The Last Rites of Dracula: Christopher Lee (1922-2015) RIP

[snyprrr]

 

[springrite]

 

R.I.P.

＊HUGS＊

[drogulus]

     Odd as it may seem my first thoughts on hearing of his death were of his wonderful appearance on SNL in 1978.

[Lisztianwagner]

I'm deeply sorry to know that; he was a great actor and I've loved his interpretations in films like The Horror of Dracula, The Hound of the Baskerville and The Lord of the Rings. Rest in peace.

[Camphy]

Here's a beautiful article by Christopher Lee on his love for opera.

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/feature/my-music-christopher-lee

[Rinaldo]

Here's a beautiful article by Christopher Lee on his love for opera.

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/feature/my-music-christopher-lee

When Lee attended a Czech film festival, he sang part of an aria from Smetana's The Bartered Bride. IN CZECH. That particular aria is very famous and beloved here and I remember how my jaw dropped.

Amazing man.

[Hollywood]

Sad news indeed.  I had the pleasure of meeting him back in 1972 (or was it 1973) at The Count Dracula Society's annual Ann Radcliffe Awards Dinner. I was on the Board of Governors at that time voting for the awards. Along with Christopher Lee, there were other famous people in attendance like Fay Wray, George Pal, John Carradine, Miriam Hopkins, Robert Wise, Ray Bradbury, Bela Lugosi Jr., Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff's daughter Sara. I was able to get Mr. Lee's autograph on the award dinner's program along with a few others how were there.

My dear Mr. Lee, you will be sorely missed. But I am sure that you have already met up with your old film colleague Peter Cushing as well as with Bela Lugosi who you can compare notes on playing Count Dracula on film.

[vandermolen]

I met him at a charity golf event when I was 12 and obsessed with horror films. He was very kind to me, spoke to me for ages and let me take his photo with his golfing umbrella. I said that I would like to send him a copy. He gave me his agents address. I sent the photo and received a charming letter back from him. He was a real gentleman and a fine actor.

[snyprrr]

Sad news indeed.  I had the pleasure of meeting him back in 1972 (or was it 1973) at The Count Dracula Society's annual Ann Radcliffe Awards Dinner. I was on the Board of Governors at that time voting for the awards. Along with Christopher Lee, there were other famous people in attendance like Fay Wray, George Pal, John Carradine, Miriam Hopkins, Robert Wise, Ray Bradbury, Bela Lugosi Jr., Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff's daughter Sara. I was able to get Mr. Lee's autograph on the award dinner's program along with a few others how were there.

My dear Mr. Lee, you will be sorely missed. But I am sure that you have already met up with your old film colleague Peter Cushing as well as with Bela Lugosi who you can compare notes on playing Count Dracula on film.

Dracula A.D. 1972

To the Devil... A Daughter

Taste the Blood of Dracula

The Scars of Dracula

I know the last one gets a bad rap, but, now, at this point, ANYTHING from 1971 is of value, haha!

Yes, so many memories. Consummate.

Let's not forget 'The Wicker Man' (1973)!


And yes, the man himself was always the epitome of European nobility and poise,... and so cultured.


Really, I haaave to go on noting films I've especially enjoyed.

'Crypt of Horror'/'Terror in the Crypt' (1964), and 'Castle of the Living Dead (also 1964), two b+w Italian gothic horrors of the utmost late-night cozy appeal! Can anyone recall the fetid b+w atmosphere of these films, right before everything went to colour? Both are somewhat mediocre, but still linger long because Lee was so attuned to the Italianate culture, being part Italian. One may call him one of the Greatest Italian Actors of All-Time?



The Blood Demon/ The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism (1967)

This may be my ultimate favourite Lee film, also starring Lex Barker, and directed by Harald Reinl. Anyone who has seen this can verify the hallucinatory, surrealistic horror landscape of colours and really cool effects,... such as the forest of hanging corpses, Lee getting drawn-and-quartered in the beginning, and bullet holes vanishing on Lee's chest. What exactly was the title you saw this under?



Starting at 1971...

I, Monster:  Classic cheez 4 me,... along with 'The Skull'.

Horror Express: Oh, who doesn't remember this? Almost like Carpenter's 'The Thing'. with Cushing and Savalas
The Creeping Flesh: yet more of the same good stuff. with Cushing

1973 was a busy year!

BUUUUUUUUUUT!


If we skip forward to 1985, we hit the absolute, no questions asked, bottom of the barrel: Howling II... Your Sister Is A Werewolf Wow, it is everything bad about straight-to-video1980's-hangover,... oy it's bad.

So, looking back, we see that the "Horror 70s" somewhat died with Lee with 1976's 'To the Devil... A Daughter', his last, significant horror role. From there, we have 'Dracula and Son', comedy, and 'House of the Long Shadows' (1983), the very very last ssoft-horror-comedy endoff of the '79s, with Cushing , Price, and I think, Carradine. We all remember the Death of Gothic Horror, and we see it in Lee's career at the time.




THEN THERE'S THE MATTER OF

Circle of Iron... totally hot!!!!!
Jaguar Lives!
The Salamander
An Eye for an Eye



AND ALSO THE MATTER OF

Airport '77
End of the World
Starship Invasions
RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN





sO MUCH CLASSIC CHEEZ!!

Ahhh,... so, what are YOU going to watch tonight? I might just have to start with 'Return from Witch Mountain',... mm,... wish I had a copy of 'A.D. 1972',... maybe even 'Starship Invasions', oh, I'm such a sucker for the cheez!!

Salut!

I met him at a charity golf event when I was 12 and obsessed with horror films. He was very kind to me, spoke to me for ages and let me take his photo with his golfing umbrella. I said that I would like to send him a copy. He gave me his agents address. I sent the photo and received a charming letter back from him. He was a real gentleman and a fine actor.

what're your favs?

[NJ Joe]

When I was around 8-9 I saw him in a movie called Horror Hotel.  It scared the hell out of me. I had trouble sleeping for days, and for about 2 years after, my sister and I would get scared around the time of (according to the movie) Candlemas Eve and the following night, the Witches Sabbath. I believe these nights were in February.

[Ken B]

He was usually better than the films he was in, and improved them by his presence.

[TheGSMoeller]

He was usually better than the films he was in, and improved them by his presence.

Yep.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Hell, I don't like what Peter Jackson did to LOTR with his IMO crappy adaptations, yet Christopher Lee shines even in that movie.

I was actually thinking of doing in memoriam-topic for him but I guess I wasn't fast enough...

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Yep.

Amen, brother. It's a shame he was in revenge of the sith for total of two minutes. He could have improved that movie too, with having a more prominent role like in attack of the clones.

[vandermolen]

And yes, the man himself was always the epitome of European nobility and poise,... and so cultured.

what're your favs?

The Times obituary of Sir Christopher Lee made me laugh today:

Apparently he came from an aristocratic family and his mother was appalled at his desire to become an actor, saying to him:

'Just think of all the appalling people you'll meet'

Maybe this is why he said that he identified with Count Dracula because they were both embarrassments to an aristocratic family!

As to my favourites; well, he was a hoot as Dracula but my favourite is probably 'The Devil Rides Out' in which Christopher Lee, unusually, plays the aristocratic hero 'The Count de Richelieu' who saves his young friend who had come under the influence of an evil satanist (the wonderfully sinister Charles Gray). The film has a great soundtrack too.  It must have been around this time that I met Christopher Lee at the charity event when I was twelve. I remember telling him about my annoyance at not being able to see many horror films as I was too young. I remember him telling me that he thought that the certification of horror films was a good idea. I have the fondest memory of meeting him as he let me pester him for what seemed like a long time and let me take his photo.

PS from today's Appreciaton of CL in The Daily Telegraph:

'The thing about Sir Christopher Lee being dead is that it doesn't immediately strike you as much of a career setback'.

[Karl Henning]

What timing! How many years soever it sat around in my drawer, the "Archive Collection" edition of Band on the Run includes a DVD ... Christopher Lee is one of the celebrities on the album cover. Don't believe I ever knew that before today.

[Karl Henning]

Not the cover shoot, of course:

[Karl Henning]

(But, the tiring room for the cover shoot.)

[vandermolen]

Not the cover shoot, of course:

Great photo.

[Sean]

As he said many times, The Wicker Man was the best role he ever had and the best film he was ever in.

I doubt the experience of acting in the later fantasy and sci-fi rubbish did his state of mind any favours.