History Film / DraculaAD1972

* TrueBlueFemininity: Jessica mostly wears blue clothing.

* {{ChekhovsGunman Chekhov's Gunwoman]]: Anna is a peripheral member of the gang who doesn't seem to like Johnny that much. It later transpires that this is because she's been to his flat, which she found "so weird". When she hears that Jessica's missing, she helps Van Helsing by telling him where Johnny lives, a detail no-one else seems to know.

* 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, 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).

* CannotCrossRunningWater: Vampires in the Hammer films can be killed with running water (as previously evidenced by ''[[Film/DraculaPrinceOfDarkness''). This leads to a rather undignified death for Vampire Johnny when he is killed by getting knocked into a shower, [[EpicFail which he then accidentally turns on by way of his own panicked flailing]].

* CannotCrossRunningWater: Vampires in these films can be killed with running water. This leads to a rather undignified death for Vampire Johnny when he is killed by getting knocked into a shower, [[EpicFail which he then accidentally turns on by way of his own panicked flailing]].

-->'''Murray''': I'm just a plain run-of-the-mill copper.

* 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.

* MsFanservice: Jessica, played by Creator/StephanieBeacham, might be Hammer's best -- which is ''really'' saying something (especially given that Creator/CarolineMunro's also in this film).

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The film, or at least the idea of having Dracula appear in a (then) modern setting, was partly inspired by the story of the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highgate_Vampire Highgate Vampire]], a media sensation surrounding reports of supposed supernatural activity in Highgate Cemetery in London in the early 1970s. 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.

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 bunch 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.

->''There is evil in the world. There are dark, awful things. Occasionally, we get a glimpse of them. But there are dark corners; horrors almost impossible to imagine... even in our worst nightmares.''

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 scoops up Count's ashes and buries them near a church during his rival's funeral. 100 years later Johnny Alucard (Christopher Neame), a descendant of that servant, convinces a bunch of youths to stage a satanic ritual. This resurrects Dracula, who then starts preying on the modern times. Van Helsing's grandson (also Peter Cushing) is still carrying on the family Dracula-fighting business. Modern-day Van Helsing's granddaughter Jessica (Stephanie Beacham), unfortunately, is one of the youths at that satanic ritual.

The seventies setting is revisited in the sequel ''Film/TheSatanicRitesOfDracula'', which would be the last film to feature Christopher Lee as Count Dracula.

* BlatantLies: The day after the ritual, Johnny tries to get the rest of the gang to think that Laura's gone to visit her parents in Ramsgate. She is in fact dead (the scene is intercut with a scene in which some kids find her body), but the gang aren't convinced by Johnny's explanation because they know that her family is actually from Watford.

* ShoutOut: Van Helsing's mention of vampiric goings-on in the US a couple of years beforehand could be construed as a subtle nod to ''Film/CountYorga'', which did the whole vampire-in-the-present-day thing first.

* 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 [[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.

* BroadStrokes: This film uses the premise that Van Helsing and Dracula fought in the 1800s like in ''Film/HorrorOfDracula'' but changes the date and place (to Hyde Park, meaning that, like in [[Literature/{{Dracula}} the original novel]], the Count made it to England) and ignores the numerous sequels to ''Horror.''

* 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.

* IdenticalGrandson: Both Van Helsing and Johnny Alucard are identical to their grandparents.

* 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, to the amusement of one of the coppers who ends up getting called in to sort things out.

* TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: Early in the film, a black-tie party gets crashed by the hippies and gets rather wild as a result. There's even a couple who have sex under a table; the woman is awkwardly trying to eat an apple throughout.

* TheSnackIsMoreInteresting: Early in the film, during a wild party, a couple are having sex under the table. The woman is awkwardly trying to finish her apple throughout.

* MsFanservice: Jessica might be Hammer's best, which is saying something.

* CannotCrossRunningWater: Vampires in these films can be killed with running water. This leads to a rather undignified death for vampirized Johnny when he is killed by getting knocked into a shower, [[EpicFail which he then accidentally turns on by way of his own panicked flailing]].

* {{Fainting}}: Jessica faints when she's captured by Johnny and recently vampirized Bob.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Johnny invites Gaynor into his apartment for "a bite".

* 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 he's discovered by Van Helsing.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The film, or at least the idea of having Dracula appear in a (then) modern setting, was partly inspired by the story of the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highgate_Vampire Highgate Vampire]], a media sensation surrounding reports of supposed supernatural activity in Highgate Cemetery in London in the early 1970s. A lot of which appeared to draw inspiration from movies like, well, Christopher Lee's [[Film/HorrorOfDracula first Dracula movie]].

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

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