These Brides Are A Pain in the Neck

It an oddity that the second vampire film released by Hammer Studios mentioned Dracula's name, but does not have him in it. Leaving that aside, it's a very good picture in its own right.

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The opening establishes continuity with Horror of Dracula, making it clear that while the master vampire is dead, those he turned during his reign of terror are still at large. And Professor Van Helsing is still hunting them.

Into this environment comes a beautiful French girl, Marianne, played by Yvonne Monlaur. When her carriage wheel breaks, she takes an invitation from Baroness Meinster (Martita Hunt) to stay the night at her castle. While there, Marianne discovers that the Baroness has a son who she keeps chained in his room. Marianne releases the Baron, who is a vampire, and he begins a reign of terror, transforming Marianne's girlfriends into monsters like him.

An interesting point: ever since Bram Stoker's Dracula was released, the term "vampire brides" has been used to refer to female vampires in the power of the master vampire. But the implication--and sometimes it's made explicit--is that the vampire has no love for his "brides" and is only interested in sexual domination. And that seems to be the case here. The producers did their homework in that regard.

Also, this film is among the first (if not the first) to show a method of curing someone of vampirism before it can take hold.

The Good: Peter Cushing returns as Van Helsing, and his role is much more dynamic here. Van Helsing is a man who can think on his feet. Martita Hunt plays the Baroness as equally villainous and sympathetic. Even though she does some awful things (off-screen), what happens to her is truly horrific. And Freda Jackson as the insane human servant is a hammy delight.

The Bad: Christopher Lee refused to participate in this film, fearing he would be typecast. (I guess he changed his mind later.) Also, a lot of material was cut from the film, which would have revealed that Dracula himself made the Baron what he is. (Freda Jackson hints at it in the finished film.) Plus, Peter Cushing himself had to step in vis-a-vis his character. The original script had Van Helsing using black magic to summon demon bats from hell to destroy the vampires. Cushing said that Van Helsing would not commune with the forces of evil. But Hammer used the same concept in Kiss of the Vampire.

The Ugly: What happens to the girls Baron Meinster victimizes. And, it might be noted, some of the film's subtext that vampirism is a curse brought on by indulging in pseudo-homosexual relations can be rather off-putting today.

Even so, it can be counted as one of Hammer's finest. Have a look: