Dracula (1974)

... aka: Bram Stoker's Dracula

... aka: Dan Curtis' Dracula

... aka: Dracula et ses femmes vampires (Dracula and His Vampire Wives)

... aka: Drácula, el último romántico (Dracula, the Last Romantic)

... aka: Drácula, O Demônio das Trevas (Dracula, the Dark Demon)

... aka: Graf Dracula (Count Dracula)

... aka: Il demone nero (The Black Demon)

Directed by:

Dan Curtis

As most people reading this are probably already very well aware, Bram Stoker's novel Dracula is one of the most filmed literary works of all time, and the titular vampire count is one of the most filmed literary characters of all time. That horse has not only been beaten to death, it's been smothered in garlic, doused in holy water, had a crucifix shoved in its face, received a stake through the heart and been exposed to direct sunlight more times than anyone can count. There are so many versions out there, across all forms of popular entertainment (film, TV, stage, anime, video games...), and of varying degrees of faithfulness, that one wonders if there's really anything left to gain from watching yet another version. I personally cannot answer that except to say it depends on who you are. If you can't get enough of the book or this character, you'd be fine checking out this version as well. If you're just getting started, I recommend going all the way back to the earliest versions; the unsanctioned German silent classic Nosferatu - Eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922) and the 1931 original "legit" version from Universal starring Bela Lugosi, and working your way up from there. With some discernment.

The 1970s alone saw portrayals of the count from Frank Langella (on Broadway and on film), Louis Jourdan, Klaus Kinski, Narciso Ibáñez Menta, Udo Kier, Jamie Gillis, George Hamilton and many more. Hell, Christopher Lee alone played him in no less than five different films. This one gives us Jack Palance, who'd previously starred in Curtis' The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968) to positive reception, in the role. Palance seems a very odd choice at first glance, bordering of miscasting. I mean, an American tough guy actor playing a Hungarian count? How about an American tough guy actor playing a Hungarian count who doesn't even bother with any kind of accent? Disaster? Well, not entirely. Though born in Pennsylvania, Palance (born Volodymyr Ivanovich Palahniuk) was at least of Eastern European (Ukrainian) descent and he kind of just does his own thing here for the most part. How you react to that is going to depend on expectations and how big of a stickler you are for literary faithfulness.

It's 1897 (the same year the novel was first published and presumably set) and British solicitor Jonathan Harker (Murray Brown - VAMPYRES) has just arrived in the Carpathian Mountain-set village of Bistritz, Hungary. He's there at the behest of the elusive and mysterious Dracula and immediately notices that everyone in the area shudders at the mere mention of him. He gets a ride from a coach but the driver refuses to get too close to the castle. Instead, Harker's met by a second coach sent by the count, which whisks him away into the night. They're chased by a pack of wolves that surround the premises, then he's dropped off and the coachman swiftly drives off without having uttered a single word to his passenger.

Harker is soon met by Dracula, who has dinner waiting for him. The count is shown some properties in England that he's hoping to purchase and soon move into and opts for the rustic Carfax Abbey estate. Instead of it being a done deal and the young solicitor being on his way, Dracula insists he stay at his castle for an entire month. He keeps Harker up all night long talking and drinking, and even locks him in his room when he goes so his guest can't leave even if he wanted to. During their conversations, the vampire is shown a photo of Harker's fiancée, Mina (Penelope Horner), Mina's best friend, Lucy Westenra (Fiona Lewis, whose haunting blue eyes are well-utilized here), and Lucy's fiancé Arthur Holmwood (Simon Ward). Dracula seems to take a special liking to Lucy.

Getting locked up for the day yet again, a frustrated Harker discovers a doorway hidden behind a tapestry that leads to a separate wing of the castle. After walking down some hallways and ascending stairs, he finds a room with a casket reading "Vlad Tepes, Prince of Wallachia, 1475" and an old painting of Vlad that looks an awful lot like Dracula. Also in the painting is a young woman who's a dead ringer for Lucy. Before he even has a chance to put two and two together, Jonathan's forced to write a letter home and is then attacked by Dracula, a couple of his goons and three of Dracula's vampire brides, two of whom are played by Virginia Wetherell (THE CRIMSON CULT) and a young Sarah Douglas (who'd go on to play Ursa in Superman 1 & 2 plus a lot of roles in fantasy, sci-fi and horror films in the following decades).

With Harker now out of the way, Dracula arrives in Whitby, England via a Russian schooner five weeks later. Soon after, Lucy comes down with a bizarre illness punctuated by anemia, weakness, sleepwalking and terrible nightmares, accompanied by strange marks on her neck. Mina arrives at their estate to help out Mrs. Westenra (Pamela Brown), while Arthur brings in reinforcements in the form of Dr. Van Helsing (Nigel Davenport - PHASE IV). Naturally, Dracula has been luring Lucy out of the home late at night for necking sessions. Van Helsing, who's well-versed on all things supernatural, fears a Nosferatu may be responsible and takes the necessary precautions. However, garlic necklaces, blood transfusions and trying to guard the girl all end up for naught when Dracula uses a wolf to distract the family and is able to sink his fangs into Lucy yet again. She passes away and is entombed, returns as a vampire and has to be staked.

Now that the reincarnation of his lost love is gone, Dracula sets out for revenge. He kills a zookeeper (using an entranced wolf), a servant and some guys at a hotel (heaving one out of an upstairs window), plus sets his sights on Mina. Meanwhile, Van Helsing and Arthur try to find out more about him. They're able to tie his arrival in England to the Russian boat and a shipment of dirt (that the count needs to sleep in), which then leads them to Carfax. There, they destroy coffins containing the Earth, effectively forcing Dracula to return home. While that sounds good in theory, Mina is hypnotized and drinks the vampire's blood first, which forces them to go all the way to Transylvania to track Dracula down in order to prevent her from turning into one of the undead.

This is a very difficult movie to either praise or criticize, so I won't really do either. I mean, it's FINE. It's adequate. It's watchable, well-produced, well-acted, paced about right and competently directed and presented. There's nothing wrong with this at all... and yet there's also very little that stands out about it either. The art direction, sets, props, costumes and overall period detail are fine as an evocation of the late 1800s... yet not particularly imaginative. The photography is decent and there are some odd camera angles... just not very many of them. Same with landscape shots and shooting locations (mostly the UK but with bits shot in the former Yugoslavia). All nice. All fine. Richard Matheson's script, which adds a reincarnated love story angle and ties to Vlad the Impaler to the works, is also fine. I could continue to "fine" you to death right now describing everything else about this so I won't.

Palance's approach to the part combines a stiff gait, soft-speaking, a certain breathlessness at times... plus some animalistic hissing during the more intense moments. Everything about him seems a little bit off. He's awkward, sometimes anxious and doesn't seem comfortable in normal conversation; certainly not the suave, sophisticated, confident, gentlemanly Dracula we so often see in other films. Though he's aware of his power and strength, he's mostly quiet and brooding. His driving force is love and companionship and Palance attempts to play him more as a tragic outcast than outright evil. Though I could see this casting choice and the actor's approach to the role being problematic for purists, Palance ends up being the most interesting thing here because at least he offers up something different. As far as the rest of the cast is concerned, zero complaints there. Every single actor does their job well.

Originally scheduled to make its U.S. debut on CBS TV in October 1973, the premiere had to be bumped a full four months to February 1974 due to more pressing news coverage involving the resignation of corrupt president Richard Nixon's corrupt vice president Spiro Agnew. While Agnew got off easy like nearly all wealthy, well-connected people do (he had all charges dropped aside from one, paid a small fine and was given a few years probation), Dracula ended up getting screwed. It lost its prime time pre-Halloween time slot and was then unceremoniously dumped off later on to little attention. To make up for that somewhat, this was released to theaters in the UK, Italy, France, Brazil and in other countries. It was also later able to capitalize on the release of Francis Ford Coppola's (overrated) big budget Dracula adaptation in the early 90s with TV and VHS reissues.

This made its VHS debut here on the ThrillerVideo label in 1986, which came with Elvira commentary. MPI then handled later laserdisc, VHS, DVD and Blu-ray releases. The version that ran on TV was slightly cut to remove a bit of blood seen in the theatrical cut; changes that are outlined in one of the bonus features on the Blu-ray. It also has (very brief) interviews with both Curtis and Palance. The extras are slim on all of the releases.

★★1/2

Dracula père et fils (1976)

... aka: Die Herren Dracula (The Dracula Gentlemen)

... aka: Dracula and Son

... aka: Dracula padre e figlio (Dracula, Father and Son)

... aka: Pure, vampyyri, pure! (Bite, Vampire, Bite!)

Directed by:

Édouard Molinaro

Despite being mostly associated with Hammer Films in the UK, and British horror in general, Christopher Lee has an impressive and quite varied slate of international productions on his resume as well. Even when he was at his peak with Hammer, he was still simultaneously taking up jobs elsewhere, namely in Italy, where he carved out a niche for himself in their Gothic horror cycle, and Germany, where he did other genre films and took part in their popular Edgar Wallace cycle. That turned out to be a wise career decision on his part. By the mid 70s, Hammer was running into problems and horror films were on the downturn in the UK. Since Lee already had cultivated an international following, he didn't have to look hard to find steady work elsewhere. The late 70s saw him appearing in American, British, Canadian, German and Spanish productions, and he was also shooting numerous films in the Middle East and Africa around this same time.

Dracula and Son, a vampire-themed horror comedy, was one of several French productions he turned up in during the later half of the 70s. He'd already spoofed his own image to good effect in another, earlier vampire comedy called UNCLE WAS A VAMPIRE (1959); a French / Italian co-production. Interestingly, his frequent Hammer co-star Peter Cushing also ended up headlining a French vampire comedy of his own called Tender Dracula (1974).

1784. A stagecoach rushing through a Transylvanian forest trying to reach their destination before nightfall breaks a wheel. Knowing it will take several hours to fix, a second stagecoach swings by and two of the ladies - noblewoman Marguerite (Claude Génia) and her nympho daughter Herminie (played by future director Catherine Breillat in a rare acting role and the same year she made the controversial and oft-banned A Real Young Girl) - decide to catch a ride with them. They don't even make it to the castle before the pale-faced stranger on board (Xavier Depraz) sinks his fangs into the mother's neck. Herminie becomes locked inside the castle grounds and is soon face to face with Dracula (Lee) himself. After he makes a grand entrance from behind a bronze statue of his likeness, Herminie passes out. Next thing we know she's moaning in ecstasy and having sex with a fully-clothed Lee (!) inside a coffin. After they finish, she hops out, runs over to the mirror and starts examining her neck. He assures her, "You will find no marks... I was extremely careful!

The girl's relief doesn't last long. "You are now the bride of the prince of the powers of darkness!," proclaims Lee. He'll now keep her prisoner in the castle until she can produce an offspring. Nine months later, she does just that, delivering him a son / heir he names Ferdinand, which finally makes her worthy of vampire bride status. Lee puts the bite to her, but the resultant creature is a weak, weepy, reluctant whiner of a bloodsucker. It then comes as no surprise that when he sends her out to claim her very first victim on her own, the whole thing backfires when she fails to make it back before sunrise and is reduced to a pile of ashes.

Five years pass and the vampire baby is now a spoiled little brat. He's fed blood in a baby bottle and rolls a skull across the floor to knock over the urn containing his mother's ashes while the sound of a bowling ball hitting pins is heard. He then has a laugh killing his old nanny by tricking her into going outside right before dawn and then locking the door. 116 years pass and the now grown Ferdinand (Bernard Menez) is a lazy, whiny, pale, mustachioed weakling who has thus far refused to claim a victim and is still using a baby bottle. 

Jump ahead to present day and not much has changed but the scenery. When some peasants and communist soldiers invade the castle to throw a party, Dracula and Ferdinand are forced to flee. They make their way into the nearest village, kill a couple of sailors and then try to stowaway in their coffins, hoping they'll be shipped back to France. Nope, they're instead dropped into the ocean.

Ferdinand's coffin ends up hitting shore in France, where he's immediately greeted by some violent xenophobes who get off on attacking "dirty immigrants." He befriends fellow immigrant Khaleb (Mustapha Dali) and the two hitch a ride in the back of a produce truck. They move into a derelict building with other immigrants and Ferdinand is eventually able to gain appropriate employment as a graveyard shift security guard. However, even there he's bullied and exploited by a personnel director using his illegal status to try to blackmail him out of his paycheck. Is this vampire comedy actually striving for a deeper sociopolitical meaning in between all the silly gags? It would appear so! No doubt that Ferdinand is facing the same hardships other Iron Curtain defectors possibly faced in other parts of Europe at around the same time and, sadly, some of this commentary is as timely today as it was back in 1976. Since he's still not worked up the courage to actually attack anyone, Ferdinand is reduced to raiding the local blood bank for nourishment.

Meanwhile, a disheveled-looking Dracula is caught in a fishing net and ends up in London, where his first victim is an inflatable sex doll. Weakened, he's having a hard time catching any prey until he's discovered by actress Anna Gaynor (Anna Gaël) and her movie director boyfriend, who immediately cast him as the Count in their vampire movie. He makes the mistake of vampirizing Anna and taking her home, where she proves to be a little too needy and codependent, so he promptly does away with her. Dracula becomes a huge movie star and starts making global news, which is how Ferdinand discovers he's still alive. He immediately travels to London for a reunion and the two are soon hitting the town doing heartwarming father-son things like casket shopping. 

As a celebrity, Dracula is now being courted by all types, including beautiful advertising executive Nicole (Marie-Hélène Breillat, Catherine's real-life sister and then-wife of the director), who wants him to be the new spokesperson for a brand of toothpaste (!) called Permadent. Nicole bears a striking resemblance to the count's first wife and he becomes romantically interested in her right away. Likewise, she's attracted due to his magnetism and commanding nature (plus, duh, he's Christopher Lee), which means her relationship with campaign designer Jean (Bernard Alane) gets pushed to the side for the time being. However, the lonely Ferdinand has also fallen in love with her, which is kind of weird seeing how she's a dead ringer for his mom, but what have you. This leads to jealousy, tension, sabotage and even murder attempts between parent and child that, thanks to the insanely childish and annoying behavior of the son, will probably have you cheering on Lee as he slaps the shit out of him multiple times and then booing during the conclusion.

The general consensus seems to be that this is bad, but I don't agree, at least when viewed in its original, uncut form. The story structure spanning centuries is pretty neat, with lots of little side characters filtering in and out of the vampires' lives over the years, some more interesting and / or amusing that others. The bits of social and political commentary were an unexpected surprise. The early period-set scenes have a lovely soft focus look to them and the art direction / sets and costumes are all good. Best of all, Lee gives a wonderful performance. There are actually more layers to his character here than he was given to play off of in most of his Hammer Dracula films. The multi-lingual genre icon's voice can be heard in both the French and English language versions.

There are definitely some problems here too, though. Things eventually deteriorating into a dull love triangle seems like a lazy cop out; as if the filmmakers didn't know quite where to go. While there are some clever and amusing moments sprinkled throughout, there really aren't many outright hilarious moments. I also found it almost impossible to care about Ferdinand, which is odd since I typically gravitate toward the black sheep / outcast characters. This guy is really that irritating. Furthermore, believing Nicole would be romantically interested in him is even less believable than when Caroline Munro agreed to go on a date with Joe Spinell in Maniac. To be fair, I did watch the English version and the congested-sounding voice actor for Ferdinand was damn near unbearable to listen to. I'm not sure if he's as bad in the French version, though even without the dubbing the character's actions are annoying enough as is.

Many prolific and well-known French actors appear in small cameos. Jean-Claude Dauphin plays student Christéa Polanski (obviously a reference to the director of The Fearless Vampire Killers), who's working on a graduate thesis entitled "The Existence of the Living Dead in Transylvania." Anna Prucnal (SWEET MOVIE) plays horror film actress Suzanna Podesti, whose cat gets eaten by Ferdinand, Raymond Bussières (THE CURSE OF BELPHEGOR) is a morgue cosmetologist, Robert Dalban (Dialolique) is a hotel receptionist, Gérard Jugnot (co-star of another French vampire comedy; The Crazy Boys vs. Dracula [1980]) is a blackmailing factory manager and Dominique Zardi (LITAN) is an agent.

Just two years after this, Molinaro would hit the big time with the comedy La cage aux follies (1978), an adaptation of the 1973 play by Jean Poiret. The film was a runaway financial success across Europe and even in the United States, where it quickly became the highest-grossing foreign language film up to that time (even over four decades later it's still in the Top 20). In addition, it earned Molinaro a pair of Oscar nominations, including for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Two sequels followed and it later became the basis for the 1996 comedy The Birdcage starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane, which was also a huge hit.

This was based on a 1974 novel called Paris Vampire by Claude Klotz. The book was later reissued numerous times to tie into the film by re-titling it Dracula père et fils and either reusing the same poster art or showing images of Lee on the cover. A soundtrack album featuring music from Romanian composer Vladimir Cosma was also released in 1976 on the Vogue International label.

The English dubbed version that was released to U.S. theaters by Quartet Films in 1979 was cut down by 20 minutes and completely butchered in the process. (I'm also certain this version is a big part of the reason the film has such a bad reputation in the first place). This same cut was given at least two VHS releases in the 80s, from Columbia Pictures and GoodTimes. It wouldn't be until 2016 when an uncut version was released by Sinister Cinema, who offered an English-subbed, French-language widescreen version. In 2022, Severin finally released it on Blu-ray fully uncut and restored with all available audio options and subtitles one would need. It's available as part of their release "The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee, Collection 2."

★★1/2