Dracula in popular culture States as "Horror of Dracula" to avoid confusion with the earlier Lugosi version. This was followed by a long series of Dracula films, usually featuring Lee as the Count. It was Lee who fixed the image of the fanged vampire in popular culture. The Hammer films in which Dracula (or a follower) appeared (and the actor portraying the character) were: Though Dracula is pronounced as dead in "The Brides of Dracula", he is resurrected for "Dracula: Prince of Darkness", before being killed off again. This formula is followed in each succeeding film apart from the last, "The Legend of the
The Brides of Dracula is nothing new or imaginative about it." "Variety" called the film "technically well-made" but thought the script "adds little to the Dracula legend and follows formula horror gimmicks," and that "it would have been considerably more scary if it had been filmed in old-fashioned black and white." "Harrison's Reports" wrote that Martita Hunt and Freda Jackson were "excellent" in the film and the direction and photography were "first class," but that it was "not overly frightening." "The Brides of Dracula" holds a score of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. The famous Spanish cult film director Jesus Franco credits this film as