History Film / DraculaAD1972

* FaceHeelTurn: Bob, Jessica's boyfriend, helps Johnny to capture her so that Dracula can have a Van Helsing as his bride. Quite how much of a willing access he is is debatable, given that Johnny had to vampirise him in order to get his assistance.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Johnny invites Gaynor into his apartment for "a bite". Later on, he lures her to the church where she is killed by Dracula (after which Johnny is himself vampirised).

* AgentScully: Played with in the case of Inspector Murray, who thinks that the circumstances of Laura's death are weird enough for him to consult Van Helsing. Even then, Murray scoffs at the idea that it could be the work of a vampire, but is willing to hear what Van Helsing has to say on the subject -- which he admits is somewhat beyond his scope.

* EvilIsPetty: Johnny, who smashes an expensive figurine simply to aggravate a stuffy matron.
* EvilWearsBlack: Johnny is only seen wearing black clothes.

* {{Jerkass}}: Johnny has shades of this even before he persuades his friends to join him in a satanic ritual that resurrects {{Dracula}}.

* KilledOffscreen: The only reference to Bob's death is when his body discovered in the churchyard by Van Helsing -- having been vampirised by Johnny and used to help capture Jessica, he appears to have died from being exposed to sunlight before he could reach his resting-place for the day (quite possibly on account of his being somewhat new to the whole being-a-vampire thing; Johnny, having been Dracula's minion before being vampirised, is better prepared in this respect). Apparently his death was filmed, but the scene didn't make the final cut.
* KissOfTheVampire: How Dracula likes to eat his victims, sometimes with a kiss on the lips before the bite in the neck. As usual, the ladies seem to be put into some kind of mind-control daze when in close proximity to the Count.

* APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy: The party at the beginning appears to be a black-tie do that gets crashed by a load of hippies (including a band as well as the main gang). Two of the party-crashers get it on underneath a table, and are still at it when the police arrive, to the amusement of the copper who spots them.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: After the ritual, Jessica is worried about whether Laura, last seen screaming and covered in blood (not her own, but ''still'') is OK. Bob assured her that she's probably fine, and will doubtless show up at the coffee bar the following day, although she might be feeling "a bit drained". He is of course totally wrong about Laura being OK, but he's more right than he could possibly imagine about that last bit.
* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The film, or at least the idea of having Dracula appear in a (then) modern setting, was partly inspired by the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highgate_Vampire Highgate Vampire]] media sensation which followed reports of supposed supernatural activity in Highgate Cemetery in 1970. Although vague, descriptions of the supposed vampire implied that it looked a bit like, well, Christopher Lee. Making this a case of art imitating life when life was imitating art.

* KensingtonGore: A given in a Hammer horror film. Especially evident at the end when the Count falls into Val Helsing's stake trap, impaling himself. Van Helsing pushes him further in with his shovel, and the blood flows.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Johnny invites Gaynor into his apartment for "a bite". Later on, he lures her to the church where she is killed by Dracula (at which point Johnny is himself vampirised).

* KilledOffscreen: The only reference to Bob's death is when his body discovered in the churchyard by Van Helsing -- having been vampirised by Johnny and used to help capture Jessica, he died from being exposed to sunlight before he could reach his resting-place for the day (quite possibly on account of his being somewhat new to the whole being-a-vampire thing; Johnny, having been Dracula's minion before being vampirised, is better prepared in this respect). Apparently his death was filmed, but the scene didn't make the final cut.

* SeriesContinuityError: [[BroadStrokes Not that Hammer worried about continuity too much anyway]], but Dracula and Van Helsing's "last" duel is stated to have taken place in 1872... despite the [[Film/HorrorOfDracula original Hammer Dracula]] taking place in 1885.

* WoodenStake: The 1872 confrontation between Lawrence van Helsing and Dracula ends when a carriage crash leaves a broken wheel lodged in Dracula's chest. After a brief struggle, a broken-off spoke reduces him to a skeleton that quickly crumbles to dust. At the end of the film, he's impaled on a wooden stake.

* ContinuitySnarl: A minor one is at play when Jessica takes the ''Treatise on the Black Mass'' book from her grandfather's shelf to read. When he puts it back, all of the other books are in a different order. Also, Jessica refers to the original (Victorian) Van Helsing as her great-grandfather when he was in fact her great-''great''-grandfather; this is most likely due to the fact that the original plan was for her to be the modern Van Helsing's daughter, but due to Peter Cushing having visibly aged somewhat following his wife's death [[note]] he was actually 58 at the time and was 34 years older than Stephanie Beacham, who plays Jessica [[/note]], this was revised to her being his grand-daughter.
* DistantSequel: The film takes place approximately 70 to 100 years after the earlier films.

* CatapultNightmare: Jessica has one when Gaynor is being eaten by Dracula.

The film opens with Dracula (Creator/ChristopherLee) and Van Helsing (Creator/PeterCushing) fighting in 1872, which ends with [[MutualKill both of them dead]]. One of Dracula's servants (Christopher Neame) scoops up the Count's ashes and buries them near a church during his rival's funeral. A hundred years later, Johnny Alucard (also Christopher Neame), a descendant of that servant, convinces a gang of youths to stage a satanic ritual in a disused church. This resurrects Dracula, who can now start preying on the modern world. Van Helsing's grandson (also Peter Cushing) is still carrying on the family vampire-fighting business. Unfortunately, his granddaughter Jessica (Stephanie Beacham) is one of the youths who took part in the satanic ritual -- and the Count is after her.

* KilledOffscreen: Before the film's release, there was a scene filmed that revealed the fate of Bob. However in the final version, the only reference to Bob's death is when his body discovered in the churchyard by Van Helsing -- having been vampirised by Johnny and used to help capture Jessica, he died from being exposed to sunlight before he could reach his resting-place for the day (quite possibly on account of his being somewhat new to the whole being-a-vampire thing; Johnny, having been Dracula's minion before being vampirised, is better prepared in this respect).
* KissOfTheVampire: How Dracula likes to eat his victims, sometimes with a kiss on the lips before the bite in the neck. As usual, the girls seem to be put into some kind of mind-control daze when in close proximity to Dracula.

* APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy: The party at the beginning appears to be a black-tie do that gets crashed by a load of hippes (including a band). Two of the party-crashers get it on underneath a table, and are still at it when the police arrive, to the amusement of the copper who spots them.

* TheRenfield: Johnny, who organises the satanic ritual that resurrects Dracula and then provides the Count with some fresh blood (courtesy of Laura and Gaynor).
* RightForTheWrongReasons: After the ritual, Jessica is worried about whether Laura, last seen screaming and covered in blood (not her own, but ''still'') is OK. Bob assured her that she's probably fine, and will doubtless show up at the coffee bar later, although she might be feeling "a bit drained". He is of course totally wrong about Laura being OK, but he's more right than he could possibly imagine about that last bit.

* SeriesContinuityError: [[BroadStrokes Not that they worried about continuity too much anyway]], but Dracula and Van Helsing's "last" duel is in 1872... despite the [[Film/HorrorOfDracula original Hammer Dracula]] taking place in 1885.

* TimeSkip: A hundred years pass as the camera pans up from the Victorian funeral to show a passenger aircraft flying overhead as the opening credits start to roll. Dracula has indeed entered the jet age. During the hundred-year gap, the area around the church has been urbanised and the church itself is now disused, presumably pending demolition and redevelopment.

* WoodenStake: The 1870s confrontation between Lawrence van Helsing and Dracula ends when a carriage crash leaves a broken wheel lodged in Dracula's chest. After a brief struggle, a broken-off spoke reduces him to a skeleton that quickly crumbles to dust.

* ToxicFriendInfluence: Johnny, to the rest of the gang. Even before the satanic ritual, he's the one who's got them doing "far out" stuff "for kicks".

* ToxicFriendInfluence: Johnny, to the rest of the gang.

The film opens with Dracula (Creator/ChristopherLee) and Van Helsing (Creator/PeterCushing) fighting in 1872, which ends with [[MutualKill both of them dead]]. One of Dracula's servants (Christopher Neame)scoops up the Count's ashes and buries them near a church during his rival's funeral. 100 years later Johnny Alucard (also Christopher Neame), a descendant of that servant, convinces a gang of youths to stage a satanic ritual. This resurrects Dracula, who can now start preying on the modern world. Van Helsing's grandson (also Peter Cushing) is still carrying on the family vampire-fighting business. Unfortunately, his granddaughter Jessica (Stephanie Beacham) is one of the youths who took part in the satanic ritual -- and the Count is after her.

* TimeSkip: A hundred years pass as the camera pans up from the Victorian funeral to show a passenger aircraft flying overhead as the opening credits start to roll. Dracula has indeed entered the jet age.

* KilledOffscreen: Before the film's release, there was a scene filmed that revealed the fate of Bob. However in the final version, the only reference to Bob's death is when his body discovered by Van Helsing -- having been vampirised by Johnny and used to help capture Jessica, he died from being exposed to sunlight before he could reach his resting-place for the day (quite possibly on account of his being somewhat new to the whole being-a-vampire thing).