Dracula Prince of Darkness – 1966

A Hammer Film production presented by Associated British Productions Limited and released through Warner-Pathe Distributors Limited (UK) and Twentieth Century-Fox (USA)
Copyright MCMlXVl Hammer Film Productions Ltd, – All rights reserved
MPAA Approved Certificate
The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional
RCA Sound Recording
Produced at Bray Studios, England
Techniscope
Technicolor 90 mim
Storyline
The film opens with a re-run of the ending of Hammer’s original 1958 film, with an added narration by Andrew Keir, in which Christopher Lee is destroyed by Peter Cushing. The action then moves forward ten years, as brothers Charles and Alan Kent, with their wives Diana and Helen, are holidaying in the Carpathians. Deserted in a remote forest by a superstitious coachman who will go no further at night, they are rescued by a driver-less coach and horses and taken to Castle Dracula. There they meet Klove, Dracula’s manservant, who explains that, although his master is dead, he left instructions that the castle always be ready to receive guests. Later that night, Alan is lured by Klove from his bedroom down into the vaults of the castle, where a ghastly fate awaits him…..
Watch the trailer on YouTube
Crew
Function | Credited | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Credits |
Art Director | Don Mingaye | 37 | 1929 | 8 Nov 2017 | 88 | 25 |
Assistant Director | Bert Batt | 35 | 25 Apr 1930 | 2011 | 80 | 13 |
Based on characters created by | Bram Stoker | 118 | 8 Nov 1847 | 20 Apr 1912 | 64 | 6 |
Camera Operator | Cece Cooney | 59 | 11 Sep 1906 | 1 Sep 1993 | 86 | 5 |
Continuity | Lorna Selwyn | 58 | 1908 | 2002 | 94 | 4 |
Directed by | Terence Fisher | 61 | 23 Feb 1904 | 18 Jun 1980 | 76 | 31 |
Director of Photography | Michael Reed | 36 | 7 Jul 1929 | Living | 91 | 5 |
Editor | Chris Barnes | 28 | 1938 | 5 Jun 2009 | 91 | 21 |
From an idea by | Anthony Hinds | 43 | 18 Sep 1922 | 30 Sep 2013 | 91 | 84 |
Hair Stylist | Frieda Steiger | 28 | ||||
Make-up | Roy Ashton | 56 | 16 Apr 1909 | 10 Jan 1995 | 85 | 36 |
Music Composed by | James Bernard | 40 | 20 Sep 1925 | 12 Jul 2001 | 75 | 24 |
Musical Supervisor | Philip Martell | 58 | 6 Oct 1907 | 11 Aug 1993 | 85 | 103 |
Produced by | Anthony Nelson-Keys | 54 | 13 Nov 1911 | 19 Mar 1985 | 73 | 41 |
Production Designer | Bernard Robinson | 53 | 28 Jul 1912 | 2 Mar 1970 | 57 | 46 |
Production Manager | Ross Mackenzie | 3 | ||||
Screenplay by | John Samson (Jimmy Sangster) | 38 | 2 Dec 1927 | 19 Aug 2011 | 83 | 65 |
Sound Editor | Roy Baker | 38 | 1 Jul 1927 | 1 Feb 2011 | 83 | 29 |
Sound Recordist | Ken Rawkins | 48 | 1918 | 1971 | 53 | 18 |
Special Effects | Les Bowie | 52 | 10 Nov 1913 | 27 Jan 1979 | 65 | 32 |
Supervising Editor | James Needs | 46 | 17 Oct 1919 | 2003 | 83 | 111 |
Wardrobe | Rosemary Burrows | 36 |
Cast
Character | Actor | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Appearances |
Alan Kent | Charles Tingwell | 42 | 3 Jan 1923 | 15 May 2009 | 86 | 2 |
Brother Mark | Walter Brown | 38 | 9 Feb 1927 | 31 Oct 2013 | 86 | 2 |
Brother Peter | Jack Lambert | 66 | 29 Dec 1899 | 13 Mar 1976 | 76 | 1 |
Charles Kent | Francis Matthews | 38 | 2 Sep 1927 | 14 Apr 2014 | 86 | 4 |
Coach Driver | John Maxim | 40 | 20 Jul 1925 | 20 Jan 1990 | 64 | 2 |
Count Dracula | Christopher Lee | 43 | 27 May 1922 | 7 Jun 2015 | 93 | 22 |
Diana | Suzan Farmer | 23 | 16 Jun 1942 | 17 Sep 2017 | 75 | 4 |
Father Sandor | Andrew Keir | 39 | 3 Apr 1926 | 5 Oct 1997 | 71 | 7 |
Helen | Barbara Shelley | 34 | 13 Feb 1932 | 4 Jan 2021 | 88 | 8 |
Klove | Philip Latham | 36 | 17 Jan 1929 | 20 Jun 2020 | 91 | 4 |
Landlord | George Woodbridge | 58 | 16 Feb 1907 | 31 Mar 1973 | 66 | 9 |
Ludwig | Thorley Walters | 52 | 12 May 1913 | 6 Jul 1991 | 78 | 6 |
Mother | Joyce Hemson | 44 | 21 May 1921 | 16 Sep 1996 | 75 | 2 |
Priest | Philip Ray | 67 | 1 Nov 1898 | 11 May 1978 | 79 | 2 |
Footnotes
Christopher Lee speaks not a single word of dialogue in this film. On its release, Hammer’s publicity people sought to explain this as a deliberate decision to make the Count more sinister. Years later, however, it emerged that Dracula’s silence came about as a suggestion from Lee himself, who was of the opinion that he would do better saying nothing rather than having to utter the appalling lines he had been given in the script, which, it also transpired, had been written after all by none other than Jimmy Sangster using the pseudonym John Sansom!
The script also seems to have had problems with the British censor and the scene in which Klove’s unfortunate victim provides the blood for Dracula’s resurrection had to be toned down. Instead of decapitating him, as originally written, Klove merely slits his throat instead!
In order to reduce production costs, four films were made back to back at this time, using virtually the same sets, production staff and cast. The other three were “The Plague of the Zombies”, “Rasputin – the Mad Monk” and “The Reptile” (all 1966).
Details were complied viewing the actual film.
Source of viewing copy – The Hammer Graveyard Collection