Film: Horror of Dracula

Just finished three days of Meetup, including two days of London Museums A-Z (LoMAZ).Last Friday night, another LoMAZ Dracula event - we were off to see the uncut version of Dracula (AKA Horror of Dracula) (1958) with Christopher Lee - the cut footage was apparently originally considered too scary for the general public - showing that night only in Cineworld Leicester Square and sold out days in advance. Eating beforehand in the Marketplace Food Hall.

I was a bit delayed leaving, and arrived a few minutes late. I'd never, ever been there before - shielded my face as I passed Bella Italia Cranbourn Street, where I normally eat in Leicester Square, and I could see a waiter I recognised at the outside tables.. found the place without trouble, and Stefan, who'd arrived first, had posted in the WhatsApp that he had a table upstairs - I found it and left my bag there while I went to get food - all the food stalls are downstairs. Was iffy about what I wanted until I saw Thai, and then saw they had massaman curry! That was a no-brainer - I got it with chicken. I got wine, and took it upstairs.. thought I heard my buzzer for the food, which I'd put in my bag, sound while I was heading back upstairs, but when I got up there, it'd stopped. When it sounded again, I went down to collect my food, but it stopped on the way down - so I guess they only have it buzz for limited periods. Which is a bit weird, if you ask me.

Anyway, the chicken was a teensy bit tough, but the sauce was gorgeous, and I'd have it again. Happily, there is a bar upstairs, so it was easier to get drink - and they had Sauvignon Blanc upstairs, which they hadn't downstairs. As the group arrived, we spread over a second table (as we have a wont to do) - we were a large group. And wow, I met so many people I hadn't seen for ages - and some new ones. We had a terrific chat before heading the short distance to the cinema.

..where I ran into JH in the screen! And our group was mostly sat pretty close together, chatting when we could..

So - the film is a product of its time, particularly in its depiction of women, with their perfectly styled hairdos and general passivity. Even the female vampire starts out pleading the damsel in distress line. Oh, and while they use the character names from the book, they COMPLETELY mix them up.. in this, Jonathan is a librarian (!), who comes to index the count's books and (spoiler) is killed in the castle. He's engaged to Lucy (!), who's Arthur's sister (!) - he's married to Mina (!)! Oh, and Dr. Seward is the elderly family doctor (!), trying unsuccessfully to treat Lucy's mysterious illness - he suggests a second opinion, which is given by the British Van Helsing (!) - played by Peter Cushing.

(Sigh) Why do they feel the need to mix everything up? Well, once you get a grip on all that, it's quite decent - not terrifying to our eyes, but definitely ominous. I found a terrific video that exposes lots of interesting facts about the film - for instance, the reason that it was released simply as Dracula in the United Kingdom, but as Horror of Dracula in the States, relates to the fact that the 1931 version was still incredibly popular, and Universal Studios, which had the rights - and a lot of clout - objected to another film being released with the same name.

And it's the first Dracula film in colour! so they could see the blood in all its vivid redness. In fact, the scene where Lucy is staked was one of those originally cut because of the shots of blood.. also cut was the scene at the end, where Dracula disintegrates (and yes, they used real wax).. and speaking of censorship, yes, they did think it was too sexy at the time, Dracula definitely being depicted seducing his victims (yes, that scene with Dracula and Mina was cut too).

There aren't any vampires morphing into mist, or bats (saved on the SFX budget). But Christopher Lee does a great Dracula, especially as he hardly has any lines! In contrast to previous Draculas, this Dracula does less talking and more stalking - less is more, and with his 6 foot 5 frame, just standing there as a brooding presence is very effective. And the film is pacy - more so than the book, as I think those of us reading it can testify by now! The film made Hammer Studios' reputation.. they certainly made a unique version, and standing out from the crowd did them no harm at all. It might not be what we're used to today, but we all thought this was pretty damn good.

We headed to the pub afterwards - many thanks to Dar, who went to Dovetail before with The Hideout and recommended it to me! So we booked a couple of tables there, with Design My Night. Yes, entry is through the casino, and up the flight of stairs - and once we sorted the confusion about having two bookings, they shoved some tables together for us on the balcony, which has an excellent location overlooking Leicester Square! Also has heaters, high on the wall, which you start by pressing the big red button.

Sadly, JH didn't join us there, with The Hideout having gone to watch Whalefall (about a SCUBA diver who gets swallowed by a whale and has to get himself out before his oxygen runs out), which he was originally supposed to host, but signed over to Dar instead so he could go to this film.. he waited for them to come out, then had an urgent call and had to leave. Some others didn't come to the pub either. And JW had to leave after one, with an early start yesterday. (At least I finally got the two of them to meet, briefly.) But the rest of us stayed much longer, and much alcohol was consumed - the place stays open till 2am, I believe Dar said. It's not exceptionally cheap - and with the only wines by the glass being the house wines, I ended up having a bottle. And a glass. I tell you something though - we needed an Uber at the end of the night, and I had two cancel on me before eventually hailing a black cab - Ubers are not exceptionally reliable in the West End on a Friday night..

More in the next post.