[HorrorScience] The Brides of Dracula (1960)

Reading time: 5 minutes

Qualification

The Brides of Dracula

Year

1960

Duration

85 minutes

Director

Terence Fisher

Distribution

Peter Cushing, Martita Hunt, Freda Jackson, Yvonne Monlaur, David Peel, Miles Malleson, Henry Oscar, Mona Washbourne, Victor Brooks, Michael Ripper, Andree Melly, Fred Johnson, Norman Pierce, Vera Cook, Marie Devereux, Michael Mulcaster, Henry Scott

Script

Jimmy Sangster

s the death of the great Christopher Lee, a special item on this website and the film that made him famous was also included in this section (Horror of Dracula).

Lee He has been the actor who has played Dracula the most times in the cinema and it is therefore curious that when Hammer Productions considered making a second part, he refused to repeat the role that years later he constantly played.

In any case, today I'm going to talk about Dracula's Brides (The Brides of Dracula) the continuation of Horror of Dracula, although also It is usually considered a spin off of the character Van Helsing, which would leave as a true continuation Dracula Prince of Darkness.

In any case, we find ourselves with a film set in the same world as the previous one, so Dracula is dead and Van Helsing continues to play the hero whenever he has the chance.

A young girl named Marianne is abandoned by her coachman in the middle of a work trip. Given the impossibility of reaching her destination that same night, she accepts Baroness Meinster's offer to stay in her castle and be able to continue her trip the next day, something that seems to make the owners of the tavern shudder, who try to persuade the girl to change her mind, without much success.

Dracula's Brides — Who is the boy locked in the castle?

Once at the castle, the Countess tells Marianne that she has been living alone with her maid since and that is why she longed for company. However Marianne discovers that There is a boy locked up in the other part of the castle., who turns out to be the Countess's son, who apparently suffers from an incurable illness and is dangerous.

Convinced that she can help the boy, Marianne frees him and the boy takes command of the castle after killing his mother, which causes the young woman to flee through the forest until she falls into a state of shock. Fortunately for her, Dr. Van Helsing was traveling to the nearest town, as he was notified by the local priest to investigate the latest cases of vampirism that had occurred in the lands, after the destruction of Dracula.

Dracula's Brides It is a somewhat curious sequel, since it does not have the aforementioned vampire and creates a new character (Baron Meinster) to try to have an equivalent. This situation also makes Van Helsing has more prominence, which is not a bad thing, because once again, Peter Cushing is one of the best in the film and his character is solid enough to withstand the weight of the story.

The film maintains a tone very similar to what was seen in Horror of Dracula, but at the same time it slightly expands the myth of vampires and adds new ways to destroy them (something that would become a classic in the saga of Dracula in Hammer).

Baron Meinster and his mother are quite curious and sinister characters, however I have to say that The character that causes me the most concern is Greta., the maid, who fills the classic role of a deranged human who protects the vampires. Another curious character is the hypochondriac doctor addicted to medications and alcohol, who is used as a humorous resource and only appears for a few minutes in the film, which is appreciated because except for his appearance, the rest of the film has a very serious tone.

Despite the absence of Dracula, this film is a great continuation and, although it interrupts its pace a couple of times and has some wasted characters (the vampiresses), it is very interesting and I highly recommend it to fans of vampires and Hammer Films films.

Curiosities about The Brides of Dracula:

Despite the title, Dracula does not appear in the film. The alternative titles were Dracula 2 and Dracula's disciple.
Dracula was initially considered to be included, but Christopher Lee rejected the role and the script was modified.
The ending of the film was going to include a swarm of bats saving Van Helsing's life, but Peter Cushing thought it was too fantastical and the idea was not carried out.