TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA

1969, Peter Sasdy, 91 mins.

Dracula is reborn in Victorian London.

One of Hammer’s most interesting films; less a Dracula movie than a study of Victorian repression and hypocrisy which has the Count rather awkwardly shoe-horned in.  The first half is quite marvellous as we follow the descent of three thrill-seeking Victorians into blood-drinking Satanism, instigated by rather arch acolyte Ralph Bates whom they subsequently beat to death in an abandoned church. The performances of Geoffrey Keen, Peter Sallis, and John Carson are excellent and Peter Sasdy creates a memorable atmosphere of decadence. Unfortunately, the second half drifts rapidly into incoherence as Christopher Lee turns up, looking bored, and is given virtually nothing to do while the children of the thrill-seekers kill their fathers. The baffling climax, during which Dracula is destroyed after having a funny turn as the church is mysteriously re-consecrated, is an unworthy end to an interesting film.

ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE

1969, Peter Hunt, 142 mins.

The first Bond movie without Sean Connery sees Bond battle Blofeld in Switzerland.

My favourite Bond movie and one of the best films of the Sixties. It’s got just about everything; wit, charm, astonishingly visceral action, a pounding John Barry score, gorgeous location photography, and classic villains in the shape of Ilse Steppat’s Irma Bunt and Telly Savalas’s definitive Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Admittedly, it’s also got George Lazenby but, personally, I like him – he does very well in the action scenes and has genuine presence, while his engagement with proceedings is a vast improvement on Sean Connery’s efforts in his later Bond movies. He has a lot to carry too – a more emotional storyline than usual which allows the role of the Bond girl, in the shape of Diana Rigg, to be fully developed; and an ending which hits you like a hard blow to the gut even when you know it’s coming.