Dracula: Prince of Darkness is a 1966 British gothic supernatural horror film directed by Terence Fisher. The film was produced by Hammer Film Productions, and is the third entry in Hammer's Dracula series, as well as the second to feature Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, the titular vampire. It also stars Andrew Keir, Francis Matthews, and Barbara Shelley.
The film was photographed in Techniscope by Michael Reed, designed by Bernard Robinson and scored by James Bernard.
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Plot
A prologue replays the final scenes from Dracula, in which Doctor Van Helsing destroys Count Dracula by sunlight; only the memory of Dracula's evil remains.
The main story begins in 1895 as Father Sandor prevents local authorities from disposing of a woman's corpse as if it were a vampire. Sandor chastises the presiding priest for perpetuating the fear of vampirism and reminds him that Dracula was destroyed ten years previously in 1885. Sandor visits an inn and warns four English tourists, the brothers Alan and Charles Kent, and their wives, Helen and Diana, not to visit Karlsbad. Ignoring his advice, the Kents choose to visit Karlsbad but are abandoned by their fear-stricken coach driver 2 km (1.2 mi) away from their destination as night approaches. Finding themselves in view of a castle, the Kents are taken there by a coachmanless carriage and discover a dining table set for four people and their bags unpacked in the bedrooms. A servant named Klove explains that his master, the late Count Dracula, had ordered that the castle should always be ready to welcome strangers. After dinner, the Kents settle in their rooms.