“Scars Of Dracula” is my first time with a Hammer “Dracula” picture and I think I had a pretty darn good time with it. Although it seems to indulge in violence and nudity like many of the worst horror films, “Scars Of Dracula” is done with a playful style that somehow makes it enjoyable to watch.

A young man, named Paul (Christopher Matthews), gets chased out of town after being wrongly accused of raping a girl and ends up in the company of Count Dracula (Christopher Lee “Dracula: Prince of Darkness”, “The Wicker Man”). It’s not long before Paul’s brother, Simon (Dennis Waterman), goes in search of him.

The Paul and Simon characters aren’t remotely interesting but they don’t really need to be. Christopher Lee does a good job as Dracula. However, I think I prefer both Béla Lugosi from the 1931 version of “Dracula” and Gary Oldman from “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”. Patrick Troughton (“The Omen”) plays Dracula’s henchman and does a reasonable job but I feel as if the character could’ve been made a lot more interesting and as a result feels rather underused. The other characters aren’t very interesting as we get the generic angry villagers and a priest.

“Scars Of Dracula” is not likely to scare many people but I’m sure it will entertain many. There’s plenty of blood and guts but it manages to create a suitable atmosphere to justify them. For those that have seen other versions of “Dracula”, this is unlikely to be one of the better versions you’ll see (and I hear some of the other Hammer “Dracula” pictures are superior to this one) but I still think you’ll have a good time. The film has plenty of highlights and I think the ending is done very well so if you like fun old-fashioned horror pictures then “Scars Of Dracula” is worth looking out for.