TV Guide Magazine
Bloody well done. Hammer finally gave the Dracula legend the treatment it deserved here, entrusting it to the brilliant director of The Curse of Frankenstein, Terence Fisher, who injected glorious life into the familiar material.
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
Director
Terence Fisher
Cast
Peter Cushing,
Christopher Lee,
Michael Gough,
Melissa Stribling,
Carol Marsh,
Olga Dickie
Genre
Horror
In this British gothic horror film based on Bram Stoker’s infamous 1897 novel, the titular vampire hunts and is hunted by a group of civilians-slash-vampire hunters who are determined to end the parasite’s reign of terror — no matter the cost. The first in the series of Hammer Horror films.
TV Guide Magazine
Bloody well done. Hammer finally gave the Dracula legend the treatment it deserved here, entrusting it to the brilliant director of The Curse of Frankenstein, Terence Fisher, who injected glorious life into the familiar material.
BBC
It's a film that deserves recognition as one of this country's finest horror movies, a sexually charged Gothic nightmare featuring standout performances from Hammer stalwarts Lee and Peter Cushing, who stars as vampire hunter Van Helsing.
TV Guide Magazine by Staff (Not Credited)
Bloody well done. Hammer finally gave the Dracula legend the treatment it deserved here, entrusting it to the brilliant director of The Curse of Frankenstein, Terence Fisher, who injected glorious life into the familiar material.
BBC by Jamie Russell
It's a film that deserves recognition as one of this country's finest horror movies, a sexually charged Gothic nightmare featuring standout performances from Hammer stalwarts Lee and Peter Cushing, who stars as vampire hunter Van Helsing.
The Observer (UK)
Superb direction from Terence Fisher and a crisp, clean script by Jimmy Sangster are complemented by a rapturous score from James Bernard. [27 Oct 2013, p.6]
The Observer (UK) by Staff (Not Credited)
Superb direction from Terence Fisher and a crisp, clean script by Jimmy Sangster are complemented by a rapturous score from James Bernard. [27 Oct 2013, p.6]
Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington
A colorful version of Bram Stoker's deathless tale of the bloodsucking count has Christopher Lee as a suave Dracula and Peter Cushing as his nemesis Von Helsing. [02 Oct 1998, p.J]
Variety
Both director Terence Fisher as well as the cast have taken a serious approach to the macabre theme that adds up to lotsa tension and suspense.
Variety by Staff (Not Credited)
Both director Terence Fisher as well as the cast have taken a serious approach to the macabre theme that adds up to lotsa tension and suspense.
Empire
By deviating from Stoker's text, Hammer was clearly signalling a new direction in horror. It was garish, it was sexy and it was never afraid to be gory.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
It's often entertainingly creepy in a twilit world of its own.
Chicago Reader by Dave Kehr
Peter Cushing carries most of the ho-hum script as Dr. Van Helsing, though the well-lit color photography, central to the Hammer formula, can't compare with the shadowy magnificence of Nosferatu (1922) or Dracula (1931).
Empire by Bob McCabe
By deviating from Stoker's text, Hammer was clearly signalling a new direction in horror. It was garish, it was sexy and it was never afraid to be gory.
The New York Times
Perhaps the constant hunt for hemoglobin is slowing our villain down, for this time there are strong indications that the once gory plot is showing definite signs of anemia.
The New York Times by A. H. Weiler
Perhaps the constant hunt for hemoglobin is slowing our villain down, for this time there are strong indications that the once gory plot is showing definite signs of anemia.
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