Brides of Dracula (1960)
Directed by Terence Fisher
Screenplay by Jimmy Sangster, Peter Bryan & Edward Percy
aka The Brides of Dracula
First of all, the title never promises you Dracula, so you can quit complaining that Dracula is only very tenuously connected with this film. The film's title isn't Count Dracula and his Lady People, the title is Brides of Dracula (or The Brides of Dracula). Of course, none of the characters in this movie are in fact brides of Dracula. They might qualify as brides of a vampire (depending on your definition of vampire marriage) but that vampire is definitely not Dracula. So you can complain about that, if you're already looking for something to complain about.
If you're not already looking for something to complain about then here are some fandom reasons to enjoy the film.
1. Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. Do I need to say more? At the risk of turning this into the Peter Cushing Posthumous Fan Club I will state that Peter Cushing was a towering figure of 20th century cinema so any chance you get to see Grand Moff Tarkin at work is time well spent. This may not be Peter Cushing's best work, but he does make a good Van Helsing.
2. Miles Malleson's comic relief. Malleson provided some charm for Hammer's Hound of the Baskervilles, but he just about steals the show as the useless doctor in this film.
3. Michael Ripper. This one is for the Hammer Rep Company home game. It's not a major role, but it's a little reassuring to see the chipper face of Michael Ripper.
Brides of Dracula is a film about the asymmetric threats to the post-World War II order. Really? Did I just say that? Sure. The film is set in the late 19th century but it's still a 1960 film. Because it's not a film with a direct allegory to its contemporary history its easy to dismiss it as a cultural indicator of historical anxieties, but consider the opening narration:
Dracula, monarch of all vampires is dead. But his disciples live on to spread the cult and corrupt the world...
Now, it's easy enough to figure out that in a 1960 context the dead Dracula is the dead Nazi behemoth. But the anxiety of 1960 as represented in this film isn't about some Boys from Brazil fear of a secret Nazi movement, it's about evil/violence writ large. The dead Dracula represents a Pandora's box of the evils of violence and war. And in that regard the allegory is much more clear. Dracula wasn't the source of evil any more than Hitler was the source of all evil. In both cases they represent symptoms of the violence of mankind. As such, you can kill the granddaddy of vampires and that doesn't mean that all vampirism has been wiped out any more than you can kill one murderer and wipe out all murder. It is a condition that continues. Now, this theory is bogged down by the notion of "cult" introduced by the narration but the plot of the film sort of doesn't fit the idea of singular evil cult. It's almost like that word belongs more to the 1963 Kiss of the Vampire which IS about a vampire cult. Here, we're not even sure the lead vampire was in any way connected to Dracula other than by living in the general neighborhood of Transylvania. My point is that this is a film that plays on the anxiety that victory in one war is no guarantee of victory over the idea of war.
Brides of Dracula is a film about the exotic darkness of Eastern Europe. In that regard the film is merely a continuation of Bram Stoker's project which is in some ways a longer term project of exoticism of the other to begin with. Is this related to some sort of tangential orientalism? Or is it more like that aspect of dark romanticism that views the wild woods as a dark otherworld? Folks have long noted the trope of the dark forest and in films such as this Transylvania is just shorthand for that kind of thought. It seems almost funny in a way that if you actually combine this film with the original Hammer Dracula in a continuum then you have to imagine a Transylvania where every castle is a nest of vampires. (Throw Kiss of the Vampire into this mix and this becomes almost ridiculous.) There is an aspect to this that I will come to in a moment. But this is definitely a film that starts off with a Little French Riding Hood marching into the big bad forest and putting herself in danger.
Brides of Dracula is about the dangers of letting people (well, not people generally, but women specifically) loose into the "big bad forest" of unregulated society. At first it looks like this film will be slightly progressive since the main character is Marianne, a single French teacher who comes by herself to take up a teaching position in Transylvania at a private school run by Herr Lang and his Frau. It is a girls school and in a film with the title of this film it's not hard to see where this might be heading. It doesn't actually go there, which is either an act of restraint or a lack of imagination. At any rate, the Lang school is a mechanism that allows society to reinforce its norms, especially in terms of gender and sexuality though the project no doubt extends to all aspects of society and not just the hottest of the hot buttons as it were. Marianne is a typical Pandora or Eve in the sense that her curiosity gets her into trouble in releasing the vampire Baron Meinster. But it is also the case that it is the result of her good qualities that she releases this evil. The Baron plays on her sympathy and trusting nature. Marianne's kindness unleashes (literally unchains) the vampire. The fact that the vampire is a handsome young man only makes the job easier because Marianne can't say no to that.
Of course it isn't just plain curiosity which is dangerous because ultimately vampirism is about sexuality. Would Marianne's interest in the imprisoned Baron Meinster be the same if he wasn't sexually attractive to her? We can't know that, but what we do know is that despite what she's been through earlier Marianne immediately accepts the Baron's offer of marriage. But if you're looking for vampirism as a metaphor for sexuality in this film then you need only look at Marianne's friend and coworker Gina. (Wipe that smirk off your face now.) Gina is a little jealous of Marianne's good luck in landing herself a handsome aristocrat, though it is certainly good natured joking. Now, when the Baron shows up and drains Gina's blood you can't deny the sexualization of the vampirism because Gina herself expresses the event in those terms later when she gets out of her coffin and chats with Marianne. Gina even asks Marianne for forgiveness for "letting him love me." Ultimately, the lesson here is that your attractive friend will always try to have sex with your vampire fiance and your vampire fiance will always go looking for a bit of action on the side.
Speaking of love, I am really curious about the Baron's servant Greta who basically raised him. She seems to protect the Baron in a very maternal fashion, but on the other hand she forces Marianne to look at the Baroness's body in the aftermath of the Baron's escape. Is it because the Baron's escape has made it more difficult for Greta to protect him? Or is Greta jealous of the young woman's possibly sexual relationship with the Baron?
The Baroness is a bit of a red herring because it looks at first as though she might be a villain and that her invitation to Marianne to spend the night is a trap. Now, there are two strains of thought here. One is that the Baroness is just a lonely old woman and that even a moment of company with a passing stranger (and an educated one, at that) will be a treat for her. There's another darker idea that's hinted at, and that's that the Baroness and Greta kidnap the occasional passing stranger and feed them to the Baron. Van Helsing's scene with the Baroness is one of the highlights of the film and her death is a genuine moment of pathos (she's a perfect example of a reluctant vampire) and allows Van Helsing a moment of kindness with his mercy killing.
I haven't even mentioned Van Helsing yet, who is once again a representative of that strange mixture of science and faith that marks the occult science. He is contrasted with the quack Doctor Tobler who is not only a serious mercenary but also a terrible hypochondriac. So much for the medical science.
Brides of Dracula is also about class. In case you've missed most of the history of classic vampire stories notice that the vampire Baron Meinster is an aristocrat. It's not a coincidence. It's not exactly a heavily Marxist critique (especially given that it's not a hammer and sickle that kills the vampire--though both are useful in that regard) but the fact that a bloodsucking monster is already a member of an upper class that derives its wealth from the labor of others is--well, it's not exactly a tightly veiled metaphor. In this film the Baron plays on his aristocratic legitimacy to get Marianne to release him, thus he uses a classic story of aristocratic intrigue and usurpation to make others do his dirty work and get him out of his prison. The loyalty of Greta to the Baron is mostly maternal, but her duty to the Baroness is definitely a matter of her station. The reaction of the Langs to finding out that their new employee is marrying their aristocratic landlord is a priceless example of class pretensions. Herr Lang is a staunch imposer of the social order in terms of his authority in the middle class and as the head of his own business (the school) he demands obedience to his rules from his teachers. But when the Baron reveals his identity suddenly Herr Lang is a subservient bootlicker.
Meanwhile the Baron feeds on the lower classes, mostly women. The "Village Girl" doesn't even rate a name and she and Gina (along with the non-vampire Marianne) are the titular brides. (Brides of Meinster was not a catchy title.) The Baron menaces the countryside and once loose is likely to literally bleed the region dry. It's not exactly a flattering portrayal of the upper classes.
The gender issue of the film is ultimately a disappointment. The female vampires are relatively ineffective and don't prove to be all that interesting. There is a hint of the transgressive in terms of Gina's relation to Marianne once Gina has been turned, but nothing goes that far and as such it proves to be an untapped potential. This is the sort of restraint that made things like The Hunger go so far in the opposite direction later.
It is ultimately up to the man to rescue the one pure damsel in distress in this film. (The other damsels in distress are "released" from the burden of being undead (and thus, impure.)
Van Helsing is definitely a hero up to the task (though he is a hero of metis and cunning more than brawn and physical skill.) The greatest moment in the science of vampirism is when Van Helsing wakes up from being bitten by the Baron and cauterises his wound with a hot iron and then pours holy water on it thus rendering null and void the vampire's bite. The question is, if this process works how much time one has before the vampirism kicks in and if there is a sufficient lag why this isn't a more viable option when dealing with vampire victims.
Greta sacrifices herself trying to keep Van Helsing away from the Baron. She succeeds in making his task more difficult for him by knocking out his cross and it provides us with a great moment in vampire minion fighting because as a non-vampire she has only the rules of physics and biology to keep her from attacking Van Helsing. Ultimately, she is the only minion of the vampire who is not mesmerized into doing his bidding and thus nothing can break her "spell."
The ending with the giant cross formed by the shadow of the windmill is both grand and at the same time utterly ridiculous. In terms of vampire lore it creates and almost too easy standard of keeping vampires at bay. (Think of all the window frames that are made up of a bunch of crosses, or the shadow of any two crossing items in a bedroom visited by a vampire.) It's both ingenious and utterly ridiculous.
So what's the lesson here? Don't take a teaching job in Transylvania. People kept prisoner are probably being kept prisoner for a good reason so don't let your essential kindness fool you into letting them out. The job of hunting evil is never really over because the castles of the aristocracy are full of bloodsucking monsters and some of them are even vampires. Yeah, that about sums it up.
Judged in terms of the totality of the Hammer oeuvre, this film is middle of the pack. It isn't truly awful by a long shot (certainly isn't unwatchable) but it's also not exactly a must see or a revolutionary adventure in filmmaking. It's a damn sight better than a lot of non-Hammer vampire films circa 2014 (and the vampires never sparkle, you silly fools) and the visual style that continues from the first wave of the Hammer horror films is still in its classic period here. The pacing is nice and slow in the beginning so that before you know it the film is over. (This is one of the stranger effects of these films--that the early parts of it seem to be paced like a Merchant Ivory character study and then if you watch the clock you suddenly realize that there are only 20 minutes left for this film to wrap things up.) In terms of the Hammer Horror collection this film is contained in, it's a perfect starting feature with Cushing as Van Helsing and Terence Fisher's directing to firmly ground things in the most familiar and well-known of the Hammer styles.
I keep vacillating in how I feel about Brides of Dracula. It's like the middle chapter of a book that doesn't really advance the plot and is very similar to the chapter before it and the one after it but you don't quite feel like removing it because you still like the book as a whole and you don't want it to be shorter. So basically, if you're working on a classic vampire binge or working through the Hammer films or any form of comprehensive fan exercise (all the films of Yvonne Monlaur) then this is a good entry. But on its own there's very little that would commend it as being the only movie of its kind that you'd want to see. As such, again, it is to the benefit of the film itself and to any potential audience that it is included in a collection as opposed to standing alone where it might be completely lost.
Time for the next up in The Hammer Horror Series: The Franchise Collection
Draculis personae
Dr. J. Van Helsing..........Peter Cushing
Marianne Danielle.........Yvonne Monlaur
Baroness Meinster.........Martita Hunt
Baron Meinster..............David Peel
Greta..............................Freda Jackson
Dr. Tobler.......................Miles Malleson
Herr Otto Lang...............Henry Oscar
Frau Helga Lang.............Mona Washbourne
Gina................................Andree Melly
Hans, a Villager..............Victor Brooks
Father Stepnik................Fred Johnson
Coachman.......................Michael Ripper
Johan, the Landlord........Norman Pierce
Landlord's Wife..............Vera Cook
Village Girl.....................Marie Devereux
Elsa, School Maid...........Susan Castle
Latour, The Man in Black......Michael Mulcaster
Karl.................................Harry Pringle
Severine..........................Harold Scott
Foxy Girl........................Stephanie Watts
Cinematography by Jack Asher
Music by Malcolm Williamson
86 min
1.66:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Color
English
Dubbed in Spanish
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
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