Your favorite Dracula ?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Richard--W, Aug 7, 2019.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Richard--W

    Richard--W Forum Resident Thread Starter

    There are too many Dracula movies to list, so I listed the best known and most iconic.

    A vote for one Christopher Lee is a vote for his Dracula in all his sequels.

    You get two votes. The second vote is for your runner-up.

    The emphasis here is on Dracula as opposed to Vlad Tepesh who is not named in
    and does not appear in Bram Stoker's original novel. There are quite a few Vlad
    moves but we're not going there in this thread. Vlad is another thread.

    Please say a few words about your favorite Dracula or the best Dracula.
     
    willwin likes this.
  2. Partyslammer

    Partyslammer Lord Of The New Church

    Obviously my avater gives it away, but for me it’s Horror Of Dracula without question. It’s not just Christopher Lee who imo remains the best actor to portray Dracula, but perhaps even moreso, Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. Add to that Terence Fisher’s direction, the art direction, photography and music makes for Hammer’s greatest film.
     
  3. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Bela Lugosi

    [​IMG]
     
    trednour, mkane, supermd and 6 others like this.
  4. tommy-thewho

    tommy-thewho Senior Member

    Location:
    detroit, mi
    The 2000 one is only one I can remember.
     
  5. Richard--W

    Richard--W Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Bela Lugosi was 44 years old when he played Dracula in 1931.
    He was from Hungary which was once a part of Roumania where Dracula is set.
    His voice and accent are correct to where the character comes from, and perhaps
    something of his demeanor is, too. Lugosi was classically trained in the style of
    19th century acting, a stage actor who distinguished himself playing Christ and
    other classic roles. When he came to America he was typecast playing monsters
    and mad scientists in a language he never fully understood. He had tremendous
    range and depth and was known to project his voice all the way to the back row.
    He was immensely popular in live theater touring in revivals of the Dracula play.

    The creepy factor is very high in his performance and in this still from the film.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2019
    ted321, trednour, willy and 14 others like this.
  6. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    [​IMG]

    Going with Christopher Lee but Bela was great, and would there have been as much a role for others if not for him? Max Shreck is the least unforgettable once you've seen him. :yikes:

    Max Shreck sans make-up... he could've come back to the role like this!
    [​IMG]
     
    willy, Shawn, Bobby Buckshot and 4 others like this.
  7. Richard--W

    Richard--W Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Whoa! So that's what he looked like. I'd never have recognized him.

    Thanks for showing this portrait.
     
    willy, Scope J and beccabear67 like this.
  8. willwin

    willwin Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto
    Max Shreck was the scariest Dracula by far. Nosferatu is still a very unsettling film.
     
    Scope J, Shoes1916, Boswell and 5 others like this.
  9. wildroot indigo

    wildroot indigo Forum Resident

    I love Tod Browning's Dracula (1931), an atmospheric classic, and for me Bela Lugosi has yet to be surpassed as the title character.

    House of Dracula (1945) is really an excellent film... I find it far better than House of Frankenstein (1944), and Carradine's performance much superior in HOD. Both were directed by Erle C. Kenton, who also made The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), featuring Lugosi as Ygor (Kenton had worked with him a decade earlier on Island of Lost Souls).

    It's sort of sad Universal didn't get Bela to play Dracula in the two 'House' movies. He was fantastic in the role just a few years later, in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).
     
    Richard--W likes this.
  10. samthesham

    samthesham Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moorhead MN
    1.Bela 100%

    2.Horror Of Dracula (1958)...the 1st Dracula movie I remember viewing at the theater & Hammer initiated a sexuality to fright films that was taboo & groundbreaking at the time & Christopher Lee's debut as the character was the best of the era
     
  11. Jeff Minn

    Jeff Minn Senior Member

    Location:
    Midwest USA
    Christopher Lee . . . not only the best, but by far the most frightening.
     
    Richard--W and Phil147 like this.
  12. smilin ed

    smilin ed Senior Member

    Location:
    Durham
    Nosferatu and Horror of Dracula, though while Lee is good, I don't really care much for Hammer's sequels. I also like Louis Jordan's take, hampered by production values, and Kinski's version of Nosferatu. The Coppola film would have worked a lot better without Reeves. Iconically, of course, Lugosi has a lot to answer for:

     
  13. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    Yep, a no-brainer for me, for all the reasons posted here.
     
    Richard--W likes this.
  14. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    Forgive me for dissing a classic, but Bela Lugosi's acting style is just too theatrical and mannered for me. I realize this style of acting was of its time, but I just can't enjoy it much today.
     
    smilin ed likes this.
  15. Phil147

    Phil147 Forum Resident

    Location:
    York UK
    [​IMG]

    The sequels followed the law of diminishing returns but still, for me, the best and most scary of them all... also with Peter Cushing who was the best Van Helsing of them all.

    My 2nd vote was for Gary Oldman, whilst he wasn't as scary as Lee's Count he was still excellent. Anthony Hopkins gets the award for the most over the top Van Helsing of them all...
    Honorable mention for Frank Langella, whilst the film itself was a bit naff he was great in the role.
     
    Old Rusty and Richard--W like this.
  16. Phil147

    Phil147 Forum Resident

    Location:
    York UK
    I would agree with you, I actually find it quite amusing in some parts. Of course, in it's time, it would have been very, very different and Lugosi set the tone as the 'Gentleman Vampire' that has been followed pretty much ever since for the character.
     
  17. Phil147

    Phil147 Forum Resident

    Location:
    York UK
    The guy on the left looks a bit like Michael Corleone in the Godfather Part III... or is it just me... :hide:
     
    vinnie likes this.
  18. Phil147

    Phil147 Forum Resident

    Location:
    York UK
    Yes, Lee's Dracula did bring some 'sexual tension' to the role and Hammer were not shy of having the scantily clad ladies ready for him to sink his teeth into... I guess back in 1958 a few eyes would have been popping in the Cinema.
     
    samthesham likes this.
  19. Ignatius

    Ignatius Forum Resident

    Never gave a damn about the vampire, just about how much skin we'd get to see in the 1970s- plus movies. Also Martin Landau's Lugosi in "Ed Wood".
     
    Old Rusty likes this.
  20. johnnyyen

    johnnyyen Senior Member

    Location:
    Scotland
    Nosferatu, theF.W. Murnau version, is my favourite Dracula film, but I also voted for Christopher Lee, as he was outstanding in the role. His best film was Dracula AD 1972.
     
    beccabear67 likes this.
  21. Grunge Master

    Grunge Master 8 Bit Enthusiast

    Location:
    Michigan
  22. smilin ed

    smilin ed Senior Member

    Location:
    Durham
    [​IMG]
     
    melstapler and Myke like this.
  23. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
  24. samthesham

    samthesham Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moorhead MN
    I was 10 yrs old & I remember a few theaters banned some of those early Hammer films because the Christian right was complaining
     
    Old Rusty, Richard--W and smilin ed like this.
  25. RockWizard

    RockWizard Forum Resident

    My vote goes for Bela also. Overall, I'm not a horror fan, that is the schlock over the last few decades. But...I DO love the classics from the 30's and 40's.
     
    Michael, Richard--W and Myke like this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine