The Big Picture In 2015, Guinness World Records named Count Dracula the most adapted literary character, with 538 productions making use of Bram Stoker’s legendary vampire in some way. Of course, Dracula has been in the public domain since 1962, making its content easy to appropriate for cameos, team-ups, and schlock. Stoker wouldn’t recognize his creation in many of these; there’s very little of his work in something like Billy the Kid vs. Dracula.
13. Count Dracula Good intentions can only take an adaptation so far. The 1970 Count Dracula lives up to its promise to be the most faithful depiction of Stoker’s novel for about a half-hour. Sir Christopher Lee is dressed all in black, sports white hair and moustache, and gives disquieting recitals of some of Dracula’s finest speeches from the book.
Of the two, Son of Dracula has more to recommend it, even with such bad miscasting as the all-American Lon Chaney Jr. as Dracula . It’s got plenty of Gothic atmosphere – Southern Gothic, that is, as the film is set in the Louisiana bayou. And the real villain is the female lead Katherine , who manipulates Dracula and her own family in a bid for immortality.
There are some easy “fish out of water” jokes here, but some clever twists on that old chestnut as well. Hamilton has a great foil in Arte Johnson’s Renfield and a fair romance with Susan Saint James. There are lulls, but this is a fine comedy. It seems a shame Hamilton’s run of spoofs only went one further with Zorro, the Gay Blade.
That said, this – the third adaptation to take as much from the Deane/Balderston play as from Stoker’s novel – is one of the most handsomely produced, with gorgeous sets, photography, and staging. Some of the story twists are inspired. While I don’t love every interpretation of the characters here, the takes are all well-thought-out and brilliantly performed. Though Dracula is a bit on the romantic side, the film doesn’t forget he’s evil.
Dracula: Prince of Darkness was Hammer’s first Dracula sequel to have Lee back in the part, and it has much to recommend it over Horror of Dracula. For one thing, there may be more of the book here than in that film. More than that, the straight leads – those young lads and ladies whose lives Dracula routinely disturbs in this series – are much more compelling and likable this time around.
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