Yet another young woman dies with the signature dual puncture wounds in the neck, and the villagers decide it is time to take a stand. They know what evil plagues their town and they know where it resides, so with torches in hand they mount their attack on Castle Dracula. The fires gut the castle, but when the villagers return to the church where they safeguarded their women, they are met with a gory scene of violent death, just as a large bat flies out the window. "The Devil has won," says the priest.

A few years later.... A dashing young man, Paul Carlson (Christopher Matthews), is in and out of young ladies' beds all over the village. His luck runs out one night when the Burgermeister comes home and catches him with his daughter. To save her honor, she does the sensible thing and cries rape. Paul is forced to go on the lam, and through extraordinary bad luck manages to escape his pursuers only to arrive in the next village, literally on death's doorstep. The master of the castle, Count Dracula (Christopher Lee), offers Paul a room for the night. Paul, having learned nothing from his recent trouble in the village, beds Dracula's current mistress, Tanya. The next evening the Count finds the two of them, dispatches the girl in a blind rage, and now Paul is a prisoner in the castle.

It is not long before Paul's brother, Simon (Dennis Waterman), and his girlfriend Sarah (Jenny Haley) become concerned and go looking for him. When they reach the village near the castle, they find that the villagers are secretive and unwilling to talk to strangers, especially about the castle. They are terrified of the monster they tried to destroy and failed. But the barmaid at the inn lets it slip that Paul was headed there and gives them directions. They arrive at the castle and are let in by the mangy, yellow-toothed manservant, Klove (Patrick Troughton). They are offered similar hospitality, but during the night Dracula attempts to make a meal of the lovely Sarah. She is saved only by the crucifix she is wearing. Simon and Sarah escape in the morning with the aid of Klove, who has had a crush on Sarah since he found a picture of her that Paul was carrying. Upon seeing her in person, he is willing to face his master's wrath to save her. As Klove pays for his disobedience, Simon and Sarah go back to the village to recruit help for their mission to rescue Paul from the castle. Only the priest (Michael Gwynn) is brave enough to join them in putting a stop to the evil once and for all.

As the middle entry in the series of Hammer Dracula films, Scars of Dracula has very little ties to the movies that proceeded it and even less in common with Bram Stoker's novel. This is a very odd hut quite enjoyable entry to the series, directed by Roy Ward Baker (THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES). Gothic settings, an atmospheric soundtrack, and surly costumed villagers brand this a typical Hammer film-not to mention a great deal of campy humor, particularly in the first half, "the misadventures of Paul". Christopher Lee turns in another magnificent performance in his signature role; tall, regal, pallid, with blood red eyes and just a touch of gray on his widow's peak. But this film struck me as much quirkier than its predecessors. The Count relies on his vampire bat familiars to terrorize the villagers, and seems to be more of a typical member of the privileged class, prone to violent tempers and mistreatment of servants, rather than a supernatural being. He dispatches the unfaithful mistress Tanya with a dagger, and only lets the fangs out when its feeding time. Klove is not your typical sniveling servant in the Renfield tradition. He is constantly either screwing up or disobeying his master's orders, and Dracula lets him have it with whippings and brandings. The twist of having Klove fall for Sarah and helping to defeat his master was definitely new territory and added another dimension to the story. I find the new variations on a familiar theme welcome, especially when they are as creative as Roy Ward Baker's work here. Even Dracula's demise is highly unconventional.

Despite this film's reputation for being the most sadistic, violent, and overtly sexual of the Hammer Dracula films- and it is all of those things- it seems almost tame by modern standards. SCARS OF DRACULA is a truly underrated Hammer film and the films lack of commercial success is attributed to the following: First, in just over a year's time, 1970-1971, horror audiences were inundated with Dracula films- TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, SCARS OF DRACULA, and LUST FOR A VAMPIRE- and perhaps people were simply sick of the character. Second, audiences simply may have been confused by Dracula's sudden use of conventional weapons in this film and felt that the character had been compromised. And finally, as Mark Wickum quotes him in the Anchor BAY DVD liner notes, Christopher Lee himself has called this "the weakest and most unconvincing of the Dracula stories". However, for me, the original plot and acting- as well as the beautiful Technicolor stock- make this a welcome look back at an only slightly gentler era and essential viewing for Hammer and Lee fans.

I reviewed the 2001 Anchor Bay DVD release (NTSC, Region 1) of SCARS OF DRACULA. The DVD contains an excellent Audio Commentary Track with director Roy Ward Baker, Christopher Lee, and Hammer Films historian Marcus Hearn. Other extras are very complete talent bios of Baker and Lee, a Poster and Stills Gallery set to the film's score, and US and UK Theatrical Trailers. If you bought the Limited Edition DVD, you also received the bonus disk, THE MANY FACES OF CHRISTOPHER LEE. This is an excellent documentary directed by Colin Webb which features Lee himself sitting down and talking about his acting career (up to 1996, the year the documentary was filmed) and showing off pieces of memorabilia from his films. It contains numerous clips of Lee in his most famous roles as Dracula, Rasputin, Fu Manchu, and others, and even includes his famous 1978 appearance on Saturday Night Live. Last, but not least, is one of the most bizarre extras I have ever seen on a DVD- two music videos from 1999 and 2000 featuring Christopher Lee singing duets of "O Solo Imo/ It's Now or Never" and "She'll Fall for Me" with a singer named Gary Curtis. You truly have to see them to believe it.

Story: 4.0 Bitch Slaps
Extras: 5.0 Bitch Slaps
Picture/Audio: 5.0 Bitch Slaps
Overall DVD: 5.0 Bitch Slaps
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