British studio Hammer Films made some of the best Dracula movies ever, several of which starred the dynamic duo of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. When it comes to film companies specializing in horror, there are few with as rich a history as Hammer. Founded in the 1930s, Hammer is best known for its productions from the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, many of which featured a gothic, classical setting. While Hammer didn't just make horror movies, about a third of their total output falls under the umbrella of cinematic fright.
While many distinguished thespians plied their trade in Hammer's horror films over the years, including Ingrid Pitt, David Prowse (who most famously played Darth Vader), and Oliver Reed, arguably the two performers most identified with the studio were Lee and Cushing. Both appeared in over 20 different projects for Hammer, although not all of them together. As a side effect of their professional ties, the two also hit it off personally, becoming close friends in real life, even though their characters often butted heads onscreen.
Lee's most famous Hammer horror role is of course that of Dracula himself, cinema's greatest vampire, in what many argue is one of the greatest depictions of the character to date. Cushing is best known for going toe-to-toe with Dracula as Dr. Lawrence Van Helsing, in a performance that has gone on to influence many other iterations of the character, as well as movie vampire hunters in general. Here's every time they shared the screen in a Hammer Dracula installment.
The Hammer Dracula Movies With Christopher Lee vs. Peter Cushing
Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing's first Hammer Dracula movie was, appropriately, Hammer's first take on the master vampire, 1958's Dracula. The film was retitled Horror of Dracula in the U.S., so as to try and avoid confusion with the 1931 Universal classic starring Bela Lugosi, which still stands today as arguably the most influential Dracula movie ever made. Notably though, this actually wasn't either man's first Hammer production, or even their first together. That came in 1957's The Curse of Frankenstein, in which Lee played Frankenstein's Monster and Cushing played his creator.
Hammer would go on to make eight Dracula movies in total, only three of which ended up featuring both Lee's Dracula and Cushing's Van Helsing. Cushing would appear in 1960's The Brides of Dracula, which didn't include Lee, while Lee would play the Count in Dracula: Prince of Darkness, Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, Taste the Blood of Dracula, and Scars of Dracula. Both would finally reunite for Dracula A.D. 1972, which released in the titular year, and stars Cushing as both Lawrence and his descendant Lorrimer. Cushing and Lee would face off again in 1973 follow-up The Satanic Rites of Dracula. The final Hammer Dracula movie would also release in 1973, the bizarre Hong Kong co-production The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, but Lee didn't participate.