Review for Rasputin The Mad Monk

‘Rasputin – The Mad Monk’ is a film close to Christopher Lee’s heart. Having got wind of the possibility of its making, he agreed to participate in another Bray studios Dracula production (Dracula Prince of Darkness) which was to be made back to back with Rasputin.


The story had to be carefully penned in order to avoid litigation from any characters still living who had a part in the original tale. As a result, Hammer’s Rasputin is almost entirely devoid of historical accuracy, merely tagging one or two key (and unequivocal) events to the tale whilst fictionalising the rest. Of course, this won’t have worried Hammer Horror fans in the slightest. What they wanted were more thrills, not a history lesson. But it apparently concerned Lee and other members of the cast who were keen to make a ‘serious movie’. Oh well. Whatever the case they did end up making a wildly entertaining one with Lee giving arguably his finest ever performance in the title role.


Directed by Australian Don Sharp (who previously directed ‘Kiss of the Vampire’ and ‘The Devil Ship Pirates’ for Hammer) production started just four days after shooting on ‘DPOD’ ended using pretty much the same cast and crew.


Bray’s ’Draculas Castle’ (now a pleasant hotel) was slightly revamped as Ivan Keznikov’s house into whose moat Lee would once again plunge and perish – twice in a month; firstly as Dracula and now as Rasputin.


Lee is utterly bewitching in the title role, tall and forboding with his dark and mesmerising stare and mane of long hair. In the rather good commentary and documentary included on the disc, Francis Matthews points out that Lee spent a lot of time researching the role and nailing the part.


After a series of disappointing cuts, the film was finally released (with an X rating) as part of a two-fer deal alongside ‘The Reptile’. Cannily, that had been made back to back with the movie that was doubled with ‘Dracula Prince of Darkness’ so when released, the similarities in cast, locations and props would not be quite so noticeable.


It’s an atmospheric movie from the off with a great brooding score and Lee bringing the movie alive with his presence within moments, moving the film on at a pace not shared by all Hammer’s output.

Though Lee is the dominant force, he is ably supported by a good cast with Barbara Shelley turning in a great performance as Sonia, especially during a dramatic fight when, having mesmerised her as a devotee he cruelly rejects her.


Though this is issued as a double-format pack from Studio Canal I had only the DVD discs for reference. The transfer and quality of the standard disc is superb and I can only wonder at how good the BD version might look. Even in the deepest blacks there is little pixilation and a very satisfying deep contrast and rich colouring that will please Hammer fans immensely.


There’s a very worthwhile and nicely compiled documentary entitled ‘Tall Stories: The Making of Rasputin the Mad Monk’ which runs for just short of half an hour which traces the movies origins, as well as contemporary fans and critics views as well as an analysis of the score by Hammer enthusiast and master-musician David Huckvale, author of ‘Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde’.


A really enjoyable extra feature is the fifteen minute documentary featurette, ‘Brought to Book: Hammer Novelisations’ which traces the history of the various Hammer novelisations. Mark Gatis (‘League of Gentlemen’) who is a huge Hammer fan does a great job of evoking the sheer power that these had in keeping the brand alive and well in a pre-video age, as well as reflecting their potency on a young lads mind, particularly with their often lurid covers.


Once again, Studio Canal have thrown in an episode of the ‘World of Hammer:’ series narrated by Oliver Reed. In this instance the theme is 'Costumers', a look at the historic epics produced by the studio over the years – all in a nasty 4:3 format which cares little for the quality of the clip re-productions.

Finally, you’ll find a stills gallery which has a rich selection of posters, lobby cards and production stills. Lovely!

It’s fantastic that the studio canal release programme continues at such a pace. Despite some audio vagaries on other releases (‘The Devil Rides Out’ extras for example) fans can be assured of a really first-class package here. Excellent stuff.