Dracula Has Risen from the Grave

Early on, "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave" made me feel uneasy... From the scenes of a Monsignor (Rupert Davies) traveling with a priest to perform an exorcism on Castle Dracula in order to bring the superstitious (ha!) congregation back to church on Sunday, to the romantic subplot between a scholarly baker and the Monsignor's daughter, and a distinct lack of Drac, I began to wonder if I was being shortchanged by a title that looked to just capitalize on the success of the Hammer Dracula films. However, the more I kept with it, the more I enjoyed "Grave"--the above-mentioned plot threads, which at first seem corny, are interwoven with delicate skill by director Freddie Francis; the characters and their conflicts are surprisingly endearing (including an angle that brings atheism into the mix); and Christopher Lee is in fine form as the brooding, red-eyed Count (though the production suffers from the absence of frequent co-star Peter Cushing).