Café de Nuit

Reading about remakes of classic horror films on another thread got me thinking about all the versions of Dracula that have been made over the years. I was wondering what actor or film of Dracula people found most effective/interesting and what actor was best for the role.

For me Bela Lugosi will always be the quintessential Dracula, and the '31 the best version because he was in it. All 3 Nosferatu films get my vote as well 1922 F.W. Murnau, 1979 Herzog and the 2000 Shadow of the Vampire with William Dafoe and John Malkovich. I enjoyed Frank Langella in the 1979 Universal remake as a romantic spin on the roll, and even George Hamilton was a kind of effective as a funny/ironic Dracula in "Love at First Bite". Gary Oldman also did a wonderful job as the Count, but the movie as a whole was just too cheesy for my tastes.

What do you guys think? Who was/is the best Dracula -- either actor or film and why?

Where's Leslie Nielsen in Dracula: Dead and Loving It?

Seriously though, I voted for Christopher Lee. I don't really care for silent films, and while Bela Lugosi is so closely associated with the Dracula character that it's impossible not to think of him, that movie was just bad in so many ways that I really can't pick Lugosi as my favorite Dracula.

While I voted for Lee (he was a fine presence even in the shoddier Hammer sequels), I'm a bit sorry you guys didn't offer up Louis Jourdan for his performance in the 1977 BBC production Count Dracula.

You can snag it at Netflix-- it's worth watching!

Brandi wrote:While I voted for Lee (he was a fine presence even in the shoddier Hammer sequels), I'm a bit sorry you guys didn't offer up Louis Jourdan for his performance in the 1977 BBC production Count Dracula.

You can snag it at Netflix-- it's worth watching!

I have heard a few other people say that too. I kind of liked Jordan's take on Dracula, and I thought he was an interesting choice. BBC did a pretty good job adapting the novel, but on the whole I found the whole thing a little too slow and boring for my tastes. I'll try to add his name to the list on the poll . . .

Edit: sorry, I can't seem to add the name to the poll . . .

JinnToslser wrote: Where's Leslie Nielsen in Dracula: Dead and Loving It?

Seriously though, I voted for Christopher Lee. I don't really care for silent films, and while Bela Lugosi is so closely associated with the Dracula character that it's impossible not to think of him, that movie was just bad in so many ways that I really can't pick Lugosi as my favorite Dracula.

LOL. Nielsen was great in that film. "I vant to suck ur blud . . ." LOL.

I agree with you about the '31 Dracula having a lot of flaws. Its a far from perfect film, and many people argue that the Spanish version of it is a lot better, which I agree with to a certain extent. The english language version seemed to suffer from poor direction-- or lack of any direction at all (Tod Browning was reportedly almost never even on the set for filming), but the great performances of Bela Lugosi, Dwight Frye and Edward Van Sloan make it most memorable for me. Too bad Lugosi hadn't been cast in the Spanish version as well, which had much better cinimamatography and direction.

The Spanish Dracula has better visuals and better performances from the ladies, who were allowed to, er, vamp it up a bit.

But there will always be a small warm spot in my heart for Browning's Transylvanian armadillos.

If Spanish Dracula is so good-

(and it is)

Why didn't Carlos Villerias make the Poll?

Because his performance was the one thing in the Spanish edition that's not better than the Lugosi version?

Out of the choices given, I had to vote for Chris Lee. However, I think that Jack Palance gave us the best movie Dracula in the Dan Curtis-directed television "Dracula" movie from the 1970s.

Well...depends on your tastes I suppose. Lugosi had a subtle, nuanced performance as Dracula-cold, a bit dead inside, bitterly jealous of those brief mortals who could feel so much more than himself...and in the end, who could really, finally die.

But Villerias-he captured the HUNGER. He looked at you like a hungry beast. He would try to interact with you-but his manners were just a little lacking, his facade just on the edge of crumbling. Because when all was said and done, you were just an interesting toy that smelled really good. He plays with you,devourers you-and then he was done, and like a junkie he would already be thinking ahead to his next fix.Forever.

All the same, i'd have loved to see Lugosi in the Spanish version,among the -IMO- superior director and crew. Lugosi had a gift for learning his lines phonetically, it could have worked...oh well.

I voted for Nosferatu though-I have a huge soft spot for that dead, plague-bearing revenant. Eli Roth's take on Orlok in Shadow of the Vampire was sublime.

^Was it Roth? I know he did Hostel, but I thought E. Elias Merhige directed Shadow? Great movie nonetheless.

Oops, got the names mixed up again-the Voices in my Head are giving me NO REST during this holiday season. My deepest apologies for confusing a visionary director with a maker of Torture Porn.

Passed my A+ last week despite the Voices' Cacophony though...now to shut them up long enough to pass the Network exams!

Back on topic though. I liked Palance in the Dan Curtis production of Dracula. His Dracula is quite riveting-but Palance later manages to outdo his own performance in a production of Dr Jeckyll/Mr Hyde(also a Curtis production) not much later...if we get around to a Jeckyll/Hyde discussion, he simply MUST be included, even the Voices agree on this one!

Oh, tough call all around, for so many different reasons. Dafoe's performance in "Shadow of the Vampire" rocked, for showing a vampire who was not necessarily the usual "Ancient, Powerful, Deadly" trope and making a Hollywood myth quite believable. Still, must acknowledge the debt of Bela Lugosi, who showed us what a foreign accent could do.

(And speaking of Lugosi, let me drop in Martin Landau in "Ed Wood", for playing Lugosi playing the vampire. He won numerous awards for it and deservedly so. But I digress....)

I have fond memories of George Hamilton for introducing me to the notion of Dracula as romantic and sexy, but it's Gary Oldman's count I'd rather have creeping through my bedroom window.