1973's "The Satanic Rites of Dracula" may have been commissioned by Warner Brothers to fulfill a 2 picture Hammer contract, but with the colossal failure of "Dracula A.D. 1972" and the same production team at the helm (Alan Gibson directing from a Don Houghton script), production would proceed with little confidence as "Dracula is Dead and Well and Living in London." Warners disowned the final product, issued in the US five years after completion with the title "Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride," Christopher Lee's 7th and final appearance in the title role, teamed for the third time with Peter Cushing's Van Helsing, who had destroyed his nemesis in modern day King's Road to conclude "AD," only to learn that the Count was swiftly revived by a new acolyte for a new mission, bringing in the nation's most powerful men in a plot to infect the world with a rapid mutation of bubonic plague. One general, one politician, one landowning Baron, and one Nobel Prize winning bacteriologist are installed under the pretense of using the weapon only as a deterrent, the vampire cult stationed at remote Pelham House, where blood rituals take place and biker guards attired in afghan prowl the grounds with sniper rifles. What a jumbled mishmash, keeping Lee offscreen until the final third, when his initial faceoff with Van Helsing evokes fond memories of past glories, and includes the bilingual Lee's personal tribute to Bela Lugosi by adopting a vaguely Hungarian accent. He remains a shadowy figure seated behind his desk as the reclusive entrepreneur D.D. Denham, the light reflected away to avert suspicion, Van Helsing armed with a silver bullet but not before making inquiries of the mysterious Denham, a helpless captive to witness Dracula's suicidal triumph. The ridiculous ease with which all vampires are dispatched also afflicts the central character himself, denied access to final revenge by the branches of a hawthorn bush (the object of Christ's crown of thorns), sent tumbling into an unworthy demise to quietly expire one last time, as opposed to the finale of "Horror of Dracula," a thunderous music score fully engaging the viewer in its thrilling battle of arch nemeses. The satanic rites themselves are superfluous and take up the entire opening half hour, after which Cushing effortlessly carries the picture on his own while protagonists fall like dominos; he'd be back for a 5th outing in Hong Kong, "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires," while Lee concludes his run with more screen time than in any previous Hammer entry except "Scars of Dracula," at least bowing out in a literal blaze of glory.
