For those familiar with the original Dracula thriller, the screenplay has ably preserved the sanguinary aspects of the Bram Stoker novel. Here again we have Count Dracula sleeping in a coffin by day and plying his nefarious role of a blood-sucking vampire at night. Version has its usual quota of victims before his reign of terror is ended by a fearless doctor.
Both director Terence Fisher as well as the cast have taken a serious approach to the macabre theme that adds up to lotsa tension and suspense. Peter Cushing is impressive as the painstaking scientist-doctor who solves the mystery. Christopher Lee is thoroughly gruesome as Dracula, and Michael Gough is suitably skeptical as a bereaved relative who ultimately is persuaded to assist Cushing.
