There’s nothing like the smell of cheese particularly if the hilarity is unintentional. “Dracula A.D. 1972” is about as cheesy as they come. By 1972 Hammer Films was coasting draining every single drop of blood out of its anemic franchise. Johnny Alucard introduces the “groovy people” of London into something new for kicks. Alcuard uses a Black mass to bring Dracula (Christopher Lee) back from the dead. Luckily Dr. Van Helsing’s (Peter Cushing) grandson (also Peter Cushing) is around to kick vampire butt. Cushing and Lee are the only redeemable factors in this. The film quickly goes downhill after its opening sequence where Van Helsing and Dracula battle each other in the 19th century. Even though the film is less than a classic it has its moments of fun particularly when Cushing and Lee face each other towards the conclusion of the film. Warner has done an extremely nice job of transferring this to DVD. The colors are bold but not quite as warm as I have seen in a previous laserdisc transfer of the film. Also, the opening sequence is too light—it practically looks like the sequence takes place during the day time (you can also clearly see that it’s not Christopher Lee in the first shot but either his stand in or a stunt man). Audio is fine. ---

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