This is an excellent entry in the Hammer studios series of vampire flicks. Almost everything that fans love about this particular vein of horror is here; the great Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, atmospheric sets and lighting, a creepy baroness, direction from the celebrated Terence Fisher... damsels in danger and the various tropes of the genre. What could be considered missing is Dracula. This is potentially confusing since the film is titled 'The Brides of Dracula', but is clearly set after Dracula's first demise in the series time-line.
What sets this apart as a relatively very good film is the amount of events they managed to squeeze in - which allows actors such as Cushing to flex their ability in a few interesting scenarios. What hasn't aged so well is the writing/portrayal of the young 'heroine', who seems to spend most of her time stupidly wandering into dangerous situations - acceptable in some cases, but in this film it just makes you question what level of intelligence they were trying to impart to her character.
If you're a fan of 'modern' horror, which is more to do with exploitation, you will undoubtedly view this film as very dated with not much to frighten. If you like Hammer horror and understand what it's "all about", or have an interest in Gothic horror films from the 50s and 60s, this film will be a very enjoyable screening.
