Who would doubt, after seeing him as Rasputin that Christopher Lee is far more than just another horror movies iconic actor. His performance in this film, which is a proper actor’s performance in the sense that he goes farther than the excessive caricature of a renowned historical and mythical figure, is simply exceptional. Indeed, Lee does not attempt to be subtle or convey a deep psychological portrait of Rasputin but on the contrary, he creates a character bigger than life totally in tune with the title of the movie, a perfectly mad monk. Numerous movie buffs used to seeing him in the skin of Dracula where his performance is mainly physical will most certainly be surprised and enthusiastic to see him add an almost animal magnetic charm with his deep voice (that he masterfully controls to the perfection).

Many coincidences are there to prove Lee’s adequacy with the character of Rasputin. The monk uses mesmerism techniques. This particular form of hypnotism uses human will, conscious or unconscious, to interact with the patient’s nervous system or in this case to get what he wants from its victims. The animal magnetism mentioned above is thus justified for this acting performance where a controlled grandiloquence seems totally logical.

One can also see that Rasputin’s character is quite close to Count Dracula and that as he does, he “vampirisates” (involuntary transmission of part of the essence of vitality of one person to another by means of an occult osmosis) his victims but not through the carnal act of the vampire’s kiss. Furthermore, the sexual dimension linked to Dracula is very strong in Rasputin. Lee, despite his rough and gruff looks, bewitches any woman he wants using the same animal magnetism. This total control on them allows him to disparage and humiliate them without breaking the “charm”. But unlike the vampire who is usually quite impassive and detached from its victims, the human Rasputin seems to enjoy the perverse pleasure in this depraved behavior, encouraged by his mesmerizing abilities. This vice can be found in numerous Hammer films and constitutes a kind of fascinating and very interesting catalogue of human perversions, the most fascinating aspect of Rasputin being that he cumulates them all.

Christopher Lee is totally in his element with this character and fortunately he brings so much to this movie that he literally carries it on his shoulders. The movie itself is weak in many aspects and mainly in its scenario. The russian historical background is meant to compensate the scenario’s issues, which bets everything on Lee’s ability to fascinate the audience. Awkward shortcuts in the script, its repeated unlikeliness as well as its obscure goal are all quite confusing. As a viewer, one never knows what drives Rasputin or how he manages to be so quickly and completely accepted as part of the royalty’s closest circle.

But what does it matter, Lee and his creation as Rasputin blows away any objection and never gives the audience enough time to become bored. The fascination exercised by the actor through his character is reinforced by the total unpredictability of the moral limits of this “monster”.

Nothing can stop Rasputin and despite the fact that he is a monk one can easily say that he has perfectly adapted to his new life of total debauchery. His technique is to cure important people by mesmerizing them (a sort of vampirism, explained above) to attract their gratitude and quickly climb the social ladder. But in reality he spends most of his time dancing, drinking as much alcohol as he can (without ever staggering, russian style), seducing some women and raping others. He even uses the prestige and situation of a drunken lowlife doctor that he turns into a proper slave to get what he wants. I have to point out that the scene where Rasputin beats the doctor in a heavy drinking contest is visually very close to the famous scene in Raiders of the lost ark (where Karen Allen beats a huge Nepalese guy at the same "stupid" game). To be short, Rasputin is as mad as the title of the movie says he is and he is one of the most merrymaking cinematic characters you will ever encounter.

Without unveiling the movie’s plot, I must mention the last quarter of the movie because it justifies the vision of the whole movie. Rasputin is poisoned and truthful to himself as all through the film: he just does what he wants and simply refuses to die. The whole scene is centered on Rasputin and he comes back to life more than once despite the fact that his killers think him dead. This gimmick became a classic trick with the advent of horror movies and more precisely the Slasher genre (an overview of the genre is soon to be published on Cinetudes.com in English). So Michael Myers, Jason or Freddy seem to be direct descendants of Rasputin, all of them possessed by some kind of superhuman force and therefore coming back to life despite their supposedly deadly wounds. In Rasputin as well as in Slasher films this “non-dying” attitude is never a directing trick simply intended to make viewers jump out of their seats but on the contrary, it is a primordial component of the characters themselves. I won’t go any further in this direction so as not to spoil your viewing pleasure but I hope that readers who have seen the movie will chat about this aspect in our CHATTERBOX LOUNGE.

Don Sharp is by far not as talented as Hammer’s star directors Terence Fisher, Roy Ward Baker or even John Gilling but he manages to offer an interesting and entertaining film. Rasputin the mad monk is far from a perfect movie but Sharp managed to minimize and hide his own limitations and use his best assets efficiently.

By focusing entirely on Rasputin, giving total liberty to Christopher Lee and giving up almost completely on the plot, he made the right choice. He uses regularly Rasputin’s haunted gaze and even makes it the movie’s visual signature, the heart of the film. Everything is conveyed by gazes, the spellbinding eyes of the predator/charmer and the enthralled eyes of his victims. After his performance in Dracula, Christopher Lee conveys once again his power through his eyes and physical postures, using them as seduction artifices in order to assuage his instincts, needs and plans.

Sharp regularly insists on close ups of all the characters’ eyes (not only Rasputin) but he also manages an excellent use of sound with Don Banks’ atmospherical music which reinforces the hypnotizing effect of these shots. He also knows how to use Lee’s impressive and deep voice through the invectives he throws at his patients or the numerous bouts of thundering and often mocking laughter. The sets are, as usual with Hammer productions, well cared for and only the fact that the whole of the action takes place in merely two or three different locations shows the lack of means. The wardrobe mistress was sometimes rather heavy on the colors, especially with Rasputin’s main shirt and its deep fuchsia pink. But the involuntary (?) comical effect caused by this shirt is quickly replaced by a viewer’s jubilation because Sharp, as well as Lee, both seem to play with it knowingly. Despite its anachronistic look it seems to be perfect for Rasputin once you get into the character being bigger than life. In the same manner, Rasputin’s weird beard rapidly becomes integrated to the character and as in the example of the shirt; it becomes a source of intense pleasure for the viewer after a short mocking period.

Rasputin the mad monk is a movie to watch knowing the type of feature it is. Once that said, the film is almost impossible to classify because it is simultaneously (and not really either) a monster movie, a horror film or an historical film. It contains strong elements of each but always manages to escape categorization. Once aware of the limitations linked to the necessity and codes of each genre involved, you only have to let go and be bewitched by the most extravagant and vicious monk in Movies’ history. Enjoy!!!