Scars of Dracula

Adds some needed pizzazz to the Hammer series

A young man (Christopher Matthews) running from the law ends up at an ominous castle and goes missing. Thus his brother and a friend (Dennis Waterman & Jenny Hanley) travel to the dubious dwelling to find him, but come face-to-face with a formidable fiend (Christopher Lee).

Scars of Dracula (1970) is a sort of reboot of the Hammer series in that its basically a redo of Lees first two stabs at the undead Count: Horror of Dracula (1958) and Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966), not to mention it mixes in aspects of Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) and, most significantly, the plot of Psycho (1960). For those who question the latter, just reread the plot description above.

So...

Somehow, the sound of Dennis Waterman with a plummy accent doesn't quite work in this standard Hammer production. He is "Simon" who is keen on "Sarah" (Jenny Hanley) who is, in turn, rather keen on his Lothario of a brother "Paul" (Christopher Mathews). When the latter man's antics cause him to flee the anger of the burgomaster, he alights on a fire-damaged castle where he is soon, well... "Simon" and "Sarah" along with the local priest (Michael Gwynn) are soon on the trail but can they rescue him - or, indeed, save themselves from the evil that is "Dracula" (Christopher Lee)? Patrick Troughton is quite effective as the put-upon factotum "Klove" and Lee does just enough but the rest of the cast are really pretty lacklustre as the story foll...