Dracula Goes Mod and Mina gets Smitten, then Bitten

Christopher Lee as Dracula.The idea of inserting Count Dracula into a groovy 1970s London setting was a potentially intriguing idea. Unfortunately, by the time Hammer Films produced Dracula A.D. 1972, the premise had already grown stale. The contemporary-set Count Yorga, Vampire (1970) and its 1971 sequel had already been released, with the former earning respectable reviews. Blacula (1972), another well-received, modern-day vampire film, debuted in American theaters a few months before Hammer's movie. And, of course, television's most famous vampire, Barnabas Collins of Dark Shadows fame, had become a pop culture icon.Dracula A.D. 1972 opens with a prologue set in the late 19th century in which Lawrence Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) dies after impaling Dracula (Christopher Lee) with a broken wagon wheel. It's an unimpressive opening that unfortunately foreshadows the rest of the film.A century later, a hip young man called Johnny Alucard (yes, that old trick) thinks it'd be groovy to…