Dracula Has Risen From The Grave

Dracula Has Risen from the Grave is a 1968 British supernatural horror film directed by Freddie Francis and produced by Hammer Film Productions. It is fourth entry in Hammer's Dracula series, and the third to feature Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, the titular vampire. The film stars Rupert Davies as a clergyman who exorcises Dracula's castle, and in doing so, unwittingly resurrects the Count back from the dead.

Dracula Has Risen from the Grave also stars Veronica Carlson, Barry Andrews, Barbara Ewing, Ewan Hooper and Michael Ripper.

Plot
The story opens in 1905 in an East European village. A young altar boy (Norman Bacon) makes his way up to the bell-tower. He is about to ring the bell when blood drips on his cheek from above. He climbs into the bell chamber, where he discovers the corpse of a young woman crammed inside the church bell, another victim of Dracula.

A year later in 1906, following the events of the previous film, Dracula has been destroyed. Monsignor Ernest Mueller (Rupert Davies) comes to the village on a routine visit only to find the altar boy is now a frightened mute and the priest (Ewan Hooper) has lost his faith. The villagers refuse to attend Mass at the Catholic church because the shadow of Dracula's castle touches it. To bring to an end the villagers' fears, Mueller climbs to the castle to exorcise it.

The terrified priest follows only partway up the mountain, and Mueller continues alone. As he exorcises the castle, attaching a large metal cross to its gate, a thunderstorm occurs. The priest flees, stumbles, and is knocked unconscious when his head strikes a rock. The blood from the head wound trickles into a frozen stream through a crack in the ice, and onto the lips of Count Dracula, reviving him. Mueller returns to the village, reassures the villagers, and returns to his home city of Keinenberg where he lives with his widowed sister-in-law, Anna (Marion Mathie).

Unknown to Mueller, Dracula takes control of the priest. Furious that his castle is now barred to him, Dracula forces the enslaved priest to reveal the name of the exorcist. The priest desecrates a coffin to provide a sleeping place for the Count, and leads Dracula to Keinenberg, where the Count determines to take his revenge on Mueller's beautiful niece, Maria (Veronica Carlson). Dracula enslaves Zena the tavern girl (Barbara Ewing). Zena almost succeeds in bringing Maria under Dracula's power, but Maria's boyfriend Paul (Barry Andrews), who lives and works in the bakery beneath the tavern, rescues her. Dracula punishes Zena by killing her. Dracula orders the priest to destroy Zena's corpse before she turns into a vampire, so the priest burns her body in the bakery ovens. The priest then helps Dracula locate Maria. Dracula climbs over the rooftops of nearby buildings, enters Maria's room, and bites her.

Mueller enters Maria's room just after Dracula has bitten the girl and pursues a fleeing figure across the rooftops. He is knocked down by the priest. Mueller makes his way back home, where his sister-in-law cares for him. He summons Paul, knowing that he will help protect Maria because of his love for her. He passes on a book, which contains the rites of protection against vampires and ways to defeat them, before he succumbs to his wounds. Paul enlists the priest, not knowing he is under Dracula's spell. Unable to break free from Dracula's influence, the priest attacks Paul one night as they watch over Maria. Paul defeats the priest, and forces him to lead the way to Dracula's lair. They try to stake Dracula through the heart, but the faithless priest and the atheist Paul are not able to say the required prayer, so Dracula rises and removes the stake himself. He kidnaps Maria and flees to Castle Dracula, pursued by Paul and the priest.

At the castle, Dracula orders Maria to remove the cross from the door. She throws it over the parapet into the ravine below. Paul fights Dracula on the parapet and throws him over the side, followed by Dracula's impaling on the cross below. The priest, freed from the vampire's influence, recites the Lord's Prayer in Latin and Count Dracula perishes, dissolving into dust. Reunited with Maria and having apparently regained his Christian faith, Paul crosses himself while viewing Dracula's remains.