Christopher Lee always seemed like one of those actors who’d be around forever. Even at 93 years of age he was still generating content. For horror fans he will always be an indelible figure. What’s remarkable is that his Marquee only increased as he got older. With high profile character parts he transcended horror and crossed over to science fiction – then fantasy – remaining relevant and bankable to generations until his dying days.
To horror aficionados his most famous role will always be Hammer’s Dracula. Many enthusiast consider 1958’s Horror of Dracula to be a superior interpretation of Bram Stoker’s work when compared to the 1931 Bela Lugosi version. That’s arguable, what isn’t arguable is that the film coupled with Lee’s performance rescued gothic horror from the realm of Saturday morning matinee’s. It was sexy, it was violent and it pushed the envelope like nothing before it. He had a suave but ferocious performance that was just one of Lee’s career highlights.
Some might find it surprising that Lee didn’t care for the Hammer Dracula series. In fact he hated doing them but was usually guilted in to preforming in them by way of “Well if you don’t do it, the film crew will be out of work, they have families!” So What I recommend to my horror friends out there is taking a look at “Scream of Fear” A film Lee co-stars in and stated many times that “It’s the best hammer film I’ve ever done” In this movie you get the opportunity to see Lee act without makeup or the theatrics he was known for. I personally love this film. I tip my hat to the last of the silver age horror icons now forever immortal – like so many of the characters he made famous.
Linked Below is a review I did for the film which is known in the UK as Taste of Fear. I urge you to check it out.
http://splatterpictures.net/2012/08/29/taste-of-fear-or-as-the-americans-might-say-scream-of-fear/
