Tonight, on MeTV- it’s an iconic take on the beginnings of the king of the vampires- as portrayed for the very first time by the great Christopher Lee! Witness his first face off against his archenemy Van Helsing (played by the other half of Hammer’s dynamic duo- Peter Cushing!) in the full-color tale of the “Horror of Dracula”!

The film opens much like Bram Stoker’s novel- with Jonathan Harker (sorry- no Renfield in this one) arriving at the castle of Count Dracula. However, in this version of the story, he’s arriving not to provide the Count with a real estate contract- but to take the job of – librarian! Upon arrival, he encounters a young woman who claims to be held prisoner there- but she disappears just before the Count appears to greet his new employee.

When shown his private room, when Harker is alone, he reveals his real purpose in coming to the castle. Suddenly, the frantic woman reappears, pleading for help- and shows that she is not really the damsel in distress that she seems. The Count reveals his true nature as well, with bared fangs! Harker collapses, then awakens in daylight- realizing he must put an end to the Count immediately. Unfortunately, upon heading down to the castle’s basement crypt- he discovers Dracula’s coffin is empty- but the Count is not gone!

We then jump forward in time, with the arrival of the legendary Dr. Van Helsing to the area, in search of Harker. With the help of the locals, he learns Harker’s fate- and returns home to relate the sad information to Harker’s fiancée, her brother, and her sister-in-law. Little do they realize, Dracula had spotted fiancée Lucy’s photo among Harker’s belongings and is already in the area. He begins making nocturnal visits to the young woman!

Lucy’s health begins to deteriorate, and when sister-in-law Mina asks Van Helsing to examine her- and with his past experience, immediately identifies what the cause is! He prescribes the traditional use of bouquets of garlic all around her sealed room, but Lucy thwarts this preventative- and is found dead! Before long, it becomes apparent that Lucy is not dead- but undead- and Van Helsing must stop both her and vampire count Dracula from adding new members to his brood- and taking Mina as yet another of his brides!

This 1958 film both does- and doesn’t- follow parts of the Stoker novel, and even goes against some of the traditional vampire lore (which we will point out)- but it’s a terrific film that brought Christopher Lee undying fame as the undying Count- a role he would return to several times, just as Peter Cushing would return as Van Helsing. We’ll discuss the cast and the production, and present some aid for those requiring dental help- as well as a song, and more

“Horror of Dracula” begins tonight at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central- and, as always, MeTV invites you to live-Tweet on Twitter/X and post live on Bluesky during the show using the hashtag #svengoolie . In Chicago, viewers can get a second look at Universal’s first wolf man in “Werewolf of London” on WCIU the U at 11 am.

Make sure you check out our store here on our website- for the latest artist series items designed by Terry Beatty, and browse the ever-widening array of Sven items for you to choose from! Is there more to come? Definitely- so check back at the store often!

Come sink your teeth into another piece of Hammer horror history tonight-which cemented Lee and Cushing as the top Hammer horror stars!