Very disappointing...doesn 't hold a candle to Lugosi

I'm a big fan of Dracula (moreso the novel than any of the films) but until today I had yet to see any of Lee's films. I have heard so many good things about Lee as Dracula, how he's better than Lugosi, etc. While I'm not exactly a fan of Lee, from what little I've seen of him elsewhere, I've found him to be very effective, menacing and IMO ideal for the character.

So I finally saw Horror of Dracula today, and I felt...that's it? Really? I found it to be very disappointing and boring even (and no, not because it's "old"--I love Nosferatu, for example).

The story felt really bowdlerized. Where was Renfield, for example? Such a great character. Or the three brides being narrowed down to one bride? And while I thought the concept of Harker being onto Dracula from the getgo to be interesting at first (definitely didn't expect that), that really took away the creeping sense of dread in the novel and in the Lugosi film. The earlier scenes where Harker slowly pieces together that he's trapped and that Dracula isn't human are some of the best scenes in the original story, but they're altogether glossed over. I get that there's only so much you can show in a film, but some of the most iconic elements were completely discarded with. And given that Hammer is apparently famous for lots of blood in their films, I found the film to be pretty tame.

The fact that Lee appeared so little didn't help at all. Now, in the book, Dracula only appears in the beginning and then disappears only to pop up sporadically until the end, but his presence was still felt throughout the story. Here I almost forgot he was in the film.

IMO, the Universal Dracula is fairly disappointing by today's standards (can't be helped though given the censors back then) but Lugosi makes the film worth watching. He is Dracula. To me, Lee doesn't come close. And maybe this is more due to his old age, but I've found Lee's deeper voice today to be much more threatening and melodious than how he sounded here (when he spoke at all). He was much more scarier and imposing as Saruman in LOTR.