Brides of Dracula
The Brides of Dracula was billed as a sequel to Hammer Film’s successful first shot at the fanged monster in the British movie Dracula, also known as Horror of Dracula in the US.
Filmed in 1960, alternative titles that were considered for the film include Disciple of Dracula as well as Dracula 2.
Shooting for the film began in January of 1960 and concluded in only six months with the screening of the film in July of 1960.
The Brides of Dracula are focused on female vampires led by fellow blood luster Baron Meinster who are all hunted by noted Van Helsing, the famed vampire hunter originated from Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula.’
Peter Cushing plays the lead hero role of Van Helsing, while David Peel is the Baron. The female vampires are Marianna Danielle played by Yvonne Monlaur and Gina Marie portrayed by Andree Melly.
The Brides of Dracula is set in Transylvania, as was Dracula. However, in this sequel, Dracula himself is nowhere to be found; his name is mentioned only twice in the movie: once by Van Helsing and again in the prologue.
Part of the intrigue and suspense of the film is waiting to see Dracula pop up from a coffin or from behind some closed door, thus creating a latent tension and stirring emotions to the characters.
Christopher Lee turned down the request to portray Dracula in the Brides of Dracula. Some critics believed that it was because of a low amount of pay offered to Lee, while others heard rumors of Christopher Lee not wanting to be typecast in the role of Dracula throughout the remainder of his acting career.
It should be noted that while Christopher Lee did not act in the Brides of Dracula, he returned to the Hammer films studios to act as the lead as Dracula in six other sequels beyond the Brides of Dracula including Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, the Kiss of the Vampire, Taste the Blood of Dracula, Scars of Dracula, Dracula AD, and the Satanic Rites of Dracula.
And even though the tensions continued between Christopher Lee and Hammer films throughout the remaining Dracula films, the role of Dracula skyrocketed Lee’s career. He has continued acting to present day, has received knighthood from the royal British Queen, and been added to the Guinness Book of World Records for having acted in the most roles of any actor in all of history.
However, since Christopher Lee refused to play Dracula, Hammer films decided to take the Brides of Dracula in a new direction. The characters of the female vampires were noted as being overly sexual, as well as the characters of Van Helsing and Baron Meinster who were both played by dashing men who have rather effeminate qualities. Throughout the plot the Baron, a young vampire who is accidently turned loose on the mountain village, goes about biting the bosoms of the female characters, thus turning them into vampires.
Notable scenes in the film include the ending when Van Helsing is attacked by the vampires at the old mill. Van Helsing ends up getting bitten by vampire Baron Meinster in an epic scene that has put Brides of Dracula on the map in the world of vampire movie lovers. However, unlike the rest of the vampire bite victims in the Dracula movies, Van Helsing puts his MacGyver skills to the test by heating a metal poker until it is fire hot, and then placing it on the bite marks to cauterize the blood loss. Then he pours holy water on the bite and he is magically healed, thus saving his own soul from vampirism.
In the end the Baron as well as the brides of Dracula, Marianne and Gina, are killed when Van Helsing physically turns the wheels of a windmill in order to turn the fan blades into the formation of a cross to repel the vampires with the religious symbolism.
Throughout the filming, the script was constantly being rewritten to make up for the changes of the original script that contained Dracula. One noted change was the ending of the Brides of Dracula.
Originally the ending was to include bats that killed the vampires. This was nixed from the film for the ending at the mill, but was brought back for the Kiss of the Vampire.
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