Your favorite Dracula ?

We'll have to agree to disagree on the actors.

You make an interesting point about the BBC mini-series with Louis Jourdan.
It certainly has the best script of any Dracula. I will gather my thoughts on that.

I wish partyslammer would get back in here and post those snapshots.

 

what's that thin white volume at extreme right says Peter Cushing on the spine?
can you show us the front of it?
can you show us the entire shelf without the statuette and the shelf below it?
I wanna read the spines.

 

The images of Nosferatu and Dracula (1931) are timeless.
Unforgettable.

Lugosi softened his performance for the film version.
In the theater his Dracula was creepier, more threatening and intimidating.
He came away from a neck bite with blood on his lips in the 1950s revival.
Some actors can really project their voices to the back row, and Lugosi was
noted for doing that.

I wish there were some kind of recording of Lugosi's Dracula in the theater,
but alas ....

 

But you forgot this one:


Seriously though, Christopher Lee IS the one!

 

I didn't forget that one, either.

 

I enjoy the 'look' of it and the way Coppola approached this kind of episodic novel told through various POVs. However, Hopkins is so over the top and Reeves gives one of the worst performances of a lead actor in a film of this significance I've ever seen. Was he forced on Coppola by the studio as a young hot actor? I watched it again the other week and ended up laughing. Oldman is better as the narrative progresses but there are early scenes where he's hammier than Hopkins. Hopkins can reel it in when he wants and I can't help feel that either a) he had no respect for the material or b) Coppola felt his performance added to the Grand Guignol feel along with the blood of the opening scenes and the writhing sex.

 

No love for Kiefer Sutherland in The Lost Boys?

I agree with a lot that has been said about Coppola's Dracula. It was a lost opportunity as it was visually stunning and contained some solid performances by supporting cast (I loved Tom Waits), but Reeves and Ryder stank up the set and Hopkins and Oldman were inconsistent.

 

I'm not sure if Reeves was forced on him by the studio or if Coppola made the choice himself.

He's been quoted as saying:

"We tried to get some kind of matinee idol for the part of Jonathan, because it isn't such a great part. If we all were to go to the airport... Keanu is the one that the girls would just besiege."

Now whether it was his idea or the studio's I don't know.

 

Keanu was one of Winona's friends. She was an uncredited producer, initiated
the project, asked Coppola to direct and had a say in the casting.

 

I think the smiley you included was because Kiefer's character was obviously not Dracula? I thought the Lost Boys was a really good idea and about 1/2 a good movie. It turned into a goofy filmed comic book after that . I don't think it has aged well at all.

I agree with your opinion of Coppola's Dracula. I've ranted about that film plenty on this forum, so I won't go into it again. It's a shamefully squandered opportunity for creating one of the best Dracula movies ever.

 

I recommend checking out the Louis Jordan version of ‘Dracula’. His portrayal was chilling and there were moments in the production that made me jump. It was one of the most frightening portrayals of Dracula that I’ve seen.

 

Going to check this out. Noticed there was also a 2006 BBC version - anyone seen this or know of it?

 

OK.....

Listing significant titles starting with the top shelf, going left to right, the 4 large books in boxes are rare Japanese profusely illustrated books about Godzilla, Toho studios, etc followed by more than a dozen smaller books about the same subject leading to all 3 volumes of Mike Hankin's Ray Harryhausen books and a few more Harryhausen books. Starting with the Hammer books, there's both the 1st print hard (signed review copy) and softcover UK releases of "The Hammer Story." Following those is a complete run of the "House That Hammer Built" magazine as well as softcover books such as Hajime Hashida's Hammer Dracula stills collection and of course, the 3 so-far published hard cover books by Wayne Kinsey, Hammer Film Legacy, Dracula and Frankenstein Scrapbooks. The Peter Cushing softcover is a stills collection published just after he passed away in 1996. Finally, there's the large "Art Of Hammer" book on the right end of the shelf.

The second shelf starts with more smaller books related to Japanese Godzilla and other monster films as well as the trio of books by Donald Glut about Frankenstein, Dracula and Classic Movie Monsters published in the late 70's. The group of magazines next to the Eiji Tsuburaya book is a complete run of the Hammer magazine "Little Shoppe Of Horrors." Next to those is a bunch of softcover books on Hammer films including the Horror Of Dracula script, a signed Christopher Lee bio, an original and revised edition of "A Heritage Of Horror," ending with the highly recommended Peter Cushing Scrapbook softcover and "The Hammer Vault." The various mags laying flat on the right side are several 70's Hammer-related fan issues including Cinefantastique, Photon, Children Of The Night and House Of Hammer/Horror UK comic/film mags.

 

I chose Gary Oldman because it was a brilliant performance in a not very good movie.

 

Many thanks.

Wonderful collection!

That's a home library after my own heart. I have many of the same Hammer books.
I have a bookcase devoted to classic horror movies including all the books about
Universal and Hammer / Amicus that I've been able to get my hands on. I also have
almost complete runs of Cinefantastique, Little Shoppe, and VideoWatchdog, etc
and many selected issues of Scarlet Street, MonsterMania, Photon, etc. Additionally
I have an extensive Bram Stoker / Dracula collection including all the notes, drafts
and variations published in other countries, biographies, histories, etc. Right now
I'm trying to get my hands on an original photograph of Stoker.

 

I don't see Jimmy Sangster's Do You Want It Good or On Tuesday? on your shelf.

 

Do not have that one but it's on my "to buy" list along with the "Hammer Film Scores" and the big "Hammer Complete" books.

 

I see several books on your shelves that I need to catch up with.
Also need the Greenway Press book on Terence Fisher.

I wish Riley had published the scripts to The Curse of Frankenstein
and Revenge of Frankenstein like he did for Horror of Dracula.

 

Really nice collection. What do you reckon is the best Hammer book? I have several books on the genre and some more specific to films but I'd like a serious book on Hammer that looks in the films in some detail. I love the English Gothic book you have. I've got the American one which I don't think is as good, because it's covering a broader area.

I saw Pirie years ago give a talk on horror when I was at university - seems like a lifetime ago - and I finally got round to buying the revised edition. I love his piece on Quatermass 2.

There are often really good articles in the magazine, The Dark Side, but it doesn't seem to want to go the whole hog and is padded out with schlock and some inevitable T&A.

 

Here’s an excellent rundown of the various adaptations and which one is the most faithful to Stoker’s novel. It’s worth the time if you’ve got 30 minutes to spare.

Kudos to the two people who voted for Franco’s version. I have great affection for his version even if the script isn’t as faithful as it was touted at the time and the low budget hampered his ability to do everything he wanted.

Lee told Franco after his neck biting scene with Soledad Miranda that she was giving him something that no other actress had ever given him before. He was very impressed with her.
Kinski was an inspired choice as well for Renfield. Unlike most directors, Jess never had a problem with Klaus and they ended up working on four films together.

 

I have always wanted to see the one with Louis Jourdan as Dracula again because of the portrayal of Renfield in that version. He was so creepy and eating flies in his jail cell and all......

 

youtube is your friend

 

For all-around value and relatively easy to find, I'd recommend Dennis Meilke's "A History Of Horrors - The Rise And Fall Of The House Of Hammer." There's several editions of the book that have been printed but the soft cover can be found on places like eBay for under $40. The well researched book runs through the entire history of Hammer and the films as well as key personnel. The only thing that may be off-putting is that the author is overly critical of a lot of the films and harshly criticizes some of Terrence Fishers lesser films. The only other caveat is there's not a lot of photos and they are all b/w. I find this book to be a better detailed resource than the smaller "Hammer Films" book by Tom Johnson.

Another more general mass market coffee table book that is chock full of colorful photos yet address each film is "The Hammer Story" which recently was released in a revised hard cover edition. Graphically excellent looking book and a nice, broad reference to the studio and their films.

The best book however is also the rarest and most pricey to find. That is the "Hammer Film Legacy" by Wayne Kinsey of which only 500 copies were pressed and quickly sold out through a mail order publisher. It is both crammed with minutiae of production details of each film as well as profusely illustrated with many color images. It's more or less a distilled version of mountains of info originally presented in Kinsey's "House That Hammer Built" magazines and the Bray Studios and Elstreet Studios book. My only complaint is a lot of the photos mostly from the early films are screen caps from home video releases.