That was my assessment in 1972 when I was 20 years old and right in the middle of the target demographic for this film. What would my reaction be 40 years later? Pretty much the same and for the same reasons. I hated the music, I hated the “totally cool” dialogue which was outdated in ’72, and I hated the fact that Christopher Lee was barely in the film (although I can’t blame him). That was also the verdict of my circle of friends when we compared notes later on. I have no problem with Dracula being in the modern world as the next (and final) film, THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA, showed that with good performances and a focus on story, it seemed perfectly natural. Aside from fashions, that film hasn’t dated at all.
DRACULA A.D. 1972 wasn’t a total loss. There was always Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing and the resuscitation of Dracula in the church was effectively rendered. His demise was also effectively gruesome and was the film’s highlight for us young folks. Stephanie Beacham’s Jessica Van Helsing was nice to look at but nothing she said had any staying power whatsoever. Point of fact was I can’t remember a single Hammer film that I forgot faster than this one. Unlike most of the others, nothing in A.D. 1972 stayed with me at all. Perhaps it was a concious effort to forget it. It also marked the last time that I saw a Hammer film in a theater on its first run. The rest would come in drive-ins and were older titles that I had missed the first time around or simply went to see again.
The biggest difference between seeing the film at 20 and at 60 is how I perceive the film. Today I can clearly see that DRACULA A.D. 1972 is a movie made by older people who thought they knew how younger people behaved and what they wanted. It’s clearly a film from a studio in transition trying as best they could to hold onto younger viewers who were slipping away to watch the stronger stuff then coming out of Italy and America. Nothing dates faster than a film that tries to be up-to-the-minute and it is this movie’s remarkably “hip” script that really sinks it. It is interesting to note that, as another reviewer pointed out, this is the previous film, TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, updated from 1870 to 1970. Good idea, bad execution. If you’re a Hammer fan it’s worth it for the chance to see old friends but others beware unless you happen to dig groovy fashions and even groovier dialogue.
The Capsule Critic 