DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966) Blu-ray review

Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) d. Terence Fisher (UK) (90 min)

Following the triumph of Horror of Dracula, Christopher Lee avoided donning the fangs again for fear of typecasting (witness Bela Lugosi). He was eventually lured back into the cowl eight years (and a pile of guilt and cash) later for this rather predictable tale of two vacationing English couples (Francis Matthews, Suzan Farmer, Charles Tingwell, Barbara Shelley) who wander into the Count’s almost-but-not-quite deserted castle in search of a good stake dinner.

DIE, MONSTER, DIE! (1965) Blu-ray Review

Die Monster Die! (1965) d. Daniel Haller (UK/USA)

Having wrapped up their extremely successful run of Roger Corman-directed Edgar Allan Poe adaptations – fondly referred to as the “AIPoes” – American International Pictures set their sights on another highly influential horror writer, H.P. Lovecraft. (In actuality, they’d already adopted his “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward” in 1963 and turned it into Edgar Allan Poe’s The Haunted Palace, but I digress.) Corman’s able art director Daniel Haller took the helm for screenwriter Jerry’s Sohl’s reworking of “The Colour Out of Space,” whose drive-in ready retitling of Die, Monster, Die! was only the first of its many woes.