[[quoteright:275:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Horror_of_Dracula_movie_poster_7375.jpg]]

->''Who will be his bride tonight?''

'''''Horror of Dracula''''' is a horror film by [[HammerHorror Hammer Film Productions]], released in 1958. Its real name is simply just ''Dracula'', but to avoid [[Film/{{Dracula}} confusion]], we'll be using the title that it was released under in the US. It stars Sir Creator/ChristopherLee as the eponymous Count and Creator/PeterCushing as Van Helsing, roles for which they'd both remembered for a long time. Lee would later come to resent his role because of increasingly inferior [[{{Sequelitis}} sequels]] and to this day refuses to talk about it.

A very loose adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel, the film opens with Jonathan Harker arriving in the Castle Dracula. He has come to destroy Dracula, but the plan falls through and he becomes a victim of the Count. Shortly after, Van Helsing arrives to investigate and discovers that he has been turned into a vampire, and Dracula has moved out from his castle to find more prey.

The film was continued in ''Film/TheBridesOfDracula''. Christopher Lee would return to reprise his role in the subsequent ''Film/DraculaPrinceOfDarkness''.
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!!This film has examples of:

* AgonyOfTheFeet: Van Helsing manages to halt Dracula by exposing his feet to sunlight.
* AllInTheEyes: Used on Dracula when he appears in Lucy's room.
* BadassBookworm: Dr. Van Helsing: vampire hunter and even has Dracula running by the end of the film.
* BuriedAlive: After arriving back at his castle, Dracula attempts to bury Mina alive.
* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler: Harker who never leaves Dracula's castle alive this time.]]
* EatsBabies: Lucy, in her vampire state, nearly feeds on her 10 year old niece
* EvilIsDeathlyCold: Jonathan notes how cold Dracula's castle feels like compared to outside.
** Likewise Tanya notes how cold Lucy is when they meet up it the forest.
* {{Fainting}}: Due to Dracula's bite, Mina Holmwood faints when a cross is placed on her hand.
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Van Helsing has to give a slap to [[HystericalWoman hysteric]] Gerda at one point.
* HolyBurnsEvil: Helsing does this to the vamped Lucy, searing her head with a cross. Later when Mina is partilly bitten by Drac, she's handed a cross to keep her safe but it burns her hand instead.
* InfantImmortality: Little Tanya is rescued just before she becomes vampirized Lucy's victim.
* KensingtonGore
* {{Leitmotif}}: Probably the most memorable element of James Bernard's music score. ''"DRAAAA-culaaa!"'''
* NoImmortalInertia: When vampires are killed, they reveal their real age (recently turned people look normal, but centuries old vampires look like they should).
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Getting bitten, even if not completely drained of blood, is an instant threat to the victim and they'll turn if not 1) treated properly or 2) the vampire who bit them is killed.
* OwlBeDamned: Arthur is startled by an owl's screams in the night, thinking them to be Mina's.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Dracula's eyes become bloodshot when he hungers or is enraged.
* ShadowDiscretionShot: Used when Harker stakes Dracula's female servant.
* TranshumanTreachery: Lucy after rising as a vampire. Her first act is to target her own niece and feed on her. When she spots Arthur, who was spying on her grave, she instantly tries to "kiss" him.
* {{Uberwald}}
* VampireBitesSuck
* VampiresAreSexGods: Women in this film simply cannot resist Dracula.
* VampireRefugee: Harker [[spoiler: who in this version is actually turned into a vampire. Helsing grimly has to stake him]]
** Likewise Mina later in the film.
* TheXOfY
* YourVampiresSuck: Van Helsing dismisses as "a common fallacy" the idea that vampires can turn into wolves or bats.
** The underlying reason is pragmatic: Hammer really could not have done the FX work, as was shown by the utter SpecialEffectsFailure in 1970's ''Scars of Dracula.'' Director Terence Fisher also said giving Dracula a handicap made the films more exciting.

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