What are the best Dracula Movies?

[samurainoir]

What do you think is the best adaptation of the original book? Nosferatu? Bela Lugosi's? Hammer's version with Christopher Lee? Frances Ford Coppola's with Gary Odlman?

What is the best movie that features Dracula?

Do you have a favourite Dracula crossover?

[Riffster]

Christopher Lees are the best

[madmarva]

In the late 1970s, the BBC did an adaption of the book that is very good with Louis Jordan as the Count. It may be a bit slow by today's standard, but it's very faithful to the book.

It predates Universal's remake with Frank Langella, which is one of the first to be sympathetic toward Dracula.

Coppola's is fun, but it is anything but an adaption of the novel. It's told more from Dracula's point of view. Stoker's novel is written in an epistolary style, told from the journal's of various characters other than Dracula and all eventually view the Count as evil once they know what he is and there is no sympathy for the character. Coppola's version is almost Dracula's answer to Stoker's novel.

While Lugosi's look as Dracula is iconic, I find the 1931 version of the movie almost unwatchable. You know I take that back. When Lugosi is on the screen, it's watchable but when he's off its not. The film is based on a stage adaption of the book that cuts a lot of the meat from the novel.

Christopher Lee's performances as Dracula probably fit the novel's mode better because in most of his Dracula film's he's on screen relatively little and is not portrayed sympathetically but as a monster. I'm pretty sure Lee starred in a relatively close adaption of the book. It might be Dracula 1970,but I'm not sure.

[toys2cool]

My fave is definitely Frances Ford Coppola's with Gary Odlman as Dracula. He looks just like Vlad the Impaler

[kryptosmaster]

I like Horror of Dracula the best.
Rich

[Werewolf]

In the late 1970s, the BBC did an adaption of the book that is very good with Louis Jordan as the Count. It may be a bit slow by today's standard, but it's very faithful to the book.

It predates Universal's remake with Frank Langella, which is one of the first to be sympathetic toward Dracula.



Don't forget Dan Curtis' Dracula. It portayed Dracula as a tragic romantic figure and came out four years before Jordan's Drac. Coppola's version borrows quite a bit from this movie. Like Dracula being the historical Vlad Dracula and his search for his re-incarnated lost love.

My two favorite Dracula movies are Dracula (1931) and Dracula (1979). I thought Coppola's version was a okay but a bit disjointed. I also felt both Ryder and Reeves were miscast and probably way out of their league with actors like Hopkins and Oldman

[palitoy]

While Lugosi's look as Dracula is iconic, I find the 1931 version of the movie almost unwatchable. You know I take that back. When Lugosi is on the screen, it's watchable but when he's off its not. The film is based on a stage adaption of the book that cuts a lot of the meat from the novel.

Yeah, I have to second that, although "Dracula's Daughter" is really quite good.

Lee did in fact make a very faithful adaptation of the novel but as I recall it's hindered by some technical issues, like actors not even being in the same room.

[MIB41]

Interesting question, proven more complicated by comparing a movie with the book. From a cinematic standpoint, I think there are few films that have been truely faithful to the book. I agree with Toys2cool. Coppola's Dracula was one of the closest to capturing Dracula based on the book's description, but I didn't like Keenu Reeves in the cast. He seemed to be selected for Hollywood reasons rather than good character casting and his California accent just got in the way his role. My childhood favorite is really a tie between Christopher Lee and Legosi. Bela was really my favorite when I was very young, but when I got to be a teenager I wanted more graphic horror, so Lee was the ticket. I don't count the Dracula in Van Helsing at all because that was borderline camp with the stilted accent and stylized posturing.

[Mikey]

Leslie Nielson

[Type3Toys]

A fantastic character. It really depends on my mood. I love the Coppola version. Well written and acted not to mention visually stunning. The Lugosi Dracula is rich and atmosphereic. I love Bela's lines in the film and his delivery is flawless. The Langella Dracula is also a very cool flick, although Frank seemed to much a "pretty boy" in the film.
Then there is the Palance Dracula by Dan Curtis of Dark Shadows fame. This is just brilliant and evil and really reminds me of my childhood and the 70's.
The Hammer series of Dracula with Lee as the count portray Dracula as the most evil.
All them are excellent to watch and I literally watch one or more of them a week.

[thunderbolt]

Leslie Nielson

Bahhh, George Hamilton was better. :grin:

[Goblin19]

Horror of Dracula is my favorite, by far. I love Lugosi, and like his original, but it is a bit stilted. The Mexican version is very good, but needs Lugosi. Frank Langella's Dracula was better than I exoected, but not a masterpiece. Francis Ford Coppola's was a major disappointment. It looked great, but lost its way about midway through.

[ramsey37]

Hammer's Dracula series was probably the best overall series of films starring the Count, although by the time they got to the later entries the series was obviously losing steam. Everything from "Horror of Dracula" to "Taste the Blood of Dracula" should be required viewing for most horror fans. I've never cared much for the last few movies, from "Scars of Dracula" to "The Satanic Rites of Dracula". The last Hammer Dracula appearance in "The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires" is watchable mostly for the camp element ;)
I have great affection for Lugosi's Dracula, but have to agree that the second half of his first film is pretty slow going. If they could've cast Bela in the Spanish version they would've had a perfect film. Bela gives a truly excellent performance as the Count in "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein". The movie is obviously a comedy, but it's beloved by monster fans as the last hurrah for the big three Universal Monsters.
George :feiertag-smiley-003

[cjefferys]

Horror of Dracula is my favorite, by far. I love Lugosi, and like his original, but it is a bit stilted. The Mexican version is very good, but needs Lugosi.


I agree with all this. Nothing beats Lee in HORROR OF DRACULA. The 1931 Lugosi version is slow and stagebound (the near complete lack of music doesn't help either), and if it wasn't for Lugosi's performance, would be forgettable (too bad, because director Todd Browning was certainly capable of better). The Mexican version is much livelier, but desperately needs a lead actor to match Lugosi.

I'm also a big fan of the original Nosferatu and the remake (a slower film, but I'm a sucker for a Werner Herzog/Klaus Kinski film)

[Earth 2 Chris]

While Lugosi's look as Dracula is iconic, I find the 1931 version of the movie almost unwatchable. You know I take that back. When Lugosi is on the screen, it's watchable but when he's off its not. The film is based on a stage adaption of the book that cuts a lot of the meat from the novel.

I just recently rewatched this movie for the first time in years, and I have to agree. Lugosi is so good you want to seem more of him, and the rest is weak. And you can't blame it on the film's age because Frankenstein came out a year later and holds up well today.

I really like Coopala's version. While I agree that the perspective is switched, the events and characters of the book are more intact in this movie than in any other. Reeves does almost sink the whole thing in several scene, esp. with his Ted Theodore Logan-like exclamation of "DOC-TOR!"

Lee was a great, evil Dracula, as Stoker intended. The later movies just became exploitation, but the earlier ones are very moody and well done.

I've never seen the Cutis/Palance Dracula. I'd really like to at some point. Is it on DVD?

Chris

[The Toyroom]

My favorite as a kid was Christopher Lee's Dracula...and I guess it still holds true for me today. He was just badass as the Count.:yeah:

But I do have a fondness for Lugosi's portrayal in "A&CMF"....I love his control over the Monster and his little magic ring and the bats flapping in his eyes.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

No love for "Evil of Dracula" or "Lake of Dracula?"

Yeah, I don't blame you.

Don C.

[IRON37]

my personal favorite dracula movies are:

bram stokers Dracula, Monster squad (hey draculas in it), Salems lot, Nosferatu, and technically not dracula but great vampire flick : interview with the vampire

[Meule]

A fantastic character. It really depends on my mood. I love the Coppola version. Well written and acted not to mention visually stunning. The Lugosi Dracula is rich and atmosphereic. I love Bela's lines in the film and his delivery is flawless. The Langella Dracula is also a very cool flick, although Frank seemed to much a "pretty boy" in the film.
Then there is the Palance Dracula by Dan Curtis of Dark Shadows fame. This is just brilliant and evil and really reminds me of my childhood and the 70's.
The Hammer series of Dracula with Lee as the count portray Dracula as the most evil.
All them are excellent to watch and I literally watch one or more of them a week.

It's scary how you and I think alike :shocked2:
Could it be you're my long lost twin brother? :smiley1:

[Mikey]

My only problem with Bela is he seemed too nice of a guy to be Dracula.
.. between his accent and demeanor, he was more akin to being someones grandfather then the prince of darkness.

Lee, now he was great because he was a pysco Drac.

One of the worst Drac's , imo was John Carradine.

[samurainoir]

Leslie Nielson

My favourite spoof is Roman Polanski's Fearless Vampire Killer's.

It really feels like the prototype to many of the action/horror/comedies that followed.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l26/halfwildhalfchild/FearlessVampireKillers.jpg

[Goblin19]

I actually think I like the Herzog Nosferatu a little more than the original. Kinski is inspired casting.

[Megospidey]

Caught "Blackula" the other night for the first time...that was a 70's trip.

[Earth 2 Chris]

We've mentioned it before, but Monster Squad's Duncan Regher successfuly combined the suave Lugosi and evil Lee Dracula portrayls. That guy in Van Helsing was horrible. He's worse than that Zarkov guy with the 'fro in Dracula vs. Frankenstein!

Chris

[HardyGirl]

I like the 1940s Bella Lugosi movie, "Love At First Bite" , and "Blacula" (yeah I know). :rolleyes:

[Hector]

I like the lead vampire in Twlight...he is so dreamy.

Oh, wait a minute...he's not Dracula.

Never mind.

:grin:

[The Bat]

Bahhh, George Hamilton was better. :grin:


I'm with Joe..."Love at First Bite" was a RIOT!!!:smiley1:

[madmarva]

Does anyone remember Old Dracula. I think with David Niven. I saw it in the theater in the mid 1970s as a kid but have never seen it on television or video. Well, I guess I just devolved this thread to the worst Dracula film.

Also, if anyone liked the old Tomb of Dracula comic from the 1970s, the Captain Britain comic has brought him back as James Bond-like villain. He's on the moon and had declared war on England.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I watched "House of Dracula" Friday Night. Carradine wasn't as bad as I thought. Visually, his look is weak. he seems like a dude in an opera get-up and nothing more. His line delivery is okay. With the mustache, I guess he does resemble the novel's description of Dracula a bit more, but he doesn't have the charisma and air of menace that Lugosi gave it. The transformations into a bat were pretty well done. Oddly enough, they were less "cartoony" than Lugosi's transformations in A&C Meet Frankenstein, which was 3 years later!

Chris

[raider5gt]

I have always liked Christopher Lee's Dracula in the old Hammer films as i watched them growing up,he seemed scary and dark,as always Cushing was there to sort him out,i thought Lee and Cushing were good adversaries in the films.

The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is also not bad if you like Kung Fu thrown in the mix.