SCARS OF DRACULA
Director - Roy Ward Baker, Screenplay - John Elder [Anthony Hinds], Producer - Aida Young, Photography - Moray Grant, Music - James Bernard, Music Supervisor - Philip Martell, Special Effects - Roger Dicken, Makeup - Wally Schneidermann, Art Direction - Scott MacGregor. Production Company - Hammer/EMI Film Productions. 1971.

Cast: Christopher Lee (Count Dracula), Dennis Waterman (Simon Carlson), Jenny Hanley (Sarah Framsen), Christopher Matthews (Paul Carlson), Patrick Troughton (Klove), Michael Gwynn (Priest), Wendy Hamilton (Julie), Anoushka Hempel (Tania)

      Count Dracula is believed dead by local villagers after they have set fire to his cliff-top castle. Meanwhile, Sarah and her boyfriend Paul are enjoying her birthday party when it is interrupted by the Burgomaster’s officers looking for Paul. Because of his dalliance with the Burgomaster’s daughter, Paul realizes he better take off in a hurry.
      In the dead of night he stumbles upon an inn but is refused entry. Back on the road, he comes across an untended black coach. He climbs in and falls asleep. When he wakes up, the coach is inside a bleak, forbidding castle. A lovely firl, Tania, appears and invites him in. He is quick to comply, and minutes later, comes face to face with the owner of the castle.....Count Dracula! The Count is coldly polite. He explains that recently some people tried to destroy his castle, but only partly succeeded. He offers Paul a bed for the night, and although unnerved by his host’s appearance and manner, Paul is too tired to refuse. He is shown to his room by Klove, Dracula’s crippled servant.
      Paul’s disappearance worries Sarah and his brother, Simon, so they set out to try to find him. Their search lads them to the inn where the barmaid tells them that Paul was there and that he went to the castle. They search the castle, where they are met by Dracula. He denies having seen Paul, and insists they stay the night. Later, when Sarah is asleep, Dracula enters her room, intent on drinking her blood. But he is forestalled by the crucifix she wears round her neck. Angrily, he orders Klove to take it off. A terrified Klove refuses.
      Next morning, Simon finds proof that Paul is in the castle. He orders Klove to tell him where, but the pathetic servent refuses. However, he begs Simon to take Sarah away, before Dracula returns. Simon takes his advice, and he and Sarah escape in Dracula’s coach.
      They return to the inn, seeking sanctuary once again, and once again they are turned away. But a priest offers to help. He explains that Dracula is a vampire, and vampires cannot operate in daylight. He also insists on helping Simon find Paul, and when morning comes, the pair set out for the castle, leaving Sarah in the safety of the church.
      On this last, fateful visit to the castle, Simon finds his brother, dead, horribly murdered by Dracula. Simon, determines to kill the evil Count before he can cause any more misery. But before Simon can drive a stake through Dracula's heart, the Count places him under his hypnotic power, then commands his bat to lead Sarah to the castle.
      As an electrical storm illuminates the night sky, Dracula prepares to sink his fangs into Sarah's neck. Klove tries to stop him but is unsuccessful and hurled over the rooftop to his death. Suddenly, Simon arrives on the scene and drives a metal spike into the vampire's side, but to no avail as Dracula removes the javelin from his body and prepares to hurl it back at Simon. Before Dracula can release the missile, a bolt of lightning strikes the iron rod and sets the Count on fire. In flames, the vampire leaps off the castle's rooftop to his death.

Screen grabs by STUART HALL

Disclaimer: Scars of Dracula was copyrighted 1970 by Hammer Film Productions Ltd. and released on video by EMI Film Productions, Ltd. Used for non-commercial purposes; All rights reserved. Do NOT use without permission.

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