The
lowdown: 'Dracula' was a 1979 addition to the growing canon
of films about Bram Stoker's most famous
literary creation. It stars
Frank Langella in the title role of Count Dracula, SirLaurence Olivier
as Professor Van
Helsing and Donald Pleasence
as Dr Jack Seward, who runs the local lunatic asylum. It follows the original
novel
quite closely, although
it is set in the 1920s rather the 18th century. The film begins with a
ship being wrecked off
the coast of Whitby, with
Count Dracula's cargo being all that was salvaged. A young woman dies of
blood loss
shortly after Dracula takes
up residence at Carfax Abbey. The woman is the daughter of Van Helsing,
who arrives
from the Netherlands after
her death and suspects that a vampire is loose.
Sylvester McCoy has a brief
role as an attendant at the asylum, named Walter. Sadly, his appearance
in the
film is very brief
indeed, and largely consists of him standing about drinking tea (and dropping
the cup when
Dracula pays the asylum
a visit). McCoy is credited as Sylveste McCoy, his original stage name,
and apparently
most of his scenes were
cut from the final version of the film.
The
Verdict: This version of 'Dracula' is
not that widely known, and seems to have been largely overlooked since
Francis
Ford Coppola's version was made in 1992. It is based on a Broadway stage
adaptation of Stoker's novel
which
also starred Langella in the title role. It is actually better than the
1992 film in many ways, and Langella is
one
of the best Draculas to ever don a vampire cape in a film. The DVD release
has proven controversial, as the
director
John Badham decided to remove most of the colour from the film, which results
in many scenes appearing
to
be almost in black and white, while it is often hard to make out just what
is happening on the screen (this is
particularly
so with the scenes set in the asylum). However, despite this, it is an
excellent film in the vampire
genre,
and deserves more recognition than it has received in the past.
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