This is the fifth of the seven Lee/Hammer Studios Dracula collaborations done from 1958 to 1973 and is my candidate for "Best Of The Rest". The two must-see features of the series would be the first two (from 1958 and 1966) but aspiring completists would do well to hit "Scars" next.

First, the problems: much has been made on comment boards about the budget and script problems that led to things like the lack of Peter Cushing's character (Van Helsing from the novel) and the reliance on an unconvincing mechanical bat at important plot junctures. Lee and director Roy Ward Baker note the bat problems on the DVD commentary track, while mentioning that modern techniques would probably minimize similar glitches today. But to get any film made at all is a victory of sorts and my determination is that no problem here was of sufficient seriousness to sink the film as a film. Even denied period balance reports on what the allowed proceeds from the studio for spending even were, Baker pulled through and delivered a film with many positives.

Now, some of those positives: Count Dracula has measurably more lines than that character had in the previous few films, and those lines are pretty much in accord with Stoker's figure, although not from his book directly. And the 'Tania' character (Drac's main female sidekick) was the strongest such part in the whole Lee Dracula series, played by the later fashion designer Anouska Hempel. The external castle set was innovative in layout, and probably different since the Bray Studios facility was not used in this case. I'd have to check the book for accuracy of the layout, but for the first and only time we see a doorway-fitted Italianate portcullis which leads into a courtyard that faces the walled cliff precipice, with the manor/keep to the left and apparently a gatehouse and stable to the right. The sets also for the first and only time visualize where Drac hides in the daylight hours, so as not to be vulnerable when asleep.

Other positives can be found in the interior set design, which offered a smaller central hall area, in which Drac holds court. The "Scars" interiors are properly somewhat cramped, with massive archwork, walls and stone stair balustrades, fashioned apparently in material from the local hillsides and quarries. The rooms are furnished with whatever period furniture the studio happened to stock, but it was arranged properly and with an eye to 19th century context. The French Louis XVI stuff is grouped in one area, while other rooms are Jacobean or utilitarian in composition, as needed. No other Drac movie was decorated this logically or usefully. Even maroon-red upholstery and draperies contribute to the film's mood and contrast with the faux stone walls of the sets.

The edition offered (the "limited edition" from Anchor Bay) contains two DVDs, the one for the film and a second with a documentary about Lee's career called "The Many Sides Of Christopher Lee", which is worth the extra price. It's a bit long on interview and short on film clips but what's there is largely clip material I hadn't seen. Plus, there are curiosities like a few of the music videos to which Lee's contributed over the years. Be aware that he here does a competent "It's Now Or Never" ("O Solo Mio"), mostly in Italian (he is of Italian descent and is fluent in that language). That was a surprise for me.

So if you can justify 3 Lee Dracula pics for your collection, the production of "Scars" itself plus the packaging of this edition argue that you should make this the third and final of an essential trilogy, consisting also of "Horror Of Dracula" and "Dracula: Prince Of Darkness".