Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966) (2024)

Popular reviews

• Review by Slig001 ★★★★

  Time for a history lesson, Hammer Horror style! Rasputin The Mad Monk spins a story touching on the facts of the titular character. It's light on historical accuracy, but typically the more fantastical elements are played up. Rasputin here is almost like some kind of crazy superhero - he's strong, he's smart, he can dance and drink gallons of wine. He's also able to heal with hands, is clairvoyant and has the power to hypnotise with his eyes. It's very much a character driven story as we follow Rasputin from his peasant life hanging around bars to heights of the Russian monarchy. The main selling point is undoubtedly the central performance from Christopher Lee. He's completely over the top and…

• Review by Dr. Ethan Lyon ★★★ 4

  3rd Don Sharp (after Kiss of theVampire and Psychomania)

  Leave it to the writer of metaphysical Hammers like Frankenstein Created Woman and Dracula Has Risen from the Grave to consider Rasputin’s spiritual dimensions, especially his potential capacity for Evil. Certainly, his position in the narrative is similar to Dracula, another Chris Lee character associated with the demonic. They’re alternately figures of attraction and repulsion depending on gender; they even have similar hypnotising gazes. Routing them restores safe and comfortable order. Placing that archetype in the skin of a historical figure, especially a religious one, is provocative, doubly so when the origins of his powers are uncertain in the film. Rasputin is a healer, demonstrably so, but would God "bless someone…

• Review by Gentry ★★★½ 1

  “God would never bless someone so steeped in sin with such a gift.”

  Christopher Lee is cocky, grimey Russian healer, Rasputin, a role even he probably didn’t know he was born to play. All he seeks in payment for his services is several bottles of wine, and to dance with a girl in a pretty dress. A very good film that sadly suffered from the restrictive 4:3 aspect ratio presentation by TCM; this story deserves widescreen, so it was heartening to see that the Shout Factory blu-ray offers the option of two different widescreen aspect ratios: 2.35:1 and 2.55:1. A rare miss for TCM, but I guess a good excuse for me to pick up the disc next time it goes on sale, because watching Christopher Lee drink and fuck and hypnotize his way up the social ladder is everything I want from cinema.

• Review by threepenny ★★★★★

  Christopher Lee's best performance in a Hammer film, a real career highlight, he truly embodies, as the commercial put it, "Rasputin! The MAAAAAAAAAAAD MONK!!!!" Possessed of the power to heal, and to mesmerize, and with a will to power. He sins wildly, he says, so that he has something to confess, something real. Drunk and wildly dancing one moment, outraged fury the next as he demands an apology from a beautiful countess, Barbara Shelley. And he takes her as he wishes, and humiliates her, and treats her abominably, and still she craves more. The confrontation between them, her sobs, his laughter, is a movie masterclass in crafting an unforgettable scene, more horrible than anything in the Dracula series. Not only…

• Review by coles84 ★★★★

  Well hello, Christopher Lee 'Rock Star'. This Hammer film from 1966 is Lee having an absolute belter of a time and a performance as he brings the more fictionalised character of Rasputin to life with plenty of sex, drugs and Russian dancing.

  Loosely based on truth but with a handful helping of horror and suspense, a film that starts at full pelt and does not let off until the end as we watch Lee tear up scene after scene with one of his most interesting performances. Rasputin is unlikable but Lee can't help but make him fun, bold and fascinating. Watching the chaos unfold and the story build momentum that it fulfills is a pleasure.

  There are some crazy beards…

• Review by Bob McQueen ★★★★ 1

  Really enjoyed this one. Lavish sets and that gorgeous cinemascope color and cinematography. An absolute powerhouse of a performance by Sir Christopher Lee, even I was hypnotized by his intensity! Drinkin & dancin. Hypnotizin, healin & hurtin. Does this Resputin know no bounds?!! I don't really care, it was a blast to watch!

• Review by comrade_yui ★★★★

  DISGUISE YOURSELF FROM THE FORCES OF EVIL -- GET YOUR "RASPUTIN" BEARD ~FREE~ AS YOU ENTER THE THEATRE! GIVEN TO GUYS AND GALS ALIKE!

  RASPUTIN -- MAD MONK, OR PRO-WORKER GNOSTIC ?

  by lea angerford

  (first published in the yellow gazette, vol 2. issue 7, october 14th, 2002)

  while still living at home with his parents even in his later years, rasputin co-opted his family’s basement and converted it to a makeshift church. his acolytes would gather here in prayer, sing unfamiliar strange hymns, and even engaged in sexual acts and orgies. one rumor was that rasputin has begun following the fringe sect of the russian orthodox church -- Khlysty.

  Khlysty’s root origin comes from the work 'Khlyst' which translated…

• Review by gregs1999 ★★★½

  Christopher Lee was absolutely amazing. Probably the most villainous I’ve seen him so far.

  Hammer Horror ranked

• Review by Jodie Stokes ★★★½ 2

  Not exactly riveting but entertaining nonetheless. I've been curious about Rasputin the Mad Monk for a while now, mostly due to it being shot back to back with Dracula Prince of Darkness and sharing most of the same sets. And, of course, because Christopher Lee appears in the starring role, which instantly makes this essential viewing.

  Christopher Lee carries what would otherwise be an average, forgettable outing. His casual blaspheming, indecorous drinking, brazen womanising and inebriated dance routines are a joy to watch. Lee breathes so much life into Rasputin's character; you can tell he had an absolute blast in this role. If you're a fan of his, definitely give this a watch, it's one of his best performances. To…

• Review by Dave Jackson ★★★½

  Christopher Lee was my favourite actor. He was one of the faces that introduced me to the world of horror when I started watching Hammer films on television, and even before that as a very young child, I remember him vividly, weirdly enough, from Gremlins 2. I always feel instantly happy seeing him onscreen whether it be in an all-time favourite like The Wicker Man or something as crappy as a Star Wars prequel. Needless to say, despite his impressive age of 93, I was shattered to hear of his passing.

  After hearing the news, I was planning to watch my favourite Lee film, Horror Express, but then decided instead of return to Rasputin: The Mad Monk. Though it's decidedly…

• Review by The Horror of Marna Larsen ★★★ 15

  #158 was filmed back to back with Dracula: Prince of Darkness using many of the same sets...which, possibly is why this seems like Rasputin as Dracula, a mythical figure capable of incapacitating women with his penetrating gaze.

  I know very little about Grigori Rasputin outside of the wiki (well, and the cartoon). But lack of knowledge doesn't matter so much here, as this is a treatment of Rasputin as a supernatural, unkillable demon rather than a genius of pre-internet - and even television - platform-building and self-aggrandizing.

  I'm always fascinated by anyone able to drastically change their circumstance or 'branding.' I tend to shrug and say, 'well, that's what you have to do to get there.' Probably this is not…

• Review by SubToretto ★★★½

  Ironically, the madder Christopher Lee gets; the less compelling I find him and Rasputin’s reign of horny, hypnotic terror.

  🗑️🌻Film 71/93 of Spring Forward Into A Trash Fire 2024 - Whim of the Shuffle-Gods - Let's celebrate Christopher Lee's life by watching a movie on the day (after) he passed away.

  Its definitely fun to watch Lee cackle manically and yell about his power, and one of the few times director Don Sharp wakes up beyond standard 60s Hammer presentation as Rasputin goes almost-demonic and otherworldly as he taunts someone from the shadows.

  These moments are memorable and boldly enigmatic, but not what makes this film engaging and have it flirting with greatness. That is the first two-thirds of watching…