Dracula A.D. 1972, or, Wah-wahmpire

Even though they’re not the least bit scary, I really, really like the Hammer movies about Dracula. I love how the colors are all super-saturated. I love how the lighting is perfect throughout, so everything seems super-sharp1. I love how Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing seem simultaneously like they’re slumming and like they’re putting every last bit of their talent into it. I love how Lee’s version of Dracula has all the swagger and pomposity but invariably finds himself going bug-eyed and running away like “oh geez I’m in a pickle is this the end of poor Dracula?!” I love how they never have enough ghastly white make-up to cover up his five o’clock shadow. But my biggest disappointment with them is probably the same thing that most other people find upsetting: their version of Dracula never lives in a time when he could visit Walt Disney World, which opened in 1971. Thankfully, they finally addressed that in Dracula A.D. 1972. (Spoiler: he doesn’t actually go to Disney World in…