‘The Count is Back, with an Eye for London’s Hotpants’ – The Swinging Hammer Horror Film – Dracula A.D. 1972

“This isn’t a terrific rationale for another horror flick but, given Miss Beacham’s ability to heave, and her bosom to heave with, it will have to do.”

Dracula A.D. 1972 was the seventh Hammer film featuring Dracula and the sixth to star Christopher Lee in the title role. Peter Cushing returned as Van Helsing for the first time since the Brides of Dracula in 1960. It was the first Hammer film since the original 1958 ‘Dracula’ that featured both Lee and Cushing in their infamous roles. Unlike all the other Hammer Dracula films produced up to that point, Dracula A.D. 1972 was set in a contemporary setting. It was a last ditch attempt to update the Dracula legend for modern audience.

Dracula is killed in 1872 by Lawrence Van Helsing, and 100 years later, in 1972, a young man named Johnny Alucard (Christopher Neame) has tricked a group of young Chelsea ‘hippies’ into releasing the vampire again. Dracula finds himself in a modern, swinging world and sets out to get revenge on his mortal enemy the Van Helsings by going after Lawrence Van Helsing’s great-granddaughter Jessica (Stephanie Beacham).

After watching the film the film critic Roger Ebert was unimpressed but wrote: “This isn’t a terrific rationale for another horror flick but, given Miss Beacham’s ability to heave, and her bosom to heave with, it will have to do.”

Dracula A.D. 1972

Dracula A.D. 1972

Dracula A.D. 1972

.Hammer Peter Cushing,

Dracula AD 1972

. Dracula A.D. 1972

. Dracula A.D. 1972

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Dracula A.D. 1972

French lobby card.

 

.Dracula A.D. 1972

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Dracula A.D. 1972

Japanese Dracula AD 1972 poster.

 

 

. Dracula A.D. 1972

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.Dracula A.D. 1972

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUpeFsF1Hok

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