Prepare for the scares! Hammer’s “Scars of Dracula” on 4K
- Peggy Earle
- 6 hours ago
- 6 min read
4K ULTRA HD REVIEW / HDR SCREENSHOTS
Legendary actor Christopher Lee stars as Count Dracula, and Patrick Troughton plays his creepy assistant Klove.
(Click an image to scroll the larger versions)
“SCARS OF DRACULA”
4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray; 1970; R for violence and nudity
Best extra: Archival commentary by director Roy Ward Baker, star Christopher Lee, and Hammer films historian Marcus Hearn
SUMMER IS still months away, but if camp is on your mind, you can find plenty of it in “Scars of Dracula.”
This was the fifth of nine Dracula movies to come out of Hammer Films, the classic British studio famous for its over-the-top Gothic horror, and seemingly endless supply of roles for Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Cushing didn’t make it into “Scars,” but Lee reprises his role as Count Dracula. We meet him in the opening scene, in which a hilariously comical bat puppet flaps around and drips blood over the count’s dusty remains, and – voilà – he’s back, and looking as debonaire as ever!
Fast forward to what we can assume is Transylvania, where a young woman has been found viciously murdered. The furious villagers know who did the deed, so they grab their torches and head to Castle Dracula, to get revenge on the murderer. They proceed to set fire to the castle, but neglect to reach the count, who’s safe and snoozing peacefully in his crypt. The mob returns to their local church, only to discover that all their women and children have been gruesomely dispatched – by killer bats. Cut to a scene right out of a French bedroom farce, in which a policeman’s daughter, caught in a compromising situation with a local playboy, falsely accuses him of rape. He escapes capture by the authorities and ends up seeking shelter in Castle Dracula. And that’s when the fun, and the neck-biting gore, really begin.
Expect lots of blood, lots of voluptuous women, all the usual vampire tropes with crucifixes and holy water, and a fairly predictable outcome, albeit without most of the plot points from Bram Stoker’s original novel. Directed by Roy Ward Baker, the movie shows off its typical Hammer style: Phony looking exteriors, plush interiors, low-budget special effects and – as noted above – plenty of campy laughs.
(1-3) A father finds his daughter, Joanna, a victim of a murderous vampire attack. He carries her to the village watering hole, where the priest (Michael Gwynn) prays over her body. (4) The village mob grabs their torches and heads into the forest toward Castle Dracula.
VIDEO/AUDIO
StudioCanal UK handled the 4K restoration, scanning the original open matte 35mm camera negative, framed in its 1.66:1 theatrical European aspect ratio. In 1970, the U.S. theatrical ratio was a tighter 1.85:1. All marks and defects were removed, and the good dose of natural film grain dances on the screen. The onscreen clarity is very good from close-ups to the wide shots when the village’s men storm into the forest toward Dracula’s castle.
The HDR10 and Dolby Vision grading provides a vivid image – especially with the bloody rich reds and deeper greens and blues. Black levels are inky without any issues and the highlights are more controlled. The enclosed Blu-ray was also created from the new 4K master.
The original 2.0 Mono track has been restored, keeping everything front and centered, and giving composer James Bernard’s orchestral score a nice boost.
EXTRAS
The two-disc set from Kino Lorber includes three bonus features.
New commentary by novelist/critic Tim Lucas – who penned “The Book of Renfield: A Gospel of Dracula” (2005) as a sort of prequel to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It chronicled the tortured soul of the Count’s servant. Lucas provides numerous stories and tidbits, including how “Scars’” vampire bats were created by mechanical effects expert Roger Dicken, who also developed the terrifying chestburster creature in “Alien” (1979).
Archival documentary “Blood Rites: Inside ‘Scars of Dracula,’” (18 mins.) – contains interviews from excerpts with a variety of critics, authors, and actor Jenny Hanley.
(1) Michael Ripper, who plays the pub landlord, arrives at Castle Dracula. (2) Klove tries to keep the mob out, as more and more villagers race to the castle, seeking revenge. (4-6) The mob sets fire to the castle, while Dracula sleeps safely in his crypt. (7&8) The castle burns as the villagers look on. (9) They return to the village, only to discover carnage in their church.
Archival commentary with the director, lead actor, and film historian Marcus Hearn – the enjoyable track declares that the film “hits the ground running” with the reconstitution of the count by the bat’s dripping blood.
Lee explains that the “marvelous character” of Dracula had been kept “in the sidelines” in the previous films, which left him “frustrated and despondent.” When he read the script for “Scars,” he was pleased by all his dialogue, but wondered, “Why can’t we use Bram Stoker [for the story]?” Alas, Lee was ignored: “Who listens to an actor?” Discussing the actor Michael Ripper, who was ubiquitous in Hammer movies, Lee says he doesn’t “know how we managed to get a film finished,” because they tended to make each other laugh so much. “Style is very important in films like this,” adds Lee, who weighs in on the difference between Dracula movies back then and the more modern ones: The older ones “relied on performance,” whereas, “today, [it’s all about] extremes … makeup … effects.”
In Lee’s opinion, recent vampire movies are “too graphic … too explicit … revolting!” The actor says he agrees with Hitchcock, who believed that “what you don’t see is much more frightening than what you do see … [you need to] get the audience involved in imagining what’s happening.” As an example, Lee cites “Rosemary’s Baby,” in which “you saw practically nothing. It’s one of the best!” Baker agrees: “We’ve created an audience that sits back and says, ‘Throw it at me!’” He explains that there was no CGI when he made his movies, and describes some of the practical effects used in “Scars.” He talks about “Hammer glamour,” referring to the “rich-looking sets” in all the films.
(1) The burgomeister's daughter, Julie (Wendy Hamilton) cavorts with Paul Carlson (Christopher Matthews). (2) When her father (Bob Todd) shows up, she accuses Paul of assault. (3&4) Paul runs off and takes shelter at Castle Dracula, where he meets the seductive Tania (Anouska Hempel), who happens to be a vampire!
“Scars” was Baker’s first Dracula movie for Hammer. The director says his goal was to make films that “travel,” and are “relatable to anyone in the world,” so he tried to give them a “common touch … I’ve always been a realist director. You must engage an audience so they believe what they’re seeing.”
Regarding the physical production, Hearn notes that art director Scott MacGregor was “great at recycling elements from previous sets.” Hearn talks about Patrick Troughton, who plays Dracula’s creepy assistant Klove, and once played “Dr. Who” on British television. That actor may look familiar to fans of “The Omen,” in which he portrayed a priest who meets an especially horrible end after warning Gregory Peck’s character that his son is the Antichrist.
Lee admits he “never had a contract with Hammer,” and had gotten to a point where he didn’t want to do any more Dracula films, but he “felt responsible for everyone else in the production.” That said, Lee adds that “playing that role was of enormous help to me in my career.” He never liked the word ‘horror’” and prefers describing the Dracula movies as “morality plays or melodramas.” He wanted to convey the idea that Dracula was a tragic character, suffering under the “curse of immortality.”
Lee allows that the fake bat “was a big problem,” about which Baker laughingly pipes in, “Don’t remind me!” On the other hand, the director points out that part of the Hammer style was to have some tongue-in-cheek moments, to “keep things jokey … kidding on the level.”
By the end of the film, Lee admits that doing the commentary was actually the first time he’d ever seen the entire movie.
— Peggy Earle
(1) Paul's brother Simon (Dennis Waterman) and his fiancée Sarah (Jenny Hanley) go out in search of Paul. (2) A vampire bat attacks the Priest. (3) The count has an argument with Klove. (4) Dracula, in all his glory.
SPECS:
100 GB disc
TRUE 4K mastering
Captured in open matte 35mm film stock and matted to the European theatrical 1.66:1 aspect ratio.
Video bitrate: Averages around 80 Megabits per second, with a running time of 95 mins.
HDR10 maximum light level: 1058 nits
Max frame average light level: 40 nits
Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 67 percent, Audiences 44 percent
Collider.com ranked every Hammer Dracula Movie and “Scars of Dracula” was next to last at No. 8 between “The Satanic Rites of Dracula” (1973) and “Dracula A.D. 1972” (1972), while “Dracula” (1958) was No. 1.
SIDENOTE
StudioCanal UK released its own 4K UHD Collector’s Edition, which included a 64-page booklet, poster, and different featurettes: “Fangs Out: Dracula, Desire & Disruption,” “Legacy of the Vampire,” and Hammer Bite.” It also included the archive commentary and “Blood Rites: Inside ‘Scars of Dracula’”
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