Doc Rotten's 666 Revelations: Movie Monsters of 1972

1972 is another tremendous year for horror films and movie monsters are rampant. Dr. Phibes returns in Dr. Phibes Rises Again and Hammer’s Count Dracula is resurrected in the 20th century in Dracula AD, 1972. Hammer films also release Vampire Circus with Count Mitterhaus and Emil. Prince Mamuwalde is cursed by Dracula and becomes Blacula. Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Telly Savalas team up to confront an alien parasite in Horror Express. Santa shows his dark side and Peter Cushing becomes a zombie in Tales from the Crypt. Giant rabbits in Night of the Lepus and killer reptiles galore in Frogs threaten civilization, giving birth to the nature-runs-amok sub-genre. Monsters, monsters everywhere; below are 6 of the Movie Monsters that made an impact on horror in 1972.

PRINCE MAMUWALDE in BLACULA

Black exploitation films of the Seventies bring their most successful and beloved creation to the screen with Blacula. William Marshall stars as Prince Mamuwalde, who is cursed by Dracula himself to become a vampire and is awakened centuries later in modern day Los Angeles. Much like Count Yorga and Lee’s Count Dracula in Dracula AD, 1972, Blacula remains garbed in Victorian clothing even when displaced in modern settings. It would be years before modern vampires would actually dress like normal folk, The Night Stalker’s vampire would begin to take fashion into account. Yet, somehow, it works and provides the character with a fair amount of charm. Another large part for the dress working comes from the actors who portray the vampires: William Marshall, Robert Quarry and Christopher Lee.

SATAN in VENGENCE OF THE ZOMBIES

In Vengence of the Zombies, Paul Naschy has three roles. Along with playing Krishna, an Indian Guru and Kantaka, a Satanic Voodoo Master, he also portrays a groovy goat-horned version of Satan. Seen primarily in dream sequences, Naschy’s devil reflects the world’s growing fascinations with Satan, devils, demons and Satanism. Stories of satanic cults are becoming urban legend, Rosemary’s Baby is still in the public’s mind, the Exorcist is climbing the books charts, and cultist Anton LaVey has become a cultural celebrity. In the following years, after the film The Exorcist (1973) would take the world by storm, devils would be everywhere with films like Beyond the Door (1974), Abby (1974), The Devil’s Rain (1975), The Omen (1976) and more. Naschy’s Satan doesn’t have the imagination that later films would employ and is based more on stereotypical visuals; however, this makes the beast no less entertaining and visually striking.

COUNT DRACULA in DRACULA AD, 1972

Beginning in 1958, with Horror of Dracula, Hammer films cast Christopher Lee as Count Dracula seven times. In 1972, they finally bring Dracula to the present with Dracula AD, 1972. Sensing the shift of favor from the Victorian gothic horrors to more modern takes on horror themes, for example Count Yorga, Vampire, Blacula and The Night Stalker, Hammer presumes to move their hottest commodity to the twentieth century; however, Count Dracula himself seems to remain stuck in the age gone by. It’s an odd mix that works more when the modern story elements are placed in a more gothic backdrop, the old church, for example. It remains a bit jarring when Dracula, dressed in cloak, is juxtaposed against the hippie dress and behavior of the Mods that bring him back to life. Fortunately a descendent of Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) is on hand to do battle with the Count and save the day. Ironically, the most exciting scene is the opening horse driven coach chase set in the Victorian past, pitting the original Professor Van Helsing against Dracula in more accustomed surroundings. Lee's Count Dracula returns in 1973 with The Satanic Rites of Dracula remaining in the present but still doing battle Cushing's Van Helsing.

SANTA in TALES FROM THE CRYPT

Amicus films produces and Freddie Francis directs Tales from the Crypt, an anthology based on the famous EC Comics of the Fifties. In the “All Through the House” episode, Joan Collins faces off against the most unlikely of villains, the jolly old man in big red suite, Santa. However, the holiday hero is not what he seems; here, Santa is an escaped homicidal maniac in disguise, who ends up on Joan Collins' door step. In typical EC fashion, all is not what it seems and Joanne (Collins) Clayton is not as innocent a victim as the premise leads you to believe. The bloodthirsty Santa has his hands full as he chases his prey around her house. This, in many ways is a precursor to the "final girl" themed films of the Eighties and sets the sub-genre for Christmas/Santa themed horrors to come: Silent Night, Bloody Night (1974), Christmas Evil (1980) and Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) to name a few.

COUNT MITTERHAUS in VAMPIRE CIRCUS

Hammer is known for its vampires, Count Dracula (Horror of Dracula), Carmilla Karnstein (Vampire Lovers), Baron Meinster (Brides of Dracula), Dr. Ravna (Kiss of the Vampire) and more. In 1972, director Robert Young and writer Judson Kinberg create one of the most unique and unconventional vampire stories to date, Vampire Circus. In a ten minute introduction, the people of Schettel confront and stake the evil vampire ruling the countryside, Count Mitterhaus. In his final moments, Mitterhaus curses the townsfolk and their descendents. For the next fifteen years, the town is ruined by hardship and plague, so much so the town is quarantined by neighboring communities. Then, a troupe of performing gypsies arrives into town, calling themselves the Circus of Night. They are not here to entertain Schettel but to resurrect Count Mitterhaus. Soon the vampire is alive again and the townsfolk must oppose him yet again. Robert Tayman’s Count Mitterhaus is as commanding a presence as Lee’s Dracula, more so than other attempts at lead Hammer vampires would be, but his villainy is undermined by minimal screen time and a script that has him defeated twice by the same hero in less than 90 minutes.

KILLER GIANT BUNNIES in NIGHT OF THE LEPUS

Much like the science fiction mutated monsters of the Fifties, the nature-runs-amok monsters of the Seventies terrorize seemingly innocent small-town inhabitants; however, instead of being created by bombs and radiation, now they're created by ecological disasters, pollution or chemicals. In Night of the Lepus, a town is invaded by thousands of rabbits when their natural predator, the coyote, has been killed off. Scientists, in efforts to avoid using cyanide poisoning to reduce the population, attempt to quell their breeding cycle with hormones. Soon they are faced with giant carnivorous rabbits. Giant killer bunnies may be the silliest movie monster to ever grace the movie screen. Director William F. Claxton uses superimposed real rabbits and small sets to film the killers in action, and it just does not work. However, regardless of how unconvincing they are, the killer bunnies do little to keep further nature-runs-amok films from being made: Frogs (1972), Food of the Gods (1976), Squirm (1976), Day of the Animals (1977) and Prophecy (1979) all quickly followed.