40 - The Brides of Dracula

"Dracula the Damned" is a 1960 British supernatural horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions starring ‘Big’ Christopher Lee…

Scratch that…

Rather, the original sequel to the first Hammer Dracula film was cancelled without explanation, although Christopher Lee's decision not to return due to fear of typecasting probably led to The Brides of Dracula taking its place.

#BigChrisLee did return five years later, however, when he starred in Dracula, Prince of Darkness.

The Brides of Dracula is a 1960 British supernatural horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Terence Fisher, the film stars Peter Cushing, David Peel (who wore lifts in his shoes to make him the same height as actor Peter Cushing in the film. Peel, according to his bio at the time, was 5 foot 10. Cushing was six feet tall. To make his vampire look distinguishable from Christopher Lee's, Peel wore a full blonde hairpiece), Yvonne Monlaur, Andrée Melly, Miles Malleson (the hearse driver in the Ealing chiller compendium Dead of Night), Martita Hunt (known for her rich cluster of queens, dowagers, shrews, and evildoers—but it was her brilliant performance as the mad, reclusive Miss Havisham in the classic Great Expectations that earned her international recognition), and Freda Jackson (also an alumna of Great Expectations). Although, the character of Count Dracula does not appear in the film, and is instead mentioned only twice.

After the success of Dracula, Hammer commissioned Jimmy Sangster to write a sequel titled Disciple of Dracula, about an acolyte of the vampire, with Count Dracula himself only making a cameo appearance. Sangster's script was rewritten by Peter Bryan to remove references to Dracula, while adding the character of Van Helsing. The screenplay was then further revised by Edward Percy. Filming began on January 16, 1960, at Bray Studios, and the film premiered at the Odeon Marble Arch on July 6. It was distributed theatrically on a double bill with The Leech Woman.

The ending was originally planned to have the vampires destroyed by a swarm of bats, but this proved too expensive to stage and shoot, and was also vetoed by Peter Cushing, who did not think his character would perform the black magic required to summon the bats. However, the idea was recycled three years later for the climax of Hammer's The Kiss of the Vampire. The prop department put a lot of effort into making a realistic model bat, but it was lost and had to be replaced on short notice. This explains the unconvincing model bat in the movie.

The front doors of Oakely Court served as the main entrance to Meinster Castle. Oakley Court has been featured in a number of classic horror films, including The Curse of Frankenstein, The Horror of Dracula, The Evil of Frankenstein, Die, Monster, Die, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

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