Movie Review: The Brides of Dracula (1960)

Synopsis: After her carriage driver abandons her in a Transylvanian village, French schoolteacher Marianne Danielle accepts an invitation to stay with the Baroness Meinster despite warnings from the locals. While there, she discovers the Baroness' son chained to a wall and frees him, not knowing he is the vampire, Dracula. As Dracula begins feeding on the villagers, the only hope is the vampire hunter Van Helsing.

Who's in it? The movie stars Peter Cushing, Marita Hunt, Freda Jackson, Yvonne Monlaur and David Peel.


Review: I've been trying to get back in the habit of watching classic movies in my free time and came across The Brides of Dracula last night on Amazon Prime. It's a film I've wanted to watch in the past but never got around to seeing. I changed that early this morning and, overall, thought it was an OK film.

David Peel made a halfway decent Dracula, though I'm not really sure if he was supposed to be the real Dracula or just being referred to Dracula as a reference. He brought the two main things I would expect from the character, approachable but with the ability to turn on the evil at a moment's notice. In fact, had it not been for the title of the movie, I might have been fooled into believing he was just a prisoner and not one of the bad guys.

Peter Cushing has always made an awesome Van Helsing. I've seen him play the role multiple times and he has always been very believable. And while I haven't seen Yvonne Monlaur in any of her other movies, she did a decent job as well, bringing both beauty and believable emotion to the screen.

Of course, the whole reason the movie is referred to as The Brides of Dracula is the protagonists don't just have to contend with one vampire, they are forced to fight multiple. This adds an additional element to the movie many other vampire/Dracula films don't have, putting Van Helsing up against difficult odds.

The final fight scene in the movie is a good one and while I do question the effectiveness of some of the methods Van Helsing used, they were admittedly unexpected enough to keep things interesting, especially since it was unclear if the hero would escape unscathed or would wind up ending the movie a vampire himself. More films in this genre could learn from that.

Final Opinion: If you like vampire movies, especially classic monster films, this is one that needs to be on your list.

My Grade: A

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kwik Trip Kitchen Cravings Tailgater Pizza

Image
  When my wife and I decided on pizza for dinner last night, I stopped at Kwik Trip with the intention of just buying a cheap, frozen, cheese pizza for our daughters since we already had another pizza in our freezer. However, as I was walking up to the checkout counter, this particular pizza caught my eye and, even though I wasn't crazy about spending $8.99 when I already had another option at home, I was intrigued enough to make the purchase anyway. We ended up making the pizza in the oven when I got home. After trying it, I have to say it is one of my favorites. One of the things, in particular, that really stood out for me when it came to this pizza was the toppings. The combination of sausage and cheese curds was both unique and delicious, especially since the curds were fresh enough to still squeak when we were eating them. The pizza also proved to be surprisingly filling, both because of the thicker crust and the generous amounts of toppings and cheese.  Normally, when ...
Read more

Movie Review: Damsel (2024)

Image
Synopsis: Elodie, the oldest daughter of Lord Bayford, reluctantly agrees to an arranged marriage with Prince Henry in the far-off land of Aurea because her bride price will provide much-needed relief to the starving residents of her homeland. When they arrive for her wedding, Elodie quickly warms up to the idea after seeing Aurea's beauty and even falling in love with Henry. However, soon after the wedding, she discovers it has all been a farce and she instead is thrown into a cave as a peace offering for the dragon living inside. Who's in it? The movie stars  Millie Bobby Brown ,  Ray Winstone ,  Angela Bassett ,  Robin Wright  and  Nick Robinson Review: My wife and I decided to watch a movie late yesterday evening and after striking out on horror films lately, ended up changing things up a bit with the fantasy adventure, Damsel . My wife thought it looked good from the trailer and I enjoyed Millie Bobby Brown in the Enola Holmes movies, so we had cau...
Read more

Movie Review: Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie (2023)

Image
Synopsis: Despite showing improvement after solving his wife, Trudy's murder, the pandemic caused Adrian Monk to regress, and he now plans on killing himself after Trudy's daughter, Molly, is married. However, a day before the wedding, Molly's fiancé, Griffin is killed while bungee jumping. While a coroner's inquiry determined it was an accident, Molly believes Griffin was killed by Rick Eden, a billionaire and wannabe astronaut Griffin was about to expose for murder. Even though he isn't convinced by Molly's theory, he delays his suicide so he can investigate and bring her closure. Who's in it? The movie stars Tony Shalhoub , Traylor Howard , Ted Levine , James Purefoy and Caitlin McGee. Review: I used to be a huge fan of the television series Monk and still occasionally watch reruns when I can't find anything else on TV. So, when I heard there was going to be a movie based on the series, I was intrigued albeit a bit skeptical. I finally had a chan...
Read more