Dracula A.D. 1972

Having made it to the seventh film, Hammer’s “Dracula” cycle appears to be in free-fall: the material has been sucked dry and any and all attempts to revive it prove fruitless, if not downright ridiculous.

Taking inspiration from films such as “Count Yorga, Vampire” (1970) and “Vampire Story” (1971), “Dracula A.D. 1972” plays the somewhat unorthodox modern-day setting card, abandoning the customary late-1800s Gothic locales in favor of a 1970s London filled with burned-out youth – hippies and stoners with ridiculous hairstyles, mini-skirts, and go-go boots, spouting mod slang from the UK’s “Swinging Sixties” that probably already sounded dated when the film came out (the campy dialogue includes lines such as: “Then the fuzz will turn up“; “Okay, but it’s not one of my hang-ups“; “Don’t get your knickers in a twist“; “Dig the music, kids“).

There’s nary a trace of an interesting idea to be found, and the forced cohabitation of incompatible narrative elements results in scenes that are anything but memorable. Further, the very fact that the evil Alucard leverages boredom and a desire for novel experiences to convince his pals to participate in the ceremony, a plot device recycled from the very recent “Taste the Blood of Dracula” (1970), speaks volumes about the lack of imagination that had characterized a good deal of Hammer’s productions over the decade.

As far as the direction is concerned, Alan Gibson is light years removed from both Terence Fisher’s genius as well as the genuine skill of various directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, John Gilling, and John Hough: his is a prim and proper direction (not a single nude), lacking creative touches and completely incapable of generating tension. Peter Cushing does what he can, while Christopher Lee, listless and resentful about the character’s decline, offers one of his least successful performances. Beyond that, the cast is swarming with young actors giving bland, forgettable performances. Mediocre special effects.

Followed by “The Satanic Rites of Dracula” (1973), with which it constitutes a sort of diptych that stands on its own within the overall series.