Christopher Lee is excellent as Dracula, bringing to the character a genuine menace, which is both sophisticated and brutal (which was lacking from Lugosi's performance). Many women apparently fainted in the cinema either from fear or sexual tension during the bedroom scene! Peter’s character, Van Helsing, is a man of single purpose in his quest to rid the world of Dracula; he as ever brings a great deal of charm, grace, and incredible professionalism to his role. Peter Cushing was a committed Christian and thought out his career he got to play a variety of roles – seldom was he at such ease playing good against evil. Michael Gough is reliably good as Arthur Holmwood, brother of Lucy; Dracula's main object of desire. You may remember Gough better as Alfred the butler in the more recent Batman films.
The film now doesn’t look quite so scary as it once did – this is perhaps because life itself is much darker and scarier now than it was in the 1950’s! But one can only imagine sneaking into a movie theatre in your teens and watching this for the first time….Director Terrence Fisher deserves a great deal of the credit for the success of this film and the way vampires were to be treated afterward in film. Fisher directs with precision and creates a rich tapestry of vibrant colours and wonderful sets with his discerning eye for detail.
