Horror Of Dracula (1958)

A librarian (John Van Eyssen) arrives at the castle of Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) to take up his duties but in reality, he is a vampire hunter. But the Count soon disposes of him and sets his sights on the librarian's fiancee (Carol Marsh). This Hammer horror (in which Lee plays Dracula for the first time) takes great liberties with the Bram Stoker source material. The director Terence Fisher is able to infuse the film with a suitably colorful atmosphere but except for the movie's graphic finale, the film is short on genuine horror. Tod Browning's Dracula may creak and Lugosi's Count may be a bit stiff but there's an authentic dread to the proceedings which are lacking here. That being said, for what it is, it's quite entertaining. With Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, Michael Gough and Melissa Stribling.