Dracula A.D. 1972 is a 1972
Hammer HorrorHammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
film directed by
Alan GibsonAlan Gibson was a Canadian director active in British film and television. Particularly notable for his work in horror, cinematic films directed by him include the 1968 Journey to Midnight, the 1970 Crescendo, the 1974 The Satanic Rites of Dracula, the 1977 Checkered Flag or Crash and the 1982...
, written by
Don HoughtonDon Houghton was a British television screenwriter.Born in Paris, Houghton started writing for radio in 1951 before moving into film and television in 1958...
and starring
Christopher LeeSir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
,
Peter CushingPeter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
and
Stephanie BeachamStephanie Beacham is a British television, film and theatre actress. Making her film debut in 1971's The Nightcomers opposite Marlon Brando and becoming more well-known on British television in the BBC series Tenko and the ITV series Connie , her worldwide breakthrough came as a result of playing...
. Unlike earlier films in the Hammer Dracula series,
Dracula A.D. 1972 has a then contemporary setting, in an attempt to update the
DraculaDracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
story for modern audiences—Dracula is brought back to life in modern London and preys on a group of young party-goers that includes the descendant of his nemesis,
Van HelsingProfessor Abraham van Helsing is a protagonist from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.Van Helsing is a Dutch doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc." The character is best known as a...
.
It is the seventh Hammer film featuring Dracula, and the sixth to star
Christopher LeeSir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
in the title role.