's she's the virginal, innocent who's gonna be corrupted by Dracula. But you don't even you don't even get a full corruption the way we saw with Barbara Shelley in Prince of Darkness. You know, she's you know, she's she's more of a damsel and distress type.
She does have an innocent sexuality. I mean, she's perfectly happy to like sneak out at night and see your boyfriend. I mean.
That's why she was cast. I mean they they auditioned her because James Carrera saw a picture of her coming out of the waves in a white bikini allah Bo Derek on the front page of a tabloid and was like, I want her.
Yeah, yeah, isn't well.
And it is implied that she stays overnight with with with Paul.
So this is what I mean about in innocent sexuality. Like they are sexual, but they are not corrupt. They are there's something in a and and kind of.
Not well, and they're they're in love and you know, as it turns out, you know, his love for her, like you know when when the ship hits the fan, you know, the Mon Senior realizes that Paul's love for her is you know, what's really going to save her, and you know there there's again like that's you know, the Mond Senior has an arc. You know it's a small arc. But a character like like like father Sandor, as much as I enjoy him, does not have an arc.
That's correct.
He starts out one way, he ends one way. Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, as much as I love him, does not have an arc. In any prior Hammer movie, the Mond Senior would have begun the movie one way and ended the movie one way.
I feel like they're taking your class, and I'm so thankful for it. Honestly, thank you.
You're you're so kind. You know, like the mod Senior has to kind of realize that he was at least a little bit wrong about Paul. And I love this movie for that because, I you know it it gives it a distinct flavor that is slightly different from all the other Hammer movies. And you know, also the fact that, you know, the Monsignor is rendered powerless by another priest.
You know, he's he's chasing, you know, across the rooftops and he literally gets brained in the head by this This the the Ghoul priest that we've been following through this entire movie. And again even that character gets an arc. So you know, it's it's this is a pretty good structured little movie. You know, it's it's not perfect, but.
No, I that's a good point. And it's one of the dangers, of course, because these movies oscillate between different characters. In the next film, if I recall, there's almost too much time spent with the supporting characters and not enough with Dracula. But this one kind of I think sets the right balance. And by the way, I don't remember completely, so we'll find out for sure when we watch Taste the Blood to see if if it's if it is imbalanced or not all right?
Before we move away from Veronica Carlton Carlson, do you want to Jason, do you want to talk about meeting her?
I mean, I my story of meeting her is probably no more interesting than you know lots of She was a very lovely person, and she met many people, and she was always just incredibly gracious. So Veronica Carlson wound up being a painter in California and would often go and do panels. I've I chaired a couple of panels with Veronica crossing on them, one of them that had Veronica Carlson and any grid pits actually, and she was
just just an incredibly funny and kind lady. And I remember once somebody asked a very complicated question, and that
somebody might have been me. So if I were a better storyteller, I would have said that this question was mine, But I can't actually remember for sure, But I remember the question was something like it was something something like, you know, given the rapid expansion of of you know, the economy in the mid century, do you think that your characters were trying to show a change and more? And and she was like, could you repeat that question?
Like like.
It was this it was this sort of like a dense question.
What in the absolute hell are you talking about?
I really, I'm just here for a panel. I'm not I'm not this is not a prefet I'm not in a college course.
Yes, neat lady. You know, she did not brook any disrespect towards any of her co stars, you know.
Uh.
She her her discussions of Christopher Lee were complicated because she earlier she would always say that when when she was young, she completely looked up to him, and when she was older, she was irritated that he was such a jerkuad about horror movies, you know, and she felt like, this was the work that we did, you know, and
we were proud of the work that we did. And if somebody insulted hammer or said something ignorant, like, you know, and if they were low budgeted or she was like, these weren't low budget these were major films, you know, from a from a very important, uh, very important studio of the era. So she was very quick to even things out and correct things and going, let me make let me make clear like what hammer was, and and and I think Chris has been unfair and here's why. So she was a neat lady.
You said this wasn't interesting.
I know, he sounded so dismissive at first, and then he goes into like fully documentary level analysis.
Oh that's kind of neat lady. Hot, my god, even even yeah, no.
Always, even in her in her older her older years.
Well, the thing is, I'm now probably older than she was when I when I hosted her, No doubt that's true.
But anyway, anyway, well, I mean, Jason does have an interesting conception of time. So in his mind, right, he's older.
Yeah, in Jason's mind, I'm sixty five.
So yeah, what are you talking about? What does that mean?
You always you always ate me?
No, no, us, I'll say, you know, you know, we're pushing sixty when we're not remotely pushing sixty.
So I'm going to be sixty when some day, some day.
Because because Jason is really looking forward to being an old man, it's like his his he's he's worked his whole life to reach the stage of scholarly, you know, like, is you want to be the professor right?
You know, so it's yeah, you know if this is a ride, though, honestly I think actually I'm ready for it to stop. That that you're actually right, But I don't think.
Jason, do you need do you need a do you need a hug?
He just means he's at he's at the point that he wants to be at professor wise.
So he wants you want you want this is this is peak Jason, And you don't want to you don't want to aid. You just want to stop aging it.
Yeah, yeah he doesn't.
I don't think he's got a death wish.
He just wants to stop.
But that that that briefly came out that way, and I was like, oh that got dark.
No no, no, no, no, I appreciate. Yeah, Okay, I want to talk about the death of Dracula.
So no, no, no, no, no, no no no. What else did we miss and talk about the priest?
Okay? Elwen Hooper obviously he left a bigger impression on you.
Then is the m v P of this this movie starts with his church dude gets traumatized. He spends the rest of the movie being abused by everybody he comes across, and he is so sympathetic to me. You know, he this actor is doing you know, his character doesn't even have a name. He's just called priest, and he's doing so much heavy lifting here, you know, like he's basically bullied by the mind Senior. Then he his his head
wound resurrects Dracula. Dracula. You know, it's not even like Dracula enthralls him or you know, gives him his blood or anything like, there's none of that. It's just like just like, okay, bitch, you're my goal now, you know. And and man like, first of all, like you know, you're saying, like the ending of this movie would not have happened the same way with this guy. This guy also has an arc. He starts out one way and he comes back to his faith at the very end
of the movie. But before that, like the scene where he has to burn Zena's body, yea so deeply sad, like it's so messed up and so gnarly. And then also the scene where he's having to dig up and dump a body to get a fresh coffin for Dracula. All the facial acting that this guy is doing. You know that this is one of the reasons why I love Hammer is they find these like British character actors, which, by the way, Michael Ripper also great in this movie.
But yeah, but you know this this guy, you know, he's taking again a very minimal character and he's he's doing so much with it because like they find these guys with these great faces and they do so much with it. Like he's so oh deep. This is such a deeply sad character to me that I I I was.
I just loved it. And you know the way he he just has this put upon like even when he's trying to pretend to be normal when he enters the bakery and it's like trying to rent a room, and he he never looks directly at anybody, like you know, all the choices the s guy makes gives this character so much more than you know was probably on the page.
And sorry.
It's also interesting that again, since he's a priest, it's a it's a twisting of the tail like Dracula I'm sure directly was like, yo, yeah, this time I got a priest. How how evil is that? Yeh, Like I was able to to I don't have my house.
But I have corruption all over well, and it's it's like the perfect it's the perfect you.
Know, kind of front for Dracula because no one, you know, even Paul the atheist, you know, at you know, towards the end of the movie, you know, Paul is like running back to get his stuff and he runs into the priest, and of course he takes the priest back to the mon Senior's house, even though this guy is the person that's caved the mon Senior's skull in. But you know, people are just trained, especially in this world,
to trust clergy people. So it's kind of a perfect you know, foil for Dracula and a perfect well not a foil, but a perfect you know, daytime errand boy for Dracula. No one will suspect this guy.
I mean to the point where even when they try to do the rituals that they need to do and he's like, yeah, yeah, I can do that. Oh wait, I'm corrupted, Like oh I just I mean, it's it works really well well.
And the way, you know, again going towards where where you know, Jason wants to end. You know, he's the one that's saying, like, well, what you know, if you don't say a prayer, Dracula is not going to die.
Okay, I do want to talk about that, So before we get to the end, let's talk about that business. So they come close to killing Dracula at one point, and Paul.
Fa So this is a new concept and lots of people have complained about this over the years.
All right, this this concept that that our young hero can can stab a big old steak through you know, that Paul can drive a stake through Dracula's heart and then it doesn't go the way you expect, which is kind of cool for any horror movies when you're trying to kill something and it doesn't die the way you expect, because Dracula starts scrabbling about and hissing and doing all this, but he's not dying. And the priest says, well, you have to pray. I mean, we've never heard this before.
I know, I think that's consistent. I think that's consistent because all the other films, it's not nobody prays out loud, but all the other films whenever somebody puts their fingers together in the shape of a cross. What makes it a weapon is the faith. And so I think that's that's just understood that that people when they're when they're
killing Dracula, it's their faith that's killing Dracula. And so I think even though he's not saying a prayer quote unquote, they're not saying quite prayers, they're still praying in their soul or whatever.
I am totally down with that.
But I think an atheist in in this universe is sort of like a unicorn, you know. I don't think there is that many atheists in in the.
Hammer louted ones, just like there aren't out gay people.
Yeah, I mean, look at look at the way they reacted when he said he was an atheist. They basically was like, well, you're not having any cake, Get the heck out.
Of here, get out.
Yeah, And you know, you know, I think what's good about this is it gives you know, both of these characters something to do in the end of the movie, because like the priest basically just ends up right back in the thrall of Dracula. Like the very next scene he's he's driving the hearse with Maria in tow and in the very end he redeems himself. You know, he's the one that starts to say a prayer, you know, even though it seemingly his heart gives out while doing it.
And you know that's even you know, there's some subtle stuff done with this character visually, like you know, even though he's he's got the monkering throughout the entire movie. He starts the movie with darker hair, and by the end of the movie he's got grayer hair, as if like his service to Dracula is literally just sort of sucking the life out of him.
Well, and I haven't talked about vampires as a metaphor for addiction in a while, so let's do that. That That's the thing is that he is constantly being pulled back, and he tries to go into recovery, He tries to go to you know, Dracula rehab, and then he just gets sucked right back in again. You know, he says, I'm weak willed or whatever he says, so I can't exactly what, but he talks about how he's easily you know, he just keeps getting controlled, and then the other guy's like, well,
I'm going to command you. I'm gonna you need to listen to me. Now, I'm going to take take it the reins or whatever.
And it's not quite he's literally an alcoholic too, So like this guy's battling addiction on two fronts and you know, like he's he's he's a lot more complicated than Clove, you know who we just and I again so interesting, you know, and again the the the the young hero isn't really like yeah, I guess he's the one that tosses.
He tosses.
This might be my favorite death of Dracula in any of these movies because it's the most hardcore Dracula falls. It gets impailed on a giant cruci.
Yes, and he again with this Dracula is so wild because he's sexy when he's like kissing Ronica crossing on the cheeks, and then he is bug like when he is impaled on this on this cross like he just is like a spider that's been that's somehow been stuck through with something and it's he's grotesque.
Yeah, he does, like although it is turned about fair play because I gotta say Paul gets the award for most thrown around by Dracula.
Yes, the movie, he's constantly like.
Whoa knocked He gets knocked around our Dracula. Or maybe this is just the most knockdown Dracula. Contracula knocks down priests, he knocks down his servants, and he knocks down his love interests, and he knocks down Paul multiple times, just throwing him all over the police.
Dracula is not around in this movie.
You're totally ready.
He's he's on a roaring rampage of revenge and he aroars and he rampages.
I have to read to you guys this this bit in IMDb. It says Sir Christopher Lee love to recount the following tale. Hammer was given a Queen's Award to Industry while shooting the final scenes of Dracula impaled on the rocks with a group of British government dignitaries watching as Lee thrashed around, screaming and pouring with gore. After the scene wrapped, a minister turned to his wife and said, that man is a member of my club.
Gosh, yeah, this is when Christopher Lee is. There are a couple of times when chrispher Lee really kind of earns his his pay, like one is when he gets to do really good monologues, which rarely happens in a hammer, and then also just all these physical bits. He's very good at this, you know, And yeah, that's a that's
a good ending. Although honestly, if we had to at this moment name our favorite hammered hammer Dracula deaths, I think the the one from Dracula a D where he gets where he gets killed by the wagon wheel is better. I think that that's that's really that's even cooler. But this is I just.
Think the overkill of him being staked with a giant cross appeals. And apparently, you know, apparently I wasn't the only one that this left an impression on, because I mean this, this gets echoed in Monster Squad because Dracula gets impelled on a giant cross in that movie as well. So and you know, I have to believe that's a
direct reference. You know, there's somebody should do a h like a clip reel of all the times dra not just Christopher Lee, but like every Dracula, like all the time Dracula has been killed in a movie, and we could just pick out which which Dracula had the juiciest death.
Yes, indeed, that's a good idea. That would be a really cool just reel of of Dracula's deaths.
The many deaths of Dracula.
Yeah, alright, I believe that covers the whole of the film. So I would like to come around, uh and get our final thoughts and then get into our endorsements. So where did we did we start with? Drew? It was Drew? Yes, mister Drew. And you've been Drew. You've done such a good job in this whole discussion of keeping us on you know, and you know everybody's been so super wise, but I I appreciate that you've kept us on track,
or kept me on track. And god, no, no, you're forgetting the awesomeness of this or that.
So not just that, but it was peak Professor Edwards in this episode.
Oh well, gosh, I I that is what I needed to hear today. I was having a low self esteem. Oh and and that this just perked me right back up. So thank you? I yeah, I what First of all, what a lovely discussion we got out of this. I In case you could not tell by my enthusiasm throughout the entire discussion, I really, I really loved this movie, and you know, I'm glad that this is one of
the first DVDs I ever thought. Yeah, and I'm still watching that same DVD decades later, so that DVD has held together nicely and has served me served me well. So thank you hammer Box set I bought in the early aughts. But uh yeah, this is a fantastic Hammer horror movie, and I think a transitional vampire film, and I think, uh yeah, everybody should go out and watch along with us as we work our way through all these these Hammer horror classics.
Wonderful. Thank you very much. Julia. What are your thoughts?
I think the discussion has made me realize that I like this movie more than I thought I did so because there's definitely, like I said, there were some things that I thought were you know, kind of like cliche, but but really there's a lot of interesting stuff that we've kind of uncombed as we've been talking about it. So very interesting discussion and an interesting, interesting film as well.
Thank you, Tony. What about you?
I think I have come around more. I mean, I thought it was a good movie, but I think the discussion really helps. Yeah, it's kind of what's fun about doing this right, Yeah, watching it coming out of theater talking about it, it's great. I yeah, I like the brutality of this Dracula. I really still enjoy the rooftop setting is just something to break it, break things up.
I think that's neat. Overall, it's it's still fun. And even if it's again, any Hammer Dracula, even if it's not your favorite Dracula, you're always gonna get something neat or a twist here and there, and that can't be said about everything. And that's another reason why I like those films.
That's that's really that's really wonderful. Thank you so much. Uh, this one always the first thing that I go to is just the look of it. But I I feel like there is no such thing as a perfect Hammer Hammer film. There are some that are super close, you know. I feel like Brides of Dracula is probably as close to a perfect Hammer film as you get. But what it's more like is that there are just many, many facets of Hammer and everyone has an element of what
would make the perfect Hammer movie. And this one has several really cool ideas, such as you know, alternating sect and animalistic Christopher Lee and also these amazing sets and it's this is a really fun one and gosh, I would love to see this one giant on a giant screen. I would just that would be so cool. So thank you very much. I've really enjoyed discussing it all right, endorsements. Dying to know because it's been a couple of weeks since we were together, Drew, what do you have for us?
So I watched a Swedish I guess you know, kitty horror film for lack of a better term, called nelly Rap Monster Agent on Prime and it was just charming and delightful. It's about a young girl named Nellie who goes to stay with her odd uncle Hannibal, who, unbeknownst to her, is what is called a monster agent, which is basically like a group of monster hunters, and she's soon drawn into this world of vampires and werewolves and everything.
But she ends up befriending a girl, a character that is what they call a Frankensteiner, which is like their version of Frankenstein's and who doesn't want to be a monster, she wants to be a baker. And it's just so cute and the monster effects were actually surprisingly really well done. Like all the makeup and everything, and I just found it very, very charming. It is a kid's film, so
you're mileage may vary. But as a new father, I find that I really enjoy coming across these movies that are genre adjacent, but I can watch with no trepidation with my daughter. So you know, I could see this being a go to Halloween movie for and then the next few years because it's it works very well on that level.
Wonderful. Thank you very very much, Julia. What about you?
I can't remember what we what we talked about last time, so I'm going to We've.
Talked about the Honor Farm just before there.
No, no, no, I'm saying last I can't remember what I already endorsed last time we met, so I don't know which movies I've seen since then. But yes, no, I know that the Denver Goes Tour. There's a bunch of places that the Jason researched, and one of them is this awesome, such a cool bar that we'll have to
take you guys to when you're in town. That is it's called Honor Farm, which it's a name that I just keep forgetting because it doesn't it feels like it should be haunted something or something, but but there's like, you know, these all these skeletons everywhere, and it's it's just a really cool place. But no, as far as things that I've watched, I just went to see the Life of Chuck, which is actually not at all what I expected it to be. It's very strange. It's a
really strange movie, really cool. I liked it a lot, super starks that had cast. Even though Tom Hidleston's on the poster, he didn't show up until like a third of the way in. So it's very interesting. Based on a Stephen King novella, and so that explains some of the weirdness of it. But I recommend it. Don't don't assume anything based on the small trailers that you may have seen.
Wonderful. Thank you very much, Tony. What about you? So I'm seeing that tomorrow. I'm stoked.
I did enjoy twenty eight years later. I think it's a much artsier film than people might think it is, and bonkers in places that people that were completely unexpected. But I'll try to take too long. But my big endorsement is it's Chattanooga Film Festival time and you know, I've talked about it in previous years. Do a great, just a fantastic job on their virtual fest. It started when they had to pivot during lockdown and they've kept it.
And it's really hard to get distributors to send their movies because now they're like, hey, I can see these in theaters. Now, why would I let you stream my movie? So Chattanooga Film Fest gets a lot of stuff, but there's you know, I want to say there's close to thirty at least virtual things, and some of them are time you know, they show it that specific days for rights.
But I've just really enjoyed Since Friday, I've seen like fifteen movies, so you know, I you know, I'm fitting them in amongst you know, actually doing stuff adult things and band stuff and everything like that. But I've tried to stay up late and watch as many movies as possible. They also do a great job of they have this lineup that's midnight movies they call the Red Eye Movies, and each night there's a movie like a secret movie,
and those have been great. Last night was Killer Party, which was an eighties you know slasher, kind of the typical slasher boner comedy kind of stuff, you know, with some fool new wave and also you know hard rock metal soundtrack, like all the things that make a good eighties of that time period. There was an anime block. They've shown the Horror Party Beach, So every night this week I'm looking forward to, you know, since since they started,
I've been looking forward. I've also seen some great movies that several films that has a documentary extracismode the transgressive legacy of classificata s and it's about these s classification horror movies and erotic movies that happened after the fall of Franco right, and that was fascinating. And there's you know, actors and actresses and directors and and it's just it's also a history lesson about what was going on in
that era. There's a band and another doc The most Australian band were about a punk band called the hard Ons. There's you know, there was a music related horror, low budget horror pittern Oster and the Mission of Light. There's a Hollywood movie Operation Jaca, Liga Fade and Blood, which is a weird Collywood plus some people from Israel at
the time. This is a couple of years back, a year or two back, have a thing and a really fascinating documentary called Bob Morgan's just going to tell some stories. And Bob Morgan, uh, you know, is in Kentucky and he lived with he knew Faulkner and is this artist. And it starts as as you know, him being this kind of quirky uh you know, found object artist, but then goes into you know, queer Kentucky and you know what growing up as a gay man in this area
and the further history of that. It that turned out to be something I had, you know, didn't expect. And that's the greatness of to me, Chattanooga, I've I've as a virtual fest has turned out these just a lot of it's very indie and you know, I don't want to go too long. But a couple of others. There was one called Hacked, a double entendre, rage fueled karma. That's you know, crass in the good ways that I
like it things to be crassed. But it started as this filmmaker got scammed for twenty grand right right when they were about to buy heat and his wife were about to buy a house. And so he turns that scam into part of the movie and then also kind of this revenge on the person who scammed him by way of the movie. So uh, you know, it's his own like Catharsis as a movie. There's a crime one called The Misadventures of Vincent Hick. And again I'm trying
to see as many as much as possible. There's you know, I talked less about the horror side other than Peter Nostro, but there's there's a bunch of stuff, and you know, there's, like I said, I'm hoping to see you know, I'm hoping to catch by the by Friday that it ends. My goal is to watch all twenty seven or thirty entries if possible, but we'll see how far I get. But they do just such a great job, and they're really passionate about all the good things and you know,
being good people and respecting film. And I can't say enough good things about the way that they run the virtual fest that if you want to, there's a discord channel all of this stuff, like being excited about filming and keeping that hybrid because it's also you can buy hybrid ticket so you could go watch films in the theater. There's exclusives to the to the actual in person fest, and then you can watch as much as you want on the virtual fest as well, if you If you
that's your bag. So I'm always you know, I know I'm spreading it pretty thick, but you know, these kind of fests are things that I dig and they give us. They give a really cool voice to independent filmmakers and that doesn't always happen regardless, and I think that that's
that's pretty rad. Hopefully I'll all when come back the next week, I might have more, we might do a wrap up, but I still think that they're just they're doing good stuff and I think they should be commended for that in addition to me just loving to watch a buttload of movies.
That's that's fantastic. What what's the name of the festival again? The Chattanooga Film Festival. Chat Chat is just simply the Chattanooga Film Festival, all right. I well, I'll make sure it gets in the in the show in the show notes. Chat film Fest is there is their thing, and it's they're just great. I wish I'd had a chance to watch the Horror Party Beach with you, because I love I love Yeah. Well, I think they offer I don't know.
In the past, it's also worked that you could rent, like I bought a I bought a virtual film pass and they go through events. But there might be you know, tickets where you can just see, you know, they had it from I know last year you could buy a single ticket, but I haven't checked since I already had a pass.
I needed research that. But yeah, it's super cool, wonderful. I have two quick endorsements. One is, I don't know if anybody else will appreciate this the way I do. But in nineteen ninety five, there was an anthology series called Picture Windows from Norm Jewison, and I've been looking for it for years and years and years because it was an anthology of dramas, often crime or sexy or horror.
But the trick was every single story was based on a famous painting, so like the famous painting of the clown sitting at a table with a cigarette danging from his mouth becomes a crime story with Alan Arkin, you know. And it had it had these great actors and you know, really good creatives behind it. So nineteen ninety five and then it disappeared, it like just went poof. You couldn't find picture windows anywhere. Well, anyway, it's all been it's all been uploaded to YouTube, so you can see all
six episodes, and I'm thrilled. The other thing is Lukasman, as you know, who is a member of our cast, is the chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association in Colorado, and she spent last week acting as one of the hosts of the national conference for AILA here in Denver, Colorado. And so she was like dedicating her whole life to this for like a long, long long time. It was
a really big deal. So I just want to like endorse that it was an amazing amount of work and really impressive and I'm just so proud of them.
So there you go, very nice. Thank you of course.
So and that's it. We hope that you're doesn't hate me. But as you picked that.
In my brain because this is how I think I am picturing the episode that is that the dogs playing cards?
Yes?
Oh my god, like what would that be? Yes? I if I ever get another office, because right now in my office, I used to have a really elegant office that was painted like a dark, sumptuous red and it was all wood. And in this office since it was painted blue, I decorated it with movie posters. But I think in the future next office I have will be velvet, velvet paintings like yeah, you know, so it'll be dogs playing poker and Jesus meeting mothers and and.
My very Italian Catholic grandfather had a bullfighter oh boy, yeah.
Oh and and girls with castanets like yeah, yeah all that. Yeah, yes, Can I decorate one of the rooms with with.
Your your room? You can redecorate your room.
It stays in your room. That's that's our that's our.
Like, I don't care what's in your office because I don't have to go in there is the nature of the Beast.
But I know we're talking about that series.
All I could think about is what is the dog play?
Yeah? Well, or you know, it'd be funny if you did Night Hot. Actually, if you rebooted, because it's a long time ago now right, if you rebooted Picture Windows. What I would do is an episode called Nighthawks, But you can somehow find a way to go from one Nighthawks to another, So you'd like start with Nighthawks and then you'd wind up at like the one with Marilyn Monroe and then you wind up at the one with the monsters, like because there's a million ripoffs of Night
of Night. So yeah, that would that would be really funny.
That would be fascinating. Yes, I mean I'm down with all of this.
Yeah, so anyway, yeah, picture Windows that I am a sucker for a late nineties anthology series, so certainly Picture Windows. But also, what's the one that's a vampire? The Hunger? Holy shit, The Hunger is so good. Jesus Christ, I had no idea. It is really good, and nobody ever talks about it like it's like it never existed. So yeah, anyway, all right, everyone be excellent to one another. Thank you so much, and we will talk to you really soon.
Come to the Facebook page. Tell us about your favorite anthologies and and why I'm crazy, uh to to like The Hunger so much? Byeway by perfect m m
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