Lecture Six
(THE HORROR OF) DRACULA

1958
Terence Fisher

Tales about vampires (or the undead) as they are sometimes referred to) are found in almost all cultures. Some people have held that there is a recognition everywhere of blood as a life force, hence it relevance in terms like “blood oaths” and the like. So it would not be surprising to discover that creatures would appear that thrive on the blood of others. Mosquitos and some “vampire bars” are known to draw blood from their bites.

While even folkloric vampires of the Balkans and Eastern Europe had a wide range of appearance ranging from nearly human to bloated rotting corpses. John Polidori's famous 1819 novella The Vampyre established the typical charismatic and sophisticated vampire. Many believe it to be the most influential vampire work of the early 19th century. It had an effect on such works as Varney the Vampire and also Stoker's Dracula.

Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula is the most famous and provides the most recognized description of the vampire. Stoker used earlier folklore about werewolves and other supernatuals.

The Vampire, like the werewolf is a contagious disease which is transmitted by bite and in this regard can be seen as potentially related to rabies an illness transmitted by bite.

The idea of sucking a life force out of someone is also found in beliefs that cats can kill sleeping persons by stealing their breath.

Vampires were known in Europe, but it isn’t until the 18th century that they become more commonly discussed or believed in. At this time, the vampire was seen – not as gaunt pale creatures – but rather as plump ruddy characters, This influx of “information about vampires lead to a kind of hysteria in Europe in which people thought to have been vampires were exhumed and they exhibited all the signs we now associated with vampire lore. Bodies were found with blood around the nose and mouth indicating they had left their graves and were traveling about at night feasting on the blood of the living. Their ruddy color indicated a kind of life after death for the body.

Much of what was described can be explained easily, but the intimate knowledge held by people in those days held about vampires implies that the people were actually digging up bodies.

Bodies in those days were not embalmed and so post mortem changes were not understood. As the body begins to decompose gasses form in the body often rupturing The blood around the mouth and nose result from these gasses expanding and rupturing the small blood vessels in and around the nose and mouth.

The fact that the bodies were staked and screamed is also accurate since gas build up in the cheat cavity would have been forced out with the blow through the mouth causing the body to “scream”!

It has also been postulated that an illness called porphyria which causes an increased sensitivity to light might have had a part in both werewolf and vampire mythology. When the skin Is exposed to sunlight it results in scarring, disfiguring and hair growth, thus tying it to both vampirism and werewolvery.

This aversion to sunlight however is a recent acquisition to the mythology starting with the film Nosferatu.It is not in John Polidori’s The Vampyre (1819), nor in Stoker’s 1895 novel. The garlic connection may be in reality and seems to result from people using garlic to kill the smell of the decomposing body not anything to frighten off vampires.

The Vampire has continued in the horror genre until today

The vampires status as monster can at least be held on the grounds that it is a dangerous supernatural being, holding that one possible definition would indicate that the monsters have as a requirement they be dangerous and at least “non-natural”

Hammer Studios

Hammer Studios is a British studio which became known finally as “The House that Dripped Blood”. .Founded in 1934 the company made films until it declared bankruptcy in 1937. It recovered enough to make films again .

From 1939 until 1955 the studio produced typical films and did a science fiction film in 1952 called Spaceways with much lifted from Kurt Neumann's Rocketship X-M. Their first real attempt in science fiction/horror was based on a TV series called The Quatermass Experiment (1955). The film was called The Quatermass Xperiment to cash in on the new “x” ratings (It was also called The Creeping Unknown in the US.) Reviewers were appropriate shocked and appalled by the film’s “pulsating obscenity” and naturally the film was a big success. The film was followed by another X- The Unknown – still playing with the X idea). The production of another sci fi/horror film marked the companies move to horror from B movies. In addition it is the first feature film scripted by Jimmy Sangster who would go to write all the major horror film for Hammer and later direct and produce for Hammer. Quatermass II The Enemy from Space followed against based on the TV show by Nigel Kneale and the film was scripted by Kneale himself. (Ultimately there would be a third Quatermass film Quatermass and the Pit or Five Million Years to Earth).

Unable to keep do films derivative of the TV program about alien take overs, the company started to look elsewhere, when it was suggested that they remake the Frankenstein story. An American writer, Milton Subotsky was hired to write the low budget film which was to be shot in black and white in 3 weeks (later he would write Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror and the Monster Club). It was probably a quick re-write of the Universal film and hence Universal indicated they might file a law suit against the film. The Mary Shelley book was in public domain, but the Universal film was not, nor was the Jack Pierce make-up. The result was that Hammer had to go back to the novel and make certain that nothing in their film could be found ONLY in the Universal film, hence this is not a remake.

So the Subotsky script was discarded and a new one by Jimmy Sangster appeared. In addition to making sure that nothing unique to the UI film appeared, the budget and shooting schedule were upped (budget to 70,000 pounds 1955 1 pound= $2.80 1955 or $196,000.) and the decision was made to film in color.

So the first major horror film to appear was The Curse of Frankenstein which had an incredible number of additional problems not the least of which was the fear that the preoccupation with violence and gore that Hammer had already a reputation for, was now going to appear for the first time in color! It was in fact filled with gore with the camera lingering over every bloody detail. It was an instant success in Britain, the rest of Europe and the USA where it inspired Roger Corman and American International Pictures to produce their own series. It also made something of a household name out of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee Curse of Frankenstein would be quickly followed by Dracula (or The Horror of Dracula in its American release) and again starred Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee who would be come as associated with the Dracula role as did Lugosi.

With Dracula (The film was called Dracula in Britain and The Horror of Dracula in the US) there was no problem with Universal which would be one of the distributor’s for Hammer. The estimated budget for this was about 81,000 pounds ($226,800.) – too low to do any Dracula into bat transformations, but enough to make the film stylish enough to be called the most stylish of the Hammer films

Lee did 6 Dracula films:

The company was virtually a repertory company with people become extremely used to working with each other and knowing each other’s style. As a result, despite its low budgets the films had remarkable production design. They made use of high quality British actors and cleverly designed sets which belied the inexpensive budgets.

Terence Fisher

AFTER THE FILM

The film is short (82 minutes) and gets going right from the start. The films starts by establishing a “red” motif to go with blood. There is also a voice over by Jonathan Harker detailing his trip to the castle as something written in his diary. Later information is given rapidly through a recording device to which Van Helsing is listening.

Timing is crucial and the structural nature of the work is important: moment of calm occur before and after moments of activity allowing time to build to the next set piece.

The timing is such that each build up is a bit closer to the last so the film speeds up as it goes along. Occasionally there are moments of shock in the build up. While waiting outside the house to see if Minne is approached, there is an owl that screeches (kind of Lewton moment) and the sudden appearance of Dracula in the room below. There are no bat=>Dracula transformations. All have to do with people changing at death. (Dracula often appears suddenly, rarely entering a room at a crucial moment. His first appearance with his bloody fangs is about the only one where he rushes into the room.

What scenes would be likely to be “set pieces”?

Calm: Harker arrives at castle after commenting on absence of life (no birds singing) and the cold when crossing into the castle (absence of life again). Begins to eat alone, woman arrives (start of building of tension) wanting to be helped, but runs from room Dracula appears on stairway as silhouette looking dangerous. Immediately he comes down and is quiet pleasant. (Falls away to calm again). Dracula sees picture of Lucy (picture, reflection, shadow indicative of soul and possible duplicity) Later he takes the picture. It is as if by taking the picture her soul has been moved from Jonathan to Dracula

Twist: We learn Harker knows who Dracula is and has come to kill him Dracula seems to have only thought of hiring a librarian – but maybe not. (slight tension)

Calm => tension: Dracula leaves and Harker explores and is approached again by woman (parallel structure) This time there is an inversion and she bites Harker and Dracula appears – not as pleasant man, but comes through the door, complete with bloody fangs, vaults across the table and attacks the woman. Harker is attached as well as he tries to defend the woman. Dracula leaves with the woman => calm

Calm continues => tension. Harker searches for bodies to stake and finds them. Dispatches woman who ages, Dracula wakes and escapes and then returns

The timing is such that each build up is a bit closer to the last so the film speeds up as it goes along. Occasionally there are moments of shock in the build up. While waiting outside the house to see if Minne is approached, there is an owl that screeches (kind of Lewton moment) and the sudden appearance of Dracula in the room below. There are no bat=>Dracula transformations. All have to do with people changing at death. (Dracula often appears suddenly, rarely entering a room at a crucial moment. His first appearance with his bloody fangs is about the only one where he rushes into the room.

The film diverges from the Lugosi version in which, basically, a staged version is filmed. The serious pieces like the killing of Dracula take place “off stage”. In this film the violence is placed in the foreground.

Like the Universal Studios horrors which stress (specularize) make-up and effects, the Hammer Studios version of Dracula appears here with fangs and with blood on them and a transformation scene at the end. Clearly more gore and more force than in earlier vampire films.

What can you say about the sets? What kind of symbols are apparent in the film:

Almost everyone has seen the Lugosi Dracula (or the Spanish version). This is a different one, but some vampire film is needed before Blacula.

The vampire is no longer the suave urbane count of the Universal films

Use of color

Religious Overtones - Christianity as weapon against vampires - some films have poked fun at this arguing that cross are no use against a Jewish vampire.. There is an interesting situation in the West and that is that almost everything is traced back to the ancient Greeks who had a somewhat relaxed attitude about sex. However, the religious aspect of Western society (especially in the form of Christianity, Judaism and Isalm are rather tense about ti so there tends to be a rather built in tug of war between the two.

In addition to the overt sexuality of the film, the physical power of Dracula implies almost a sadist bent in the character (SM being heavily tabued legally in Britain)

Since the film is British, it is possible here for there to be significant differences culturally that could easily effect the sub text of the film. Certainly the idea of a religious motif is in both cultures, but the Empire building Brits may regard the other as something a bit different. Growing populations of foreigners from the “empire” were beginning to move to England and a real “foreigner” type of threat (as per Nosferatu) is possible here. Like American films, there is a close connection between science fiction aliens and the monstrous others of horror films.

There is some indication that it is being linked to drug use and loss of control on the part of the victims. They dislike being dominated but can do nothing. There are also moments of comic relief in the film. What function do they serve?

Do films with unrelieved horror not work? Does the audience simply start to block what is happening?