The film isn't up to him, though, being way too English to be convincingly Russian, seriously lacking a decent co-star (the exception is Francis Matthews, who I always liked - his profile seems to suit Hammer movies, and Barbara Shelley as the aristocrat hungry for a bit of old Rasputin who is dumped by him - just like she would be by Dracula in Dracula - Prince of Darkness, which was made just before this using the same sets).
It's a poor script which should have borrowed from history more - though maybe the filmmakers were scared of lawsuits. Some good scenes: the tavern sequence at the beginning, Rasputin defying the Church, the scene in the Church when someone tries to kill Rasputin, and when they do kill Rasputin. Shelley is very sexy in that I'm-aloof-but-I-just-can't-help-myself-wanting-a-bit-of-rogering sort of way (she flashes some bare back) and the sets and costumes are stunning even by Hammer standards (love those jackets). And there's plenty of dialogue along the lines of "look into my eyes" and "you are falling into my power". But it isn't really much of a film - a disappointment, really, considering the subject matter.
It's a poor script which should have borrowed from history more - though maybe the filmmakers were scared of lawsuits. Some good scenes: the tavern sequence at the beginning, Rasputin defying the Church, the scene in the Church when someone tries to kill Rasputin, and when they do kill Rasputin. Shelley is very sexy in that I'm-aloof-but-I-just-can't-help-myself-wanting-a-bit-of-rogering sort of way (she flashes some bare back) and the sets and costumes are stunning even by Hammer standards (love those jackets). And there's plenty of dialogue along the lines of "look into my eyes" and "you are falling into my power". But it isn't really much of a film - a disappointment, really, considering the subject matter.
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