Editing Hammer Film Productions (section)

===''Dracula''===
{{main|Dracula (1958 film)}}

The huge box office success of ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' led to the inevitable desire for a sequel in ''[[The Revenge of Frankenstein]]'', and an attempt to give the Hammer treatment to another horror icon. Dracula had been a successful film character for Universal in the past, and the copyright situation was more complicated than for Frankenstein. A legal agreement between Hammer and Universal was not completed until 31 March 1958{{spaced ndash}}after the film had been shot{{spaced ndash}}and was 80 pages long.<ref>The agreement was between Cadogan, a Hammer subsidiary, and Universal. See Kinsey (2005) p.86</ref>
[[File:John Van Eyssen as Jonathan Harker - 1958.jpg|thumb|right|alt=John Van Eyssen as Jonathan Harker in ''Dracula'' (1958)|John Van Eyssen as [[Jonathan Harker]]]]

Meanwhile, the financial arrangement between a.a.p. and Hammer had broken down when money promised by a.a.p. had not arrived. Hammer began looking for alternatives, and with the success of ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' signed with [[Columbia Pictures]] to distribute ''The Revenge of Frankenstein'' and two films from the defaulted a.a.p. deal, ''[[The Camp on Blood Island]]'' and ''[[The Snorkel]]''. Hammer's financial success also meant the winding-down of the parent film distribution company Exclusive, leaving Hammer to concentrate on filmmaking.{{sfn|Kinsey|2005|pages=67, 91}}

Work continued on the script for ''Dracula'', and the second draft was submitted to the BBFC. Audrey Field commented on 8 October 1957:

<blockquote>"The uncouth, uneducated, disgusting and vulgar style of Mr Jimmy Sangster cannot quite obscure the remnants of a good horror story, though they do give one the gravest misgivings about treatment. [...] The curse of this thing is the Technicolor blood: why need vampires be messier eaters than anyone else? Certainly strong cautions will be necessary on shots of blood. And of course, some of the stake-work is prohibitive."{{sfn|Kinsey|2005|page=94}}</blockquote>

Despite the success of ''The Curse of Frankenstein'', the financing of ''Dracula'' proved awkward. Universal was not interested,<ref>Universal itself was having financial difficulties at the time. The talent agency [[Music Corporation of America|MCA]] would buy out the company in 1962.</ref> and the search for money eventually brought Hammer back to a.a.p.'s Eliot Hyman, through another of his companies, Seven Arts (which later merged with [[Warner Bros.]], now the [[Turner Entertainment|successor-in-interest to a.a.p.]]). Although an agreement was drawn up, it is alleged that the deal was never realised and funding for ''Dracula'' eventually came from the National Film Finance Council ([[Pound sterling|£]]33,000) and the rest from Universal in return for worldwide distribution rights.{{sfn|Kinsey|2005|page=92}} However, recent research suggests that the issue of who exactly funded ''Dracula'' is still not entirely clear (see Barnett, 'Hammering out a Deal: The Contractual and Commercial Contexts of ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' (1957) and ''Dracula'' (1958)’, ''Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television'', published online 19 November 2013).

With a final budget of £81,412, ''[[Dracula (1958 film)|Dracula]]'' began principal photography on 11 November 1957.{{sfn|Kinsey|2005|page=96}} Peter Cushing again had top-billing, this time as [[Abraham Van Helsing|Doctor Van Helsing]], whilst Christopher Lee starred as [[Count Dracula]], with direction by Terence Fisher and a set design by [[Bernard Robinson (production designer)|Bernard Robinson]] that was radically different from the Universal adaptation; it was so radical, in fact, that Hammer executives considered paying him off and finding another designer.{{sfn|Kinsey|2005|page=99}}

''Dracula'' was an enormous success, breaking box-office records in the U.K., the U.S. (where it was released as ''Horror of Dracula''), Canada, and across the world. On 20 August 1958, the ''Daily Cinema'' reported:

<blockquote>"Because of the fantastic business done world-wide by Hammer's Technicolor version of ''Dracula'', Universal-International, its distributors, have made over to Jimmy Carreras' organisation, the remake rights to their entire library of classic films."</blockquote>

Establishing the fanged vampire in [[popular culture]], Lee also introduced a dark, brooding sexuality to the character.<ref>{{cite news |title=Why Christopher Lee's Dracula didn't suck |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/what-to-watch/christopher-lee-dracula-movies-hammer/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/what-to-watch/christopher-lee-dracula-movies-hammer/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=18 March 2019 |work=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The academic [[Christopher Frayling]] writes, “''Dracula'' introduced fangs, red contact lenses, décolletage, ready-prepared wooden stakes and – in the celebrated credits sequence – blood being spattered from off-screen over the Count's coffin".<ref>{{cite news |title=Hallowe'en: Why Dracula just won't die |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3668913/Halloween-Why-Dracula-just-wont-die.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3668913/Halloween-Why-Dracula-just-wont-die.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=18 March 2019 |work=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The film magazine ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' ranked Lee's portrayal as Dracula the 7th Greatest Horror Movie Character of All Time.<ref>[https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-horror-characters/ "The 100 best horror movie characters"]. ''Empire''. Retrieved 18 March 2019</ref> 1960 saw the release of the first in a long line of sequels, ''[[The Brides of Dracula]]'', with Cushing returning to the role of Van Helsing, though Lee did not play Dracula again until ''[[Dracula: Prince of Darkness]]'', released in 1966.