Dracula was last seen sinking beneath the icy waters around his castle in DRACULA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS. DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE fudges continuity a bit, beginning with a prologue showing a dead woman's body found stuffed in the bell of a church tower (presumably put there by Dracula, although he certainly did not seem to have time for this side trip during the frantic back-and-forth of the previous film). One year later, Msgr. Muller (Rupert Davies) finds the locals still living in fear of the departed Dracula, so he and the local priest (Ewan Hooper) head up to the castle to read a rite of exorcism. Unfortunately, the local priest lags behind, falls, and cuts his head, his blood seeping through the broken ice to revive the Count, who turns him into a slave and sets out to avenge himself against the Msgr. Muller for putting the cross on his castle. Muller's niece Maria (Veronica Carlson) is in love with Paul (Barry Andrews), but Muller disapproves because Paul is an atheist. Dracula claims Zena (Barbara Ewing) as his first female victim but soon sets his sights on Maria. Muller tries to protect her, but the local priest wounds him fatally. Paul takes over, but being an atheist he refuses to pray after driving a stake through Dracula's heart -- and the Count manages to pull the stake out! Dracula absconds with Maria and heads back to his castle, ordering her to toss the offending cross over the battlements. Paul pursues, and a struggle ensues. Dracula ends up falling over the battlements and impaled on the giant cross, while the local priest, the vampire's spell broken, says the necessary prayer to ensure that the vampire will die.

As often happened in the Hammer Dracula series, the Count seems motivated by petty revenge, which he executes mostly through his assistants (in this case the priest and Zena). The real focus of the story is on Paul and Maria, whose love is thwarted by Paul's atheistic beliefs (and on his insistence on expressing them to Maria's Catholic uncle!). The only connecting link between this pair and Dracula is Maria's uncle. As a result, the story seems a bit arbitrary and stitched together, without the strong, usually action-packed narrative line displayed in the best of Hammer's classic horrors.

Nevertheless, the story contains several interesting ironies, with the weak-willed local priest falling under the vampire's spell, while the non-believer Paul is Dracula's chief adversary. Not unexpectedly, Paul becomes a believer by the end, after seeing the power of the cross destroy the Count. Clearly, writer Anthony Hinds was trying to exploit the religious subtext of the Dracula myth. Even the title rings a note reminiscent of the resurrection of Jesus in the New Testament, and surely it is no accident that Dracula is almost literally crucified at the end -- in one of the most spectacular demises ever suffered by the Count, who weeps tears of blood as he expires.

Unfortunately, the portrayal of the Dracula character as an Antichrist figure is mostly symbolic. Mostly absent from the script is any action that shows him devoted to the grandeur of evil; he behaves like a run-of-the-mill, garden variety vampire, leaving it up to Christopher Lee to imply the character's stature as the "Prince of Darkness" in his performance.

Also heavily emphasized are the sexual undertones inherent in vampire mythology. Dracula's first female victim is a dark-haired woman of easy virtue who had tried to seduce Paul. Yet the blond and apparently innocent Maria turns out to be not that different from Zena: not only does she sleep with Paul (even though they are not married); she also overtly responds to Dracula's advances when he sneaks into her bedroom. Francis puts his camera in close, heightening the tension and the eroticism, which is much more seductive than that seen in HORROR OF DRACULA (which more resembled a rape). Here, the Count gently nuzzles Maria's neck first, as if sensitizing her skin for the bite to come. And Christopher Lee eschews his trademark red contact lenses for the close-ups of his eyes, implying that it is not blood lust that is so much motivating the Count.

As in many good horror films, the simplicity of the story does stir up some interesting imagery that resonates on a deeper, mythic (sometimes even subconscious) level. The trek by Dracula and Maria back to the castle features the woman clinging to his coffin as if yearning for a lover. Later, she follows through the woods, the camera tilting down to her bare feet, emphasizing her indifference to her own pain as she follows her new lord and master. Then, in a quick ironic shift, we dissolve to the Count carrying her up the rocky terrain toward his castle, looking for all the world like a bridegroom carrying his beloved to the threshold.

Although G-rated, the film hardly seems tame. There is no actual nudity, but both Ewing and Carlson display their ample charms, either in corsets of low-cut dresses. And the gore is plenty effective, too, particularly during the failed staking of Dracula. Although some purists (including Lee himself) have objected to this scene, it works wonderfully and gives some hint as to how Dracula could have survived for centuries -- destroying him with a wooden stake just is not as easy as it looks.

The cast is strong. Lee, as always, makes Dracula a formidable figure, both frightening and alluring; even if the script does not serve him well, he makes the most of his scenes, indelibly impressing himself on the audience imagination with all the force of an archetype that needs no distinguishing details.

Rupert Davies does a good job as his chief religious opposition, and Ewan Cooper creates a wonderfully weak portrait of the priest who falls under Dracula's spell. Stalwart character actor Michael Ripper lends amiable support, and Barbara Ewing makes a good first victim, perfectly registering sexual attraction to the Count and then jealousy when he turns his attention elsewhere. Barry Andrews has the right charm and charisma to pull of the young male lead role, and Carlson is absolutely gorgeous -- the perfect embodiment of "Dracula's most beautiful victim" (as she was called in some of the film's promotional materials).

James Bernard provides another rousing score, reusing his famous three-note Dracula motif (the orchestra almost seems to be singing "DRA-cu-la!") And Bernard Robinson's sets are wonderful as always (although it is disappointing that we never see the interior of Castle Dracula). If only the script had been able to meld is religious and sexual motifs into a stronger narrative that did full justice to the Dracula character, then DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE could have taken its place alongside HORROR OF DRACULA as genre masterpiece. As it stands, this is an above-average sequel that lingers in the mind thanks to its memorable imagery and directorial flair.

TRIVIA

This is the first Hammer Dracula that presents "Count Dracula" as a household name familiar to all the characters: When Msgr. Muller announces that the vampire is alive, his sister-in-law gasps in horror, obviously knowing who -- and what -- he is talking about, without any further explanation. This has the unfortunate side-effect of reducing the tone to the level of an old-fashioned, melodramatic horror movie, abandoning the more modern approach of Hammer's previous Dracula films, which had avoided such histrionics.

This is the first time that Christopher Lee speaks as Dracula since the opening scenes of HORROR OF DRACULA. The character remained mute throughout the later portions of that film and throughout the entirety of the sequel, DRACULA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS. Curiously, Lee abandons the fast-paced, authoritative voice he used in HORROR OF DRACULA, here opting for a slower-paced, sepulchral tone.

This is the first of Lee's Hammer Dracula films in which we do not see the interior of Dracula's castle. This will happen again in the next film TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, as well as the later DRACULA A.D. 1972 and THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA. Only SCARS OF DRACULA will show us Lee at home in his castle once again.