Horrorfest 2020: Hammerfest - Rasputin the Mad Monk

Starring Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Francis Matthews, Richard Pasco and Suzan Farmer

Written by Anthony Hinds and directed by Don Sharp

Based on the true story of the mysterious figure who inserted himself into the Russian royal family just before the revolution and apparently had some influence in their affairs (and the affairs of the country), RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK stars Christopher Lee in the title role.

Now, when I say this is based on a true story, of course I mean just the bare bones -- this is the pulp fiction, comic book, sensationalized version of "history," casting Rasputin as a monster the likes of which Dracula might even be jealous of, who is both a con man while also apparently possessing actual healing powers and seemingly super natural levels of mind control (especially over women).

If you only see one Christopher Lee movie in your life, it should probably be this one. He really brings it and gives it his all. Sure, Dracula might be more famous and later the LORD OF THE RINGS films made bank, but this has got to be Christopher Lee's greatest and most over the top performance. Rasputin is a great character because he is so unabashedly terrible -- he's a drunk, a pervert, abuses both men and women, and uses anyone he can get under his influence, which is most people. He's crafty and conniving while also being outrightly and outrageously cruel and in-your-face about his debauchery.

You might wonder how a monk, of all people, can reconcile sleeping around and getting trashed all the time. Rasputin actually has an answer to this: if Christianity is about seeking forgiveness for our sins from God, why not give God sins actually worth forgiving? It sort of misses the point of a deep and honest theological discussion but it does honestly exploit a loophole in surface-level dogma, which is often all anyone really cares about anyway, except those who are most mystic.

RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK does not suffer any of the pacing issues of some of the other Hammer films because Lee is in almost every scene and is always endlessly compelling. What's this guy going to do next? You never know except that it'll be worse than whatever the last thing he did was.