- Director: Roy Ward Baker
- Writers: Anthony Hinds
- Stars: Christopher Lee, Dennis Waterman, Jenny Hanley
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 35 Minutes
- Link: https://amzn.to/3h5NfAI
Synopsis
We get a camera shot of Dracula’s castle, where a bat flies in and drips blood on the ashes of Dracula. The ashes are right where we left them in the previous movie, “Taste the Blood of Dracula.” He’s instantly rejuvenated and resurrected. Credits roll.
We see a man carrying the dead body of a girl with bite marks on her neck– or should we say The Scars of Dracula?! The villagers have had enough, and, led by the landlord of the local inn, they march on the castle in the late daylight hours. They trick Dracula’s servant Klove into letting them in. They set the mostly-stone castle on fire and then run away. The townspeople return home to find the entire village has been killed. They’re all mutilated and scarred.
Paul is having sex with Alice and misses Sarah, his brother Simon’s, fiancee’s, birthday party. Her father, the Burgomaster, comes in, and she accuses him of rape. Her father doesn’t appreciate it and screams for his arrest. The guards raid the party, and Paul hops on the back of a carriage to escape. The horses are out of control, and he gets knocked off the wagon in the middle of the woods.
Paul walks to an inn for somewhere to spend the night. There’s a girl at the inn that he charms into letting him stay. The landlord throws him out, so Paul goes to the castle for a place to stay.
Paul gets there and meets Tania, who lets him in. Dracula shows up, and they have an actual conversation. Dracula offers Paul some wine. Klove shows Paul to his room, and Dracula dines on Tania. Afterwards, Tania and Paul have sex without using their teeth. He goes to sleep, and she attempts to bite him, but Dracula intervenes and stakes her to death.
Paul tries to escape that morning and ends up in Dracula’s bedroom, watching as Drac sleeps in a coffin. It’s a room with no doors, only accessible from high up on the castle wall, and he has no way down. Simon and Sarah start looking for Paul in the countryside. Klove dismembers Tania and burns her parts up in a tub of acid. He finds the photograph of Sarah that Paul had in his pocket. He likes her a lot.
Simon and Sarah make their way to the castle. They meet Dracula, and Sarah is soon locked in a bedroom. Dracula comes in after her, but is afraid of her cross. He calls in Klove to remove it, but he sees her face and refuses.
Simon finds Sarah’s picture in Klove’s room. Klove warns him to leave before Dracula gets them. Simon and Sarah steal a carriage and ride away back to the village. Dracula seriously burns Klove as a punishment.
The town priest explains everything to Simon and Sarah. Klove kidnaps the landlord’s daughter and takes her to Dracula for dinner. Simon talks to Klove and climbs down the wall to Dracula’s secret room. He carries with him a stake, but Dracula wakes up at the last moment. Meanwhile, a vampire bat kills the priest in town that was protecting Sarah. Sarah runs through the woods towards the castle. Simon finds Paul’s body.
Sarah gets to the castle and Klove wants to help her. Dracula interrupts and hypnotizes her. She grabs the cross and breaks the spell. Dracula gets his pet bat to steal the cross away, leaving her unprotected. Dracula throws Klove off the top of the castle.
Simon throws an iron javelin at Dracula, which stick deep inside him. Dracula smiles and pulls it out; that didn’t hurt a bit. He raises the javelin to thrown it back, and it’s struck by lightning, setting him on fire and killing him again.
Commentary
Does Dracula have to stake everyone he feeds on? He’s probably the greatest vampire killer of them all if this is the case. This is also thew first mention of Dracula’s power over animals, particularly bats.
This one is bright, clearly filmed, and looks really sharp. The acting is mostly good, but Dracula’s makeup looks quite a bit different here.
There’s a neat special effect where Christopher Lee climbs up the wall of the outside of the castle. Lee also gets quite a few lines this time, and he shows a lot more personality than the animalistic Dracula he’s played up until now.