The Many Embarrassing “Deaths” of Hammer Horror’s Count Dracula

Hammer really found something special in Christopher Lee, who played numerous villains in their pictures from 1957 through the mid-1970s. Lee was perhaps best known as their gaunt and glowering Count Dracula (if most beloved for playing Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man, later catastrophically remade starring Nicholas “How’d it get burned!” Cage). His piercing eyes and aristocratic demeanor, juxtaposed with bestial moments of fanged rage, portrayed the character better than anyone has since Lugosi’s original.

As a kid, I was exposed to most of these movies through the Saturday afternoon “TV 20 Thriller” out of Detroit which, rather than having a host, opened with a horror movie montage musically accompanied by the psychedelic breakdown from Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.” (The intro was often more scary than the actual movie.) Along with all things Godzilla and Vincent Price, Hammer’s horror pics were a favorite of mine. They brought a level of blood and titillation to their Dracula franchise unmatched my any English-speaking film studio for a long time. These vampire films hid their low budgets through the use of great locations, excellent costumes, classic sets, and gratuitous cleavage. The lack of special effects meant the Count never got to do much other than look imperious, bite hot chicks, talk smack to Peter Cushing, and hiss at just about anything made into the shape of a cross. (Of course, the scripts also had something to do with this.) They're a fun way to kill a rainy afternoon even now.

Horror movies are notorious for their weak endings; quick wrap-ups where the main characters are doomed by, flee from, or destroy the antagonizing force—and Hammer’s Dracula movies are no exception. The formula is a classic one—Count Dracula, Satanic Lord of the Undead, often dies like a punk in some anticlimactic goof-up that exploits the downside of being a vampire. These include aversions to sun, clear running water, sharp wooden objects, and all things Jesus, all of which are pretty abundant on planet Earth. Dracula’s many embarrassing “deaths” are listed below:

Dracula (1958)

At dawn, Van Helsing opens the drapes.

Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966)

Dracula falls through the ice and sinks.

Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968)

He slips over a balcony railing and lands on a large metal cross that impales him.

Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)

Dracula enters a church, and is horrified to discover it’s full of crosses. Dies from apparent Jesus overdose.

Scars of Dracula (1970)

While waving around an iron post atop a castle in a thunderstorm, he is struck by lightning and burns up a like Chinese-made teddy bear.

Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

Two deaths: Impaled by broken carriage wheel, revived, later gets holy water in the face and stumbles into a spike-filled hole.

Satanic Rites of Dracula (1974)

While chasing Van Helsing through the woods, Dracula gets tangled up in a hawthorn tree. The thorns remind him of Jesus, and this debilitates him. Van Helsing stabs him with a nearby fencepost.