Would just like to say that Christopher Lee is the ULTIMATE Dracula for me. He plays the parts really well.
But Ingrid Pitt was great and Gary Oldman. So I was just wondering, who is your No#1 Vampy?
:)
Those were great pumps.
Louis Jourdan in the 1978 BBC production Count Dracula.
shareChristopher Lee is my favourite Dracula, whilst Isobel Black (Tania) from 'Kiss of the Vampire', is my favourite vampire.
shareThe 1978 Louis Jordan Dracula is the best interpretation of the story to my tastes but as a figure/character it will always be Lee that commands the centre stage in any Vampire comparison, just as Peter Cushing will always be the quintessential Van Helsing, even without the dodgy 'authentic' accent of Finlay or Olivier or Hopkins like Lee he just ends up inhabiting the part in my head.
shareChristopher Lee without a doubt. He is the only actor who ever brought true presence to the screen as a vampire (Max Shrek had to be heavily made up to look terrifying). Nearest to him would be Jack Palance. Palance's Dracula is underrated and he does quite well.
Lugosi, Oldman, Jourdan, Langella etc etc. Oh pulease. They are nowhere.
There seem to be two distinct strains of vampire depiction -- on one hand, the Lord Byron-as-gothic-rock-star orgasm-as-you-bite kind of Dracula, and on the other the creeping human-leech Dracula. I like both takes on the character, inherently, but I'm not sure the one Dracula movie can adequately touch both bases. At least, a few have tried, but I've never seen one that I felt nailed it on both levels.
Of the gothic romance style, I really like Gary Oldman's performance, even if the movie it's in starts well but falls apart. Oldman's Dracula was pretty swoony ("I've crossed oceans of time to find you..."), though I suspect a lot of the credit goes to Kilar's soundtrack score. And for the parasitical creeping-horror Dracula, I'd definitely vote for Klaus Kinski in Polanski's remake of "Nosferatu". Ultimately, I think Kinski's my favourite Dracula bar none.
You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.
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Dark Shadows hasn't come out yet, but Johnny Depp gets my vote as sexiest vampire ever and Barnabus Collins, if true to the original series, is a tragic character. Of course, it's hard to beat Bela, but the scariest has to be that Nasferatu guy. He looked real.
share1. Nosferatu (1922)--walking-corpse horror. Almost the embodiment of disease.
2. Dracula (1931)--the undead infiltrating modern society. Uses the skepticism of science against his enemies.
The Christopher Lee Dracula is something of a combination of these two ideas, but I don't think it works.
he Christopher Lee Dracula is something of a combination of these two ideas, but I don't think it works.
Yeah, how 'bout that, this guy has a dissenting opinion.
Y'know, I'm a big fan of Lee's Dracula, too, but I can respect if someone feels differently, especially if they seem to think through their opinions!
I like pretty, dark-haired women and breakfast food.
Call me crazy, but it's Duncan Regehr from The Monster Squad who always comes to mind when I think of the quintessential Dracula.
I'm sellin my soul to the Devil in you
I have seen all the main Draculas - Jourdan, Palance, Lugosi, Langella, Oldman, along with the two NOSFERATU flicks, and my conclusion is the same now as it was before I saw them - Lee is the best Dracula by far. Only Lee's interpretation captures the animal-like ferocity and sheer apathy towards his servants that Stoker captures so well in the novel. Lee's interpretation is the pure evil, almost nihilistic, Dracula that Stoker would have approved of (in my opinion).
shareRe: "Only Lee's interpretation captures the animal-like ferocity and sheer apathy towards his servants that Stoker captures so well in the novel"
Interestingly, the plot of "Taste the Blood of Dracula" is entirely about Dracula taking revenge on a group of men whom he blames for the death of his servant. In other words, he's defending his servant, which shows he cares. This is out of character for Lee's Dracula and it's my only real criticism of this otherwise excellent entry in the series.
"This is out of character for Lee's Dracula and it's my only real criticism of this otherwise excellent entry in the series."
Yes but Dracula taking revenge on the group of men whom he blames for the death of his servant was written into the story at a late stage, after Warner Bros insisted on Lee appearing in the picture. Dracula's "sudden change of heart" was a mere plot device to bring Dracula into the story. Originally he wasn't going to be in the movie at all. Lord Courtley was to be the central villain. How it was planned to work I don't know the full details. Maybe Courtley was to gain Dracula's powers after drinking his blood or something. I've got the infamous and excellent book by Wayne Kinsey about the making of these flicks. I'll have to look this one up again.
Anyway coming back to the main point, the clumsy plot device is out of character for Lee's Dracula but you can see from the later scenes, where Dracula is now fully into the revenge plot, he is back in character. He even cast aside Alice after he fulfilled his revenge, shouting, "I have no further use for you!"
So in short, just consider the former a plot device, clumsily handled. After all, as you also rightly said, it is an excellent entry in the series. It has got better with time for me. Geoffrey Keen's character is perhaps the most thoroughly unlikable character in the whole Hammer Dracula series - and that's the point. I actually hated the guy whereas I look upon other villains with indifference at times. Some excellent characterisation, great writing and of course an excellent performance from the actor himself made a powerful impact.
Thanks so much for the worthwhile info, Manchester. Meaty stuff (unlike most of the posts on IMDb, lol)! Yeah, I heard Lord Courtley (Ralph Bates) was originally supposed to be the resurrected Dracula in the film, likely through drinking Drac's blood, like you say. Anyway, that clears-up the out-of-character actions of Dracula. Now I'll have to edit my review.
And, yes, Keen's character was a great villain. At least Lord Courtley was honest about his evil whereas Hargood was a hypocrite who hid behind a veneer of respectability. The way he treated his sweet daughter (Linda Hayden) pissed me off!
Christopher Lee is always the standard others try to emulate when it comes to the classic vampire. I enjoy the blood-thirsty types in "30 Days of Night" as well. Screw Twilight crap!
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