Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1969)

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

This movie is so bad it doesn't deserve much of a review. The characters are so unbelievably stupid I could not bring myself to care if they died. Darwin told us that the weak must die in order for the stronger to prevail. If that is true, then these characters should have never been born. But, seeing as how they did appear, their deaths would have been a matter of "thinning the herd."

One year after destroying Dracula (Christopher Lee), Monsignor (Rupert Davies) returns to his castle in the mountains with the local priest (Ewan Hooper) to exorcise his castle. However, the priest accidentally resurrects Dracula and becomes his slave. Meanwhile Monsignor returns home in Keinenberg on the day of the birthday of his niece Maria (Veronica Carlson), who lives with her mother Anna (Marion Mathie) in his house. Maria is in love with the atheist Paul (Barry Andrews), who works with the waitress Zena (Barbara Ewing) in the bar owned by his friend Max (Michael Ripper) where he also lives. Dracula decides to revenge on Monsignor and travels with the priest to Keinenberg. What will Dracula do next?"Dracula Has Risen from the Grave" is the third film by Hammer featuring Christopher Lee in the role of Dracula. The film is still interesting almost fifty years later for fans of Dracula, but there are better ones. Paul staking Dracula that does not die because Paul does not pray is totally weird. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Drácula, o Perfil do Diabo" ("Dracula, The Profile of the Devil")

This was the first of the Hammer Dracula series not to be directed by Terence Fisher so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Freddie Francis, however, does an adequate job of following in the rather forbidding footsteps of Fisher and with Hammer's stamp. This movie seems more plot focused than Fisher's, which were much heavier on atmosphere- something I do miss in this film, however the storyline is fairly engaging and almost makes up for it. I really did enjoy the throwback to Nosferatu with the tinted frames and the acting was mostly very good. I did not like the part containing the stake as I felt that this newer addition undermined the already set mythos of the legend. Overall I found Dracula Has Risen from the Grave to be entertaining and fun if not quite as great as the first three films were.

Again dispensing with Peter Cushing's Van Helsing: this movie pits Dracula against a would-be-medical student. Dracula Has Risen From The Grave raises some interesting points around Atheisim vs Religion - a departure for the series that helps keeps things fresh. Unfortunately the story itself is not particularly engrossing. It opens in typical Hammer Horror fashion, with a murdered village girl stuck up a bell in a church, and dripping blood - unconvincingly - down the bell rope. One wonders how she got there?At least this time the Count is a little bit more central to proceedings in this third Christopher Lee Dracula effort. Director Freddie Francis, while not exactly at home in the Gothic milieu, at least makes the movie look good by using various filters and lighting tricks. The script is a bit up and down, with its central section, set in yet another pub owned by Michael Ripper, not exactly a compelling place for Dracula to hang out.The basic plot concerns The Count's desire for revenge against the Monsignieur who, following the opening outrage in the church, sticks a ruddy great cross over the door to Castle Dracula, thereby barring him from it. But revenge is surely one of the hoariest clichés in horror flicks and it's fairly apparent that Hammer found it difficult to provide good motivations for their vampiric villain.Barry Andrews, later to appear in Blood on Satan's Claw, isn't really all that charismatic, but there are compensations to be had from Rupert Davies' crusty old priest, and Barbara Ewing's feisty (and sexy) barmaid Zena. The less said about Ewan Hooper the better...Lee looks as magnificent as ever in the title role, though as usual is not given enough to do.There are some finely realised sequences in this movie - the staking of Dracula for example, Lee writhing while blood erupts from his chest, and then pulling the stake out when the atheist student is unable to pray, is horribly effective - even if it goes against vampire lore.More sexually open than previous Dracula flicks, this is a mixed bag overall but still decent.