September 24th

Horror of Dracula (1958) directed by Terence Fisher
Christopher Lee's Dracula is powerful.  Even if he wasn't a vampire, he looks like he could easily kick your ass.  Lee towers over the other characters, wearing an enormous cape that make him look thick as a redwood. When someone pisses him off, he leaps at the person and throttles them by the neck.  Not a cat to mess with.

Similar to the 1931 movie, the man playing Dracula is almost the only reason to watch the film.  Non-Dracula scenes tend to be very dry.  There's a lack of emotion in the film that makes many scenes rather boring (though Mina writhing on her bed, dressed in a nightgown and waiting for Dracula to arrive, was a distinct exception that I thought rather risqué for a '50s movie).  I suppose this makes the Dracula scenes all the more entertaining when they occur.  Still, I enjoyed Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, despite his reserved performance.  The man was absolutely no-nonsense when it came to his mission of making the world a better place by killing Dracula.  You've gotta admire the determination, if anything.  (7/10)