Dracula Has Risen from the Grave: Review By JIm Mourgos

A monsignor is riding down the path to the village to see how it's going after he got rid of Dracula the last time. (See, I need to watch the earlier films!). However, little does he know of the horror that is already taking place!

A happy boy on a bike rides into church, takes two or three swishes of his broom (There, it's clean! I do this too, but usually it goes under a rug. But I digress.). He is about to pull the bell rope when he notices blood dripping off it. When he goes to investigate he screams bloody murder (literally) and runs off.

The priest also discovers what's in the bell -- a buxom female body with a very large hicky, courtesy of Count Dracula! Eeek!

the story continues on, with the monsignor berating his drunken priest, scolds the town for not showing up for church (the shadow of Dracula's castle falls on it -- great excuse to go to the tavern and play balance the beer glass on the broomstick -- no, I'm not making this up!).

After Dracula wakes up (thanks to the clumsy priest who falls down, cuts his head, and has the blood from said wound conveniently drip into an unconscious Dracula's mouth -- who said vamp is lying under a very thin sheet of ice) he enthralls the priest and tries to return to his castle.

However, when the monsignor blessed the castle with an exorcism rite and placed the big cross from the village church on the doorway, Dracula wanted to know: "Who has done this thing?" The priest opens his big mouth: "The monsignor!" Dummy!

The attempt at shock and horror is light fare, although the woman with the hicky hanging upside-down in a bell would probably increase the rating to a PG in my opinion.

It's interesting how Dracula puts key people under his power and then has them do his bidding (the drunk priest and the barmaid Zena). In this case, Drac wants that monsignor. He could use the fact that the monsignor's niece, Maria, is marrying an atheist, Paul, for his own dark ends.

The subplot of Paul and Maria is interesting, but this is no romantic comedy!

The Bottom Line:

Blondes balancing on rooftops and hugging atheists and a Barbie dolls make for interesting cinema. Dracula meeting his end through the actions of an atheist -- the irony is classic.

This may not be the goriest, bloodiest of Christopher Lee films, but it certainly is entertaining and has its own quantity of blood. Not bad for a G rating!

Mood music and the colorful scenes and red lighting, the blood-shot eyes and the hunger deep in his soul -- dang, Hammer Films, what happened??