Top Ten Christopher Lee Films
Before you saw him as the White Wizard Saruman or the Sith lord Count Dooku, Christopher Lee was to horror films what John Wayne was to westerns. He had that deep, resonating voice, creepy state, and an ability to overact while still making it look good on film. Of all the horror movies he has been in (and there are many), here are the top ten Christopher Lee movies.
- Corridors of Blood – Lee stars alongside horror legend Boris Karloff. In the film, Karloff plays a disgraced surgeon. His experiments with anesthetic gases bring him to the attention of a gang of criminals, led by Lee.
- Horror of Dracula – The first Hammer film to portray Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing. This is the film that cemented Lee as the perfect actor to portray Dracula. He starred in other Hammer films about Dracula but none were as good as the original.
- Horror Hotel – This 1960 film was also known as City of the Dead. In it a young woman travels to a town and discovers a coven of witches. Lee plays her professor who secretly belongs to the coven and sends the girl to the town.
- The Mummy – Starring alongside his compatriot Peter Cushing again, Lee plays the undead mummy Kharis. The film was one of the best of the Hammer series. It was also an unusual role for Lee because most of his acting was limited to using only his eyes.
- The Devil Rides Out – For once Christopher Lee plays a good guy. He plays a Duke who rescues two initiates from a satanic cult. When the cult arrives to take back the initiates, Lee must protect them against black magic.
- To The Devil A Daughter – Lee plays a priest and head of a secretive Catholic order. But when a young nun stays with an occult writer, he discovers that the order is really a satanic cult. The writer then has to protect the young nun from becoming a bride for the devil.
- I, Monster – In this retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Lee plays the doomed doctor but the names in the movie are changed. One of Lee’s best performances due to his dual roles.
- The Wicker Man – An investigator checks out the disappearance of a young girl on a remote island. He discovers a pagan cult that wants to make a sacrifice to appease their gods. Lee plays the lord of the isle and leader of the cult.
- Count Dracula – Before Francis Ford Coppola’s took his turn at it, this 1970 movie was the truest adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel. Lee plays, of course, Dracula. The aging vamp falls for Jonathan Harker’s fiancé Mina and gets chased back to Transylvania.
- The Creeping Flesh – Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing play two brothers in this British horror flick from 1973. Cushing discovers a skeleton in New Guinea and brings it home. When the skeleton turns out to be evil, Cushing’s brother, played by Lee, makes plans.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 at 12:29 pm and is filed under Best Horror Actors, Best Horror Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.