Favorite Dracula Film

[L.J.]

Bram Stokers Dracula, although a bit different from the novel. It does follow it the closes. Nosferatu gets second place for adaptation.

[RFK]

Here's my Top 5

1. Horror of Dracula (Terence Fisher)
2. Nosferatu (Werner Herzog)
3. Dracula, Prince of Darkness (Terence Fisher)
4. Count Dracula’s Great Love (Javier Aguirre)
5. Blood for Dracula (Paul Morrissey)

[Godzamera]

Herzog is my favorite

[Darkstream]

No love here for Dan Curtis' Dracula (Jack Palance) or Jess Franco's Count Dracula (Christopher Lee's non-Hammer mustachioed version)?

They're at least worth a mention.

[RalphoR]

Originally Posted by Mikezilla3k

Also, besides the music and design, Coppola's film was overrated.

So many great Dracula movies but I agree...this is the pinnacle.

[Verisimilitude1984]

Curious to know what people think on this...

Does making Dracula a tragic romantic elevate the material when compared to the book? On the one hand, it adds an extra-dimension, perhaps sympathy or relatability to the character in terms of his motives. However, it does detract a little from Dracula being a wholly evil monster in the purest sense.

Gary Oldman is great as Dracula, no question. However, adding the subplot with Mina jars a little for me. I mean, we're meant to feel for him regarding the loss of his great love and then meeting Mina (we do), but while seducing her he goes and takes pleasure from killing her friend Lucy. It just rubs me the wrong way, though I'm sure someone will say that's the point of his character. Tonally, it just seems confused to me. I think it was the Jack Palance version of Dracula that made him a romantic figure in the first place and Coppola copied it?

The evolution is I suppose, what led us to Buffy & Angel and then Twilight (not bashing them).

[Dr Lenera]

I'm lukewarm on the addition of the romantic element. For me, it doesn't elevate the material nor ruin it; it's just different. It wasn't a major part of the Jack Palance version really so I don't mind it in that at all. As for the Gary Oldman one, it does seem to slow down the pace, and I do prefer my Dracula to be evil incarnate. It's possible that if that movie wasn't such a fantastic visual experience the love story would probably annoy me more than it does.

My favourite Dracula film though is Dracula Prince of Darkness. Probably the 1979 Nosferatu would be second. And I've always had a soft spot for the comedic Love At First Bite; for me, it's the only really successful bringing of the character into the modern age.

[Evangelos]

Stocker's Dracula was a straight up monster.
The first time the romantic/sexual element was added was in the theater version that Bela Lugosi starred and later transferred into cinema by Browning.
The most romantic version in movies is propably Frank Langela's (based on the same source),much more than Oldman.
The recent BBC version was very a interesting adaptation btw,even if it was still not faithful to the novel.
I think most people who adapt Dracula just want to make the character more of a relatable anti-hero instead of a villain.

[Magic Dusty]

Originally Posted by BluCollector13

In a way, both, but in this instance, my comments were saying Ishioka's work in "Dracula" is the all time greatest costumes ever made for film.

* incidentally, another Coppola movie would also be in the running, Milena Canonero's work on Sofia's "Marie Antoinette".

Oh, ok. Dracula had a kimono! Isn't that odd? But I guess I can understand the view of it having the best costumes ever.

[gorobei]

Originally Posted by Verisimilitude1984

Curious to know what people think on this...

Does making Dracula a tragic romantic elevate the material when compared to the book? On the one hand, it adds an extra-dimension, perhaps sympathy or relatability to the character in terms of his motives. However, it does detract a little from Dracula being a wholly evil monster in the purest sense.

Gary Oldman is great as Dracula, no question. However, adding the subplot with Mina jars a little for me. I mean, we're meant to feel for him regarding the loss of his great love and then meeting Mina (we do), but while seducing her he goes and takes pleasure from killing her friend Lucy. It just rubs me the wrong way, though I'm sure someone will say that's the point of his character. Tonally, it just seems confused to me. I think it was the Jack Palance version of Dracula that made him a romantic figure in the first place and Coppola copied it?

The evolution is I suppose, what led us to Buffy & Angel and then Twilight (not bashing them).

The Dracula in the novel is definitely 100% pure horrific villain with no redeeming qualities, with absolutely no romantic pretensions for old Drac. The novel is also steeped in Victorian Christian morals and anti-foreigner sentiment, which makes Nosferatu hands down the most accurate rendition of the novel itself. I love Coppola's Dracula, but it only resembles the novel in the broad mechanical plot strokes. A true adaptation would be really moralistic and downright prudish, I think.

[MJD64]

Nice to see the praise for BLOOD FOR DRACULA, as Udo Kier's portrayal of the Count as a feeble, dissolute and pompous aristocratic creep is a howl, and the Italian villa- resplendent with earthy decay and old-world atmosphere - makes for a marvelous setting.

For those looking for something a bit different, a really interesting take on Stoker's creation is Guy Maddin's B&W (of course) DRACULA: PAGES FROM A VIRGIN'S DIARY. The more xenophobic and sexually reactionary aspects of Stoker's tale are brought to the fore in this visually gorgeous film performed by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

I was thumbing through some of the "Tomb of Dracula" comics I collected as a kid in the '70s recently and was surprised at just how adult and eerie they were; Dracula is presented as a complex and intelligent figure not without human longings and a certain nobility - but of course, capable of some truly monstrous and evil behavior.

[Verisimilitude1984]

I don't think anyone has mentioned Argento's version of Dracula yet...

[Spootnek]

Love At First Bite

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by Verisimilitude1984

I don't think anyone has mentioned Argento's version of Dracula yet...

Nobody ever should.

[Lemmy Lugosi]

I'm a huge fan of vintage horror and related ephemera. I have to go with Lugosi's Dracula. It's also the one that I've seen (by far) the most times, and owned in absolutely every format other than the actual film reels.

[Zoop]

Nosferatu (1922)

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by Verisimilitude1984

I don't think anyone has mentioned Argento's version of Dracula yet...

please see "least" favorite Dracula movie thread....

[Jay H.]

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).

[Zivouhr]

Rewatching the old Dracula films, there is Lon Chaney's Son of Dracula '45, and Dracula 31 with Bela Lugosi. One Dracula isn't intimidating at all, while the other is the best Dracula IMO.

[Show spoiler]Bela Lugosi wins IMO by a mile.

These are both on TubiTv.com at the moment too.

[EvaDK]

Yeah, Coppola's 1992 classic is the one for me.

Outside of the adaption of Stoker's novel, it's the visuals, score and huge variety of different cinematic techniques used that make it stand out. Some sequences were shot with old hand cranked cameras. I can ignore that Keanu Reeves' British accent is all over the place.