Scars of Dracula

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Roy Ward Baker directs. Moray Grant behind the camera. James Bernard scores. James Needs cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $0.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 256 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Part of the "Dracula (Hammer) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 4Directed by Roy Ward Baker, shot by Moray Grant. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by James Bernard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor James Needs shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Christopher Lee and Dennis Waterman and Jenny Hanley carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "The mark of death remains forever!".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0067713 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Classified under 10 themes, including "vampire", "coffin", "castle", "sequel".
• 11Released under 24 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Moray Grant

Original score

James Bernard

Editing

James Needs

Makeup / hair

Heather Nurse

Runtime

96 min · 1h 36m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$478,375

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Scars of Dracula (1970) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

67% 🍅 Fresh

IMDB rating

6/10 · 6,934 votes

MPAA

R

Part of

Dracula (Hammer) Collection

A Hammer Films Productions horror film series inspired by Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.

• 
  Dracula

  1958
• 
  The Brides of Dracula

  1960
• 
  Dracula: Prince of Darkness

  1966
• 
  Dracula Has Risen from the Grave

  1968
• 
  Taste the Blood of Dracula

  1970
• 
  Scars of Dracula

  1970 · this one
• 
  Dracula A.D. 1972

  1972
• 
  The Satanic Rites of Dracula

  1973
• 
  The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires

  1974

Also by

Roy Ward Baker

• 
  The Valiant

  1962 · ★ 8.3
• 
  The Human Jungle

  1963 · ★ 8.2
• 
  Danger UXB

  1979 · ★ 8.0
• 
  The Avengers

  1961 · ★ 7.8
• 
  Jason King

  1971 · ★ 7.8
• 
  A Night to Remember

  1958 · ★ 7.7

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  The Scars of Dracula (1970) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Scars of Dracula / Original Theatrical Trailer (1970)

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2021-10-05
  ★ 7/10

  Adds some needed pizzazz to the Hammer series A young man (Christopher Matthews) running from the law ends up at an ominous castle and goes missing. Thus his brother and a friend (Dennis Waterman & Jenny Hanley) travel to the dubious dwelling to find him, but come face-to-face with a formidable fiend (Christopher Lee). “Scars of Dracula” (1970) is a sort of reboot of the Hammer series in that it’s basically a redo of Lee’s first two stabs at the undead Count: “Horror of Dracula” (1958) and “Dracula, Prince of Darkness” (1966), not to mention it mixes in aspects of “Dracula Has Risen from the Grave” (1968) and, most significantly, the plot of “Psycho” (1960). For those who question the latter, just reread the plot description above. Some viewers gripe that this one doesn’t fit the chronology of the series for a couple of reasons, yet these supposed conundrums are easily explained: Dracula was reduced to dust at the end of the prior film, “Taste the Blood of Dracula” (1970), but Klove had instructions to seek out and acquire the Count’s ashes if he was ever slain and bring them back to the castle in Transylvania where one of his creatures of the night would supply the blood necessary to resurrect the Prince of Darkness. As for the differences in the look of the castle, Hammer had moved to a different studio and so of course it looks different than it did when they made “Horror of Dracula” thirteen years earlier. Although marred by the cheesy bat sequences, “Scars of Dracula” is one of the more entertaining installments due to the spirited Paul, a bit o’ genuine amusement in the first act and a generally compelling story (hey, it worked for “Psycho,” why wouldn’t it work here?). The female cast doesn’t hurt, particularly the lovely Hanley as Sarah, but also Anouska Hempel (Tania), Delia Lindsay (Alice) and Wendy Hamilton (Julie). For those interested, Hammer did nine Dracula-themed films from 1958 to 1974 as follows: Horror of Dracula (1958); The Brides of Dracula (1960); Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966); Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968); Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970); Scars of Dracula (1970); Dracula AD 1972 (1972); The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973); and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974). Lee plays Dracula in all of them except “Brides” and “7 Golden Vampires” while Peter Cushing appears in five of them as a Van Helsing. The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot at Elstree Studios & nearby Scratchwood, just northwest of London. GRADE: B

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2023-11-01
  ★ 6/10

  Somehow, the sound of Dennis Waterman with a plummy accent doesn't quite work in this standard Hammer production. He is "Simon" who is keen on "Sarah" (Jenny Hanley) who is, in turn, rather keen on his Lothario of a brother "Paul" (Christopher Mathews). When the latter man's antics cause him to flee the anger of the burgomaster, he alights on a fire-damaged castle where he is soon, well... "Simon" and "Sarah" along with the local priest (Michael Gwynn) are soon on the trail but can they rescue him - or, indeed, save themselves from the evil that is "Dracula" (Christopher Lee)? Patrick Troughton is quite effective as the put-upon factotum "Klove" and Lee does just enough but the rest of the cast are really pretty lacklustre as the story follows a predictable pattern - complete with bat-on-a-string and plenty of ketchup and Ribena. It's watchable, but there's way too much dialogue and not enough action until the very last few moments - and even that is too heavily dependent on a thunderstorm to create any sense of impending menace.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Hammer Film Productions

  GB

Key crew

• Art DirectionScott MacGregor
• ProducerAida Young
• EditorJames Needs
• Special EffectsRoger Dicken
• CharactersBram Stoker
• Makeup ArtistHeather Nurse
• StuntsEddie Powell
• Makeup SupervisorWally Schneiderman
• Assistant DirectorDerek Whitehurst
• Production ManagerTom Sachs

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• vampire
• coffin
• castle
• sequel
• priest
• torture
• crucifix
• dismemberment
• urban gothic
• dracula

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1970-12-23R

Also known as

International titles

• The Scars of DraculaUS
• Draculas märkeSE
• Il marchio di DraculaIT
• Белезите на ДракулаBG
• O Conde DráculaBR
• Las cicatrices de DráculaES
• Vampyrens ärrFI
• Vampyyrin arvetFI
• Les cicatrices de DraculaFR
• Gyrizo apo ta Karpathia: DrakoulasGR
• Ta Simadia tou DrakoulaGR
• Τα Σημάδια του ΔράκουλαGR
• A sebhelyes DrakulaHU
• Chi no Ekusoshizumu/Dorakyura no fukkatsuJP
• De tanden van draculaNL