Post by The Curmudgeon on Feb 21, 2011 21:32:52 GMT 2
I forget who, but it's either Frankenstein's monster or Dracula who has the most screen interpretations. Probably Dracula. But probably Frankenstein too.
Anyway, with SO many different films and interpretations of the character, I thought we'd have a discussion about what our favourite Dracula's are, and this isn't just movies either, it can be comic book/novel - whatever. The guy gets around. We've talked about vampires before, but this is THE vampire we're talking about. The Kingpin of bloodsuckers, if you will.
You would think it'd be easy playing Dracula; cloak, fangs, accent, pale skin. Dracula. But really, the character is SO iconic and so deep in the minds of even the most casual film-goer, that it's really very easy to make him, well, boring or not in the slightest bit scary. For example, THIS
I mean, holy shit, THAT is Dracula. But then,
Totally different, but totally Dracula too.
But then, on the other side of the coin, we need look no further than the fucking abysmal Van Helsing for a Dracula that just don't cut it.
Yeah. No.
So you get the idea. And although Bela remains one of my favourite Drac's, it wasn't until I turned 17 or so and began buying up classic horror movies on VHS. Alas, as great as Lee is in the Hammer movies, I can't rate him as my favourite because I've only seen the original 70s movie once and that was YEARS ago.
Anyway, one of my favourite Dracula's is from the 90's movie that really doesn't get enough credit in my book. Yeah, OK, you've got Keanu in there being terrible, but he's obviously just there to sell tickets. Who cares, when you've got Hopkins as Helsing and Oldman as THIS Dracula..
100% different to everything Dracula had been before, but so effective. I love the fact everything about him is just WRONG. The guy is a walking abomination and the scene where he first invites Keanu into the castle, his "children of the night!" and his "It is NO LAUGHING MATTER" instant-rage is probably one of my favourite scenes ever.
Oh, and it also gave us this
Another great, under-rated movie that could appeal to kids and older viewers was The Monster Squad, where the Universal Monsters get a loving and really pretty faithful reintroduction to the big screen.
So he had none of the tortured romantic charm of other Dracula's. He was just a bastard in this one. It's a kids movie, what do you want?
Speaking of kids, when I was about 10 my mother bought me a book that I still cherish and remember now.
Vampire Master (sometimes known as The Vampire Headmaster of Burlap Hall) was a kids book that didn't really SEEM like a kid's book (the opening pages have one of the kids looking at a porn mag! Outrageous!) and a new headmaster joins a private school, a Mr A Culard (reminder: kids book) that was funny and pretty damn frightening, especially the illustrated version, that had one of the fat, pompous teachers (they were almost all dicks) opening his window after hearing a scratching noise, and the picture shows the Headmaster fucking floating at the window. Brilliant.
So that's 3 from me, but I imagine I'm not alone in my love of the Count. Let's hear it.
Anyway, with SO many different films and interpretations of the character, I thought we'd have a discussion about what our favourite Dracula's are, and this isn't just movies either, it can be comic book/novel - whatever. The guy gets around. We've talked about vampires before, but this is THE vampire we're talking about. The Kingpin of bloodsuckers, if you will.
You would think it'd be easy playing Dracula; cloak, fangs, accent, pale skin. Dracula. But really, the character is SO iconic and so deep in the minds of even the most casual film-goer, that it's really very easy to make him, well, boring or not in the slightest bit scary. For example, THIS
I mean, holy shit, THAT is Dracula. But then,
Totally different, but totally Dracula too.
But then, on the other side of the coin, we need look no further than the fucking abysmal Van Helsing for a Dracula that just don't cut it.
Yeah. No.
So you get the idea. And although Bela remains one of my favourite Drac's, it wasn't until I turned 17 or so and began buying up classic horror movies on VHS. Alas, as great as Lee is in the Hammer movies, I can't rate him as my favourite because I've only seen the original 70s movie once and that was YEARS ago.
Anyway, one of my favourite Dracula's is from the 90's movie that really doesn't get enough credit in my book. Yeah, OK, you've got Keanu in there being terrible, but he's obviously just there to sell tickets. Who cares, when you've got Hopkins as Helsing and Oldman as THIS Dracula..
100% different to everything Dracula had been before, but so effective. I love the fact everything about him is just WRONG. The guy is a walking abomination and the scene where he first invites Keanu into the castle, his "children of the night!" and his "It is NO LAUGHING MATTER" instant-rage is probably one of my favourite scenes ever.
Oh, and it also gave us this
Another great, under-rated movie that could appeal to kids and older viewers was The Monster Squad, where the Universal Monsters get a loving and really pretty faithful reintroduction to the big screen.
So he had none of the tortured romantic charm of other Dracula's. He was just a bastard in this one. It's a kids movie, what do you want?
Speaking of kids, when I was about 10 my mother bought me a book that I still cherish and remember now.
Vampire Master (sometimes known as The Vampire Headmaster of Burlap Hall) was a kids book that didn't really SEEM like a kid's book (the opening pages have one of the kids looking at a porn mag! Outrageous!) and a new headmaster joins a private school, a Mr A Culard (reminder: kids book) that was funny and pretty damn frightening, especially the illustrated version, that had one of the fat, pompous teachers (they were almost all dicks) opening his window after hearing a scratching noise, and the picture shows the Headmaster fucking floating at the window. Brilliant.
So that's 3 from me, but I imagine I'm not alone in my love of the Count. Let's hear it.
