Villain(s)  Vampire

Actor(s):  Christopher Lee, Rupert Davies, Veronica Carlson, Barbara Ewing

Brief Description  Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) is a Gothic horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions and directed by Freddie Francis. It is the fourth installment in Hammer’s celebrated Dracula franchise and the third to feature Christopher Lee as the iconic Count Dracula. Known for its sumptuous, surreal visual style, vibrant color palettes, and unique twists on traditional vampire lore, the film

Plot:
The film begins one year after the events of Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966). In a small Central European village, the locals live in perpetual terror because the shadow of Castle Dracula falls over their church. The local Priest has lost his faith, and the traumatized villagers refuse to attend Mass. Hoping to restore peace, a high-ranking cleric, Monsignor Ernest Mueller, arrives to exorcise the castle. He climbs the mountain and attaches a massive, ornate gold cross to the castle gates. The terrified local Priest panics during a sudden storm, flees, and slips on a frozen river. He cracks his head, and his spilled blood drips through the ice, directly onto the frozen lips of Count Dracula, resurrecting the vampire.

Dracula awakens furious to discover that the gold cross bars him from entering his own home. Enraged, he enslaves the weak-willed, faithless Priest to serve as his daytime disciple. Dracula vows vengeance against the Monsignor. He tracks Mueller to the prosperous city of Kleinenberg. There, Dracula targets the Monsignor's beautiful niece, Maria, intending to corrupt her and make her his vampire bride. Dracula uses the enslaved Priest and a local tavern maid named Zena to get close to the family. Dracula bites Zena and uses her to track Maria, later destroying Zena when she outlives her usefulness.

Maria is courted by Paul, a young baker’s assistant. Paul is a staunch atheist, which causes friction with Maria's deeply religious uncle. When Dracula begins visiting Maria at night, her health plummets. The Monsignor catches Dracula leaving Maria's room and pursues him, but the enslaved Priest ambushes the Monsignor, mortally wounding him. Before dying, Mueller passes his holy books and notes to Paul, begging him to protect Maria. Armed with the Monsignor’s instructions, Paul tracks Dracula to a makeshift lair in the tavern's cellar. Paul drives a stake into Dracula’s heart. However, because Paul lacks religious faith, his prayers are meaningless; Dracula simply pulls the stake out of his own chest and escapes, kidnapping Maria.

Dracula flees back to his mountaintop fortress with Maria. Paul and the local Priest pursue them. Under Dracula's hypnotic command, Maria climbs up and removes the large gold cross from the castle gates, casting it down into the rocky chasm below. Paul arrives and engages Dracula in a brutal fistfight on the castle ramparts. Paul manages to hurl Dracula over the wall. The vampire plunges into the ditch below and is impaled directly through the chest by the discarded gold cross. Dracula writhes in agony but cannot pull himself free. Recognizing the manifestation of divine power, the local Priest finally regains his faith. He steps forward and loudly recites the Lord's Prayer in Latin. With a faithful prayer finally delivered over him, Dracula bursts into tears of blood, rapidly decomposes, and dissolves into dust, freeing the village from his shadow.