Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) - EOFFTV - The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film and Television

UK, 1971
95m, 96m, 8,536 feet
35mm, colour
mono, English

A British horror film directed by Alan Gibson. This was the seventh in Hammer's Dracula series and the first to move the action to a contemporary setting. Production began on either 27 September 1971 ¹ or 4 October 1971 ².

Plot Summary

Destroyed by Van Helsing on 1872, Dracula is revived in 1972 London by hip young acolyte Johnny Alucard. The Count, operating from a deconsecrated church in Chelsea, works his way through Alucard's young friends but Van Helsing's descendant is on hand to deal with the menace when Dracula targets his grand-daughter Jessica.

Credits

Crew
Directed by: Alan Gibson
© MCMLXXII [1972] Hammer Film Productions Limited
A Hammer Films production
Produced by: Josephine Douglas
Production Manager: Ron Jackson
Production Supervisor: Roy Skeggs
Screen-play by: Don Houghton
Assistant Director: Robert Lynn
Continuity: Doreen Dearnaley
Director of Photography: Dick Bush
Camera Operator: Bernie Ford
Editor: James Needs
Processed by: Humphries Laboratories
Music Composed by: Michael Vickers
Musical Supervisor: Philip Martell
And introducing Stoneground
Songs: “Alligator Man” by Sal Valentino; “You Better Come Through” by Tim Barnes
Recording Director: A.W. Lumkin
Recordist: Claude Hitchcock
Dubbing Mixer: Bill Rowe
Sound Editor: Roy Baker
RCA Sound System
Wardrobe Supervisor: Rosemary Burrows
Make-Up: Jill Carpenter
Hairdresser: Barbara Ritchie
Special Effects: Les Bowie
Designer: Don Mingaye
Assistant Art Director: Ron Benton
Construction Manager: Bill Greene
Made at: Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire, England
Casting Director: James Liggat

Cast
Christopher Lee (Count Dracula)
Peter Cushing (Professor Van Helsing)
Stephanie Beacham (Jessica Van Helsing)
Christopher Neame (Johnny Alucard)
Michael Coles (Inspector)
William Ellis (Joe Mitchum)
Marsha Hunt (Gaynor)
Janet Key (Anna)
Philip Miller (Bob)
Michael Kitchen (Greg)
David Andrews (Detective Sergeant)
Caroline Munro (Laura)
Lally Bowers (matron)
Constance Luttrell (Mrs Donnelly)
Michael Daly (Charles)
Artro Morris (police surgeon)
Jo Richardson (crying matron)
Penny Brahms (hippy girl)
Brian John Smith (hippy boy)
Stoneground (Sal Valentino, Tim Barnes, John Blakely, Brian Godula, Lynne Hughes, Deirdre La Porte, Cory Lerios, Lydia Mareno, Steve Price, Annie Sampson) (rock group)
Jane Anthony [debby girl – uncredited]
Flanagan [go-go girl – uncredited]
John Franklyn-Robbins [minister – uncredited]
Glenda Allen [girl – uncredited]

Cast Gallery

Alternative Titles

1972: Dracula colpisce ancora! – Italian title
Dracula '72 – working title
Drácula 73 – Spanish title
Dracula 73 – French title
Dracula Chelsea '72 – working title
Dracula is Dead – working title ³
Dracula jagt Mini-Mädchen – German title
Dracula Today – working title

Links

Sequel to
Dracula (1958)
The Brides of Dracula (1960)
Dracula Prince of Darkness (1966)
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968)
Scars of Dracula (1970)
Taste the Blood of Dracula (1969)

Sequels
The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974)

Extracts included in
Prince of Terror (1972)

Production Notes

Pre-production
In an interview with British trade journal Today's Cinema printed shortly before the film went into production under the title Dracula Chelsea '72, Michael Carreras commented that “particular emphasis will be placed on the music by Johnny Harris and a group called ‘Faces'” ⁴. In the end Harris didn't write the score and the mysterious Faces (presumably not the same band as the more famous The Faces) were replaced by Stoneground, as noted in a 2 November 1971 edition of the same journal ⁵

By 28 September 1971, the same periodical was referring to the film under its new working title though they seemed unsure if it should be Dracula Today or Dracula – Today.⁶

Press

1972
Daily Variety 16 October 1972 p.2
[The] film carries the type of chill ingredients any spectator associates with the living dead and should fare well in its intended market. […] Under Josephine Douglas' producer guidance and Alan Gibson's direction of the mostly slick script, action travels at a fast clip as Peter Cushing, a professor of the occult and son of the man who killed Dracula, uses all his powers to save his granddaughter from Dracula. Fortunately, the professor is the better man of the two, and Stephanie Beacham, no hag she, winds up safe in her granddaddy's protecting arms. Christopher Lee, whom the Hammer outfit always casts in the Dracula character, reprises here but has surprisingly little to do, mostly along neck-biting lines. Cushing is persuasive as the professor and Miss Beacham is a looker. Christopher Neame plays Johnny, who would dabble in black magic and ends you guess where. Michael Coles is proper as the Scotland Yard inspector. Gibson's direction is particularly effective in maintaining mood and spirit and editing by James Needs is a strong contributing factor. Michael Vickers' music score also is a definite plus, as is Dick Bush's facile color photography. Production design by Don Mingaye is particularly atmospheric. Special effects, which add immeasurably, were devised by Les Bowie. Warner Bros., which is releasing, gives pic an extra filip by prologing it with a specially-filmed three-minute exploitation gimmick in which an actor, garbed as Dracula, invites audience to join the Dracula Society and puts them through the oath. – from a review by Whit

References

Periodicals

Cinefantastique vol.2 no.4 (Summer 1973) p.33 – review
Cinema of the '70s no.1 (2020) pp.49-68 – illustrated article (Straight on till '79: A decade of Hammer horror by Ian Taylor)
CinemaTV Today no.9962 8 January 1972 p.21 – illustrated note (A tasty tit bit for Dracula)
CinemaTV Today no.10001 (7 October 1972) p.33 – review
Daily Variety 16 October 1972 p.2 – credits, review (by Whit)
Dark Terrors no.7 (October – December 1993) pp.20-22 – illustrated credits, article
Filmfacts vol.15 no.20 (1972) – illustrated credits, reprinted reviews
Films and Filming vol.19 no.3 (December 1972) p.57 – review
The Hollywood Reporter vol.218 no.28 (29 October 1971) p.8 – credits
The House That Hammer Built no.8 (April 1998) pp.431 – 434 – illustrated credits, synopsis, review
Monthly Film Bulletin vol.39 no.466 (November 1972) p.230 – credits, synopsis, review
Monthly Film Bulletin vol.39 no.467 (December 1972) p.267 – note
Shivers no.52 p.8 – review
Sight & Sound vol.10 no.7 (July 2000) p.61 – video review
Today's Cinema no.9932 (17 August 1971) p.1 – note (Hammer get second million)
Today's Cinema no.9934 (24 August 1971) p.5 – note (Film forecast)
Today's Cinema no.9943 (28 September 1971) p.4 – credits, note (World casting)
Today's Cinema no.9953 (2 November 1971) pp.8-9; 9 – interview with Josephine Douglas (Female of the species by Sue Clarke); note (Music man)
Variety 25 October 1972 p.22 – credits, review
Video Junkie no.1 p.24 – review

Books

English Gothic (2nd edition) by Jonathan Rigby pp.196-197 – illustrated credits, review
The Hammer Story by Marcus Hearn and Alan Barnes pp.156-157, 179 – illustrated article, review, credits
Hoffman's Guide to SF, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991-1992 p.112 – credits, review
The Illustrated Vampire Movie Guide pp.72-73 – credits, review
Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.112 – credits
Ten Years of Terror pp.146-147 – illustrated credits, reviews (by Harvey Fenton, Jonathon Sothcott)