Vampires Read Free Page B

The imaginative plot had Richard Wordsworth’s astronaut exposed to the elements and turning into a slimy creature. Jimmy Sangster had written the Curse of Frankenstein for Hammer, but had also free-lanced with a blood and thunder offering titled, Blood of the Vampire (1957) starring Sir Donald Wolfit, Barbara Shelley and Vincent Ball. A grim tale that despite the title, it has no vampires and is more attuned to the Frankenstein series of movies. But Wolfit’s sadistic Dr Callistratus does succumb to a stake through the heart in the shocking opening sequence before turning up unexplained to cause havoc in a small mid-European town – not unlike Hammer’s own settings in their Bray days – and causing all kinds of trouble for Miss Shelley and her beau Vincent Ball. There is also the inclusion of Victor Maddern as Karl, a bug-eyed hunchback who turns the tables on his master at the cost of his own life. Callistratus is finally eaten by his own guard dogs. Sangster was a fan of the gothic novel and proved his enthusiasm for the genre with his scripts, streamlining the stories to give them an incredible cinematic look whilst ejecting overblown theories and concepts that the author’s ran afoul of. With their Victorian prose. Jimmy Sangster entered Hammer as a 28 year old copy-boy and worked his way up through the ranks. He wrote many of Hammer’s better screenplays and directed a few films too. Lust For A Vampire and Horror of Frankenstein were directed by Jimmy Sangster.
    So, please join me as we head into the land of fairytales and goblins as beautiful maidens cower back from wild-eyed fanged monsters that cringe from the power of the crucifix wielded by fanatical villagers. The sun sets quickly on the Hammer Lot and the vampires rise.
    Have fun.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Dracula
    “My Master, the Count”
    -Bram Stoker, Dracula (1897)
    Dracula was written in 1897 by Irish author Bram Stoker (1847-1912). The book introduced the world to the greatest character in fantasy fiction. Count Dracula is a centuries old vampire who lives in the land of Transylvania in an old ruined castle. A young solicitor helps him move to London to satiate his blood lust in Victorian England when he has drained his own country dry. The Count has many quirks to his personality. He is a charming host and excellent conversationalist who recounts past heroisms as if he were fighting the campaigns himself. He sleeps all day in a coffin and has three brides hidden in his cellars. At night, he is seen scaling his castle wall like a lizard and can change into a bat, a mist or a large black dog. Playing extensive mind games with his captives, he preys on their women and turns them into vampires over a period of three days. The novel also introduces us to the group of vampire killers; Jonathon Harker, Quincey P Morris, Arthur Holmwood and Dr John Seward. In a secretarial role is Mina Murray Harker and the group are kept in order by Professor Abraham Van Helsing. In a book that runs far longer than it really needs to, Dracula is hunted ruthlessly by the hunters as he attacks their women and worms his way into Victorian society. Finally, when his coffins are destroyed by Van Helsing, he scarpers back to Transylvania and is destroyed by Jonathon Harker and Quincey Morris, not with a wooden stake, but with a large Kukri knife and an even larger bowie knife!
    Still being published and read extensively today, Dracula only did fair business in the author’s lifetime and. Like many great ideas, was capitalized on after his death. In 1924, the first recognized appearance of Dracula was in the stage play written by Hamilton Deane and starred Raymond Huntley as the Count. In 1927, John Balderston revised and Americanized Deane’s play to amazing success on Broadway which led to the first official film production by Universal pictures starring Bela Lugosi. Although the Count has no reflection, this hasn’t stopped his image from appearing in possibly five