10 Outrageous Films That Must Be Seen To Be Believed

Hammer’s final Dracula movie is by far their oddest and was disliked by Christopher Lee, who refused to play the character for the company ever again. Dracula is basically a Bond villain here, which is apt because Lee later played Scaramanga in The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) while Joanna Lumley had a small part in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969).

There's a bunch of stuff you don’t expect to see in a vampire film: motorcycle chases, nudity, Satanism, shadowy organizations, corrupt officials, and a plot to conquer the world with a new strain of the bubonic plague. Set in the Swinging 70s, the plot follows Van Helsing (Peter Cushing, obviously) as he slowly realizes that corporate villain “D.D. Denham” is none other than Count Dracula, who’s had enough of being staked in each movie and decided to end the world.

It’s easy to knock Satanic Rites for for being silly – what self-respecting vampire dresses his henchmen in sheepskin vests? – but difficult to remain immune to the film’s deranged charm. Lively, loopy and loads of fun, it’s a far more entertaining modern day gothic than Dracula AD 72.