Anyone who's seen my bookshelf knows that I have a Dracula obsession, but I have very little interest in vampire books or movies that don't involve him. As such, most of my favorite vampire films are also Dracula films. Here are my favorites, in chronological order:
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) The first Dracula film, and maybe the best. Max Schreck's Dracula is no romantic antihero; he's a disgusting, rotting corpse, the walking bubonic plague. Anyone who thinks silent movies are boring should watch this one immediately.
Dracula (1931) The quality goes down the toilet after the opening 15 minutes, but those 15 minutes are gold. Bela Lugosi may have been an awful actor, but he was an awful actor with a hell of a presence. Dwight Frye's Renfield is great as well. Too bad the rest of the cast is so miserable.
Dracula (1931, Spanish version) A huge improvement on the English film. Carlos Villarias is no replacement for Lugosi, but the directing, writing, and supporting actors are much better than they are in the more famous film.
Horror of Dracula (1958) Christopher Lee is the best Dracula ever, and this is the best of his Dracula films. Peter Cushing also makes his debut as the best Van Helsing. As for the many sequels, some are better than others, but I'm so in love with Lee that I can't help but like even the worst of them. I enjoy Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, Taste the Blood of Dracula, Dracula A.D. 1972, and The Satanic Rites of Dracula in particular.
Count Dracula (1970) This is the only film with Lee that isn't a sequel to Horror of Dracula. It's another adaptation of the novel, and it's much more faithful than Horror. As with the 1931 version, it's a mixture of really good stuff and really embarrassing stuff, but I like it overall.
Blood for Dracula (1974) Also known as Andy Warhol's Dracula, it's as weird as you would expect. Udo Kier's Dracula needs the blood of virgins to survive, and he violently vomits the unclean blood he ingests. When he discovers that a vampire's on the loose, the communist gardener goes around deflowering the young women of the house. It's not scary, but it wasn't meant to be. It's often very funny, and always entertaining.
Count Dracula (1977) A miniseries made for the BBC, this is the most faithful adaptation of the novel. Louis Jourdan as a French Dracula sounds like an odd choice, but he nails it. (You can find this one on YouTube.)
Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night (1979) Also known as Nosferatu the Vampyre. Equal to the 1922 version, and better in some aspects. Klaus Kinski makes one of the freakiest Draculas ever.
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) I want to hate this movie simply because of the misguided decision to turn it into a love story, and some of the performances are truly awful, but it's so visually brilliant and the performances of Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins are so good that I can't help but enjoy it.
Blade trilogy (1998-2004) Wesley Snipes kicking vampire ass. The second film is the best, but all three are entertaining. The third has Blade going up against Dracula.
Shadow of the Vampire (2000) A clever fictional account of the making of the 1922 Nosferatu. The film's director (John Malkovich) hires a real vampire (Willem Dafoe) to play Count Dracula, and naturally everything goes wrong.
Dracula 2000 (2000) Very good, very underrated movie. Gerard Butler as Dracula and Christopher Plummer as Van Helsing are both terrific, and the ending in which Dracula is revealed to be... well, I won't spoil it... is brilliant. Two sequels were made; neither is worth a damn.
Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary (2002) The first time I tried to watch this movie, I turned it off after 15 minutes because I just couldn't get into it. It's probably the least accessible Dracula film I've ever seen: it was shot on a very low budget and sometimes feels borderline amateurish, and it's a silent, black and white, ballet version. Yes, ballet. I later gave it another try, and now I consider it one of the five best Dracula films I've seen. I recommend giving it a try, and to keep at it if it puts you off at first.
Van Helsing (2004) Yes, I actually enjoy this stupid pile of crap. Sue me.
The Batman vs. Dracula (2005) It's funny how so many R-rated films turn Dracula into a romantic sissyboy, while this animated movie for kids portrays him as the monster he's supposed to be. It's no classic, but it's much better than you'd expect.
04 Jul 2012, 5:12 pm
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