Dracula A.D. 1972 [1972]

Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1971
Running Times: 95 mins     96 mins
Length: 8,536 ft
Format: colour     35mm
Ratio:
Sound:

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Hammer Films
Producer: Josephine Douglas
Production Manager: Ron Jackson
Production Supervisor: Roy Skeggs

SCRIPT
Script: Don Houghton

DIRECTION
Director: Alan Gibson
Assistant Director: Robert Lynn

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Dick Bush
Camera Operator: Bernie Ford
Labs: Humphries Laboratories

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: James Needs

MUSIC
Musical Supervisor: Philip Martell
Music: Michael Vickers
Songs: Sol Valentino [Alligator Man]; Jim Barnes [You Better Come Through]

SOUND
Recording Director: A.W. Lumkin
Recording: Claude Hitchcock
Sound Editor: Roy Baker
Dubbing Mixer: Bill Rowe
Sound System: RCA Sound System

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Jill Carpenter
Hair: Barbara Ritchie
Wardrobe Supervisor: Rosemary Burrows

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Les Bowie

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Designer: Don Mingaye
Assistant Art Director: Ron Benton
Construction Manager: Bill Greene

MISCELLANEOUS
Continuity: Doreen Dearnaley

LOCATIONS
Locations: Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire, England, UK

CASTING
Casting Director: James Liggat

CAST
Christopher Lee [Count Dracula]
Peter Cushing [Professor Van Helsing]
Stephanie Beacham [Jessica Van Helsing]
Michael Coles [Inspector]
Christopher Neame [Johnny Alucard]
William Ellis [Joe Mitchum]
Marsha Hunt [Gaynor]
Janet Key [Anna]
Philip Miller [Bob]
Michael Kitchen [Greg]
Caroline Munro [Laura]
Lally Bowers [matron]
Constance Luttrell [Mrs Donnelly]
Michael Daly [Charles]
David Andrews [Detective Sergeant]
Artro Morris [police surgeon]
Jo Richardson [crying matron]
Penny Brahms [hippy girl]
Brian John Smith [hippy boy]
Stoneground (Sal Valentino; Tim Barnes; John Blakely; Brian Godula; Lynne Hughes; Deirdre La Porte; Cory Lerios; Lydia Mareno; Steve Price; Annie Sampson) [rock group]
Jane Anthony [Debby girl - uncredited]
Flanagan [Go-Go girl - uncredited]
John Franklyn-Robbins [minister - uncredited]

Destroyed by Van Helsing on 1872, Dracula is revived in 1972 London by hip young acolyte Johnny Alucard. The Count, operating from a deconsecrated church in Chelsea, works his way through Alucard's young friends but Van Helsing's descendant is on hand to deal with the menace when Dracula targets his grand-daughter Jessica.

Ridiculous, reactionary, ill-conceived and frequently embarrassing it may be, but there's something strangely endearing about Dracula A.D. 1972. Gibson's direction rises above Houghton's dire script and the worst soundtrack ever to disgrace a Hammer film, but Lee is treated even worse here than in his recent Hammer Draculas [he's confined to a church and barely utters a word] and the teens are painful to watch [did people really talk like this? And where the hell did they get those clothes?], but the whole thing is so entertainingly awful, overflowing with terrible dialogue and bad performances, that it's hard to dislike.

UK
Theatrical Distributor: Warner Brothers

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Warner Brothers
Video Distributor: Warner Brothers Home Video

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Finland
Rating: banned in 1972

Norway
Rating: 16

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: X

USA
Rating: PG

1971
September
27: UK - principal photography begins

November
5: UK - principal photography ends

1972
January
21: UK - rated X by the BBFC [for theatrical release]

August
28: Sweden - theatrical release

September
28: UK - theatrical release

November
17: USA - theatrical release

December
14: Norway - theatrical release in Oslo

1978
August
7: UK - television broadcast [on ITV]

1983
February
7: UK - television broadcast [on ITV (region not known) as part of the Appintment With Fear strand]

1988
January
28: UK - rated 18 [for video release]

1990
February
6: UK - television broadcast [on ITV]

1992
March
2: UK - television broadcast [on ITV]

1994
February
Day Unknown: UK - television broadcast [on Sky Movies]

1995
July
19: UK - trailer rated 15 [for video release]

2005
August
22: UK - video rated 12 [for video release]

October
26: UK - rated 15 [for video release]

Past, present or future, never count out The Count!

New from Hammer! The Time: Now The Place: Kings Road, Chelsea The Killer: Count Dracula

1972: Dracula colpisce ancora! - Italian title
Dracula '72 - working title
Drácula 73 - Spanish title
Dracula 73 - French title
Dracula Chelsea '72 - working title
Dracula jagt Mini-Mädchen - German title
Dracula Today

SEQUEL TO
Dracula [1958]
The Brides of Dracula [1960]
Dracula Prince of Darkness [1966]
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave [1968]
Scars of Dracula [1970]
Taste the Blood of Dracula [1970]

SEQUEL
The Satanic Rites of Dracula [1974]

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Prince of Terror [1972]

MAGAZINES

Cinefantastique vol.2 no.4 [Summer 1973] p.33 [USA]
review

CinemaTV Today no.10001 [7 October 1972] p.33 [UK]
review

Dark Terrors no.7 [October - December 1993] pp.20-22 [UK]
illustrated credits, article

Filmfacts vol.15 no.20 [1972] [USA]
illustrated credits, reprinted reviews

Films and Filming vol.19 no.3 [December 1972 p.57 [UK]
review

Hollywood Reporter vol.218 no.28 [29 October 1971] p.8 [USA]
credits

The House That Hammer Built no.8 [April 1998] pp.431 - 434 [UK]
illustrated credits, synopsis, review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.39 no.466 [November 1972] p.230 [UK]
credits, synopsis, review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.39 no.467 [December 1972] p.267 [UK]
note

Shivers no.52 p.8 [UK]
review

Sight and Sound vol.10 no.7 [July 2000] p.61 [UK]
video review

Today's Cinema no.9943 [28 September 1971] p.4 [UK]
credits

Variety 25 October 1972 p.22 [USA]
credits, review

Video Junkie 1 p.24 [USA]
review

BOOKS

English Gothic pp.196-197
illustrated credits, review [by Jonathan Rigby]

The Hammer Story pp.156-157, 179
illustrated article, review [by Marcus Hearn and Alan Barnes], credits

Hoffman's Guide to SF, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991 - 1992 p.112
credits, review

The Illustrated Vampire Movie Guide pp.72-73
credits, review

Ten Years of Terror pp.146-147
illustrated credits, reviews [by Harvey Fenton, Jonathon Sothcott]

KEYWORDS

vampires, dracula, sequels, vampire slayers, teenagers, deconsecrated churches, rock bands, nightclubs

Last Updated: 26 June, 2007