Dracula In Five Films

With The Return of Demeter Hollywood, who just picked up the poster, still leans on Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula. Yes, proof that vampires can still make money 15 years later dusk (It’s impossible not to quote!) …Why not dive back into five remarkable feature films dedicated to the Lord of the Night?

Obviously, one cannot make a Dracula list without starting with Nosferatu the Vampire (on YouTube, GooglePlay or AppleTV+), Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s 1922 silent masterpiece. The film is based on the epistolary novel by Bram Stoker and has it has never been approved by the rights holders. In fact, the characters’ names don’t match – Count Orlock instead of Dracula, for example – and many of the events – notably a plague epidemic – are also related. The special effects of the time, which include still images in particular – the stop motion typical of animation today – are impressive for the time and, like all feature films, bear witness to the German Expressionist movement.

Photo courtesy of the Film Arts Guild

2. Another must-see: Francis Ford Coppola’s magnificent 1992 Dracula (on Crave or AppleTV+). The very young Keanu Reeves plays Jonathan Harker, Winona Ryder is Mina, while Anthony Hopkins plays Van Helsing and Gary Oldman plays Count Dracula. The richness of set design, costumes and make-up, as well as the sensuality of the staging, make this feature film the reference against which all others can be measured. As well as being inevitable, Dracula is unforgettable, and includes a mention and some scenes on the Demeter, a ship the Earl chartered for his voyage to England, which arrives with no crew on board.

Winona Ryder is Mina and Gary Oldman is Count Dracula. Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures

3. Luke Evans as Vlad II, Prince of Wallachia and Sarah Gadon as Mirena, his wife? Yes, it’s in the unreleased 2014 Dracula (on Prime Video, Netflix or AppleTV) directed by Gary Shore and starring Dominic Cooper as Sultan Mehmet II. Unfortunately, although the feature film was exhausted by the majority of critics despite good elements, there was no sequel. One could argue that this unpublished Dracula is a pale copy of Coppola’s Dracula, but that wouldn’t quite do him justice. The script isn’t bad at all and the special effects hold up.

Luke Evans as Vlad II, Prince of Wallachia and Sarah Gadon as Mirena in Unpublished Dracula. Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

4. We won’t disregard the very amusing film Renfield (on Prime Video or AppleTV) which hit theaters last April and sees Nicolas Cage wielding a scathing humor with the self-deprecation that suits him so well. Nicholas Hoult plays the role of Dracula’s factotum, who is on the brink of depression due to demands from his employer and now joins a support group for victims of toxic relationships. Awkwafina as the cop completes the cast and it’s all fun and entertaining at will. yes we want more

Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult in Reinfeld. Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

5. The last film, and last but not least, is aimed at the youngest. In fact, little monsters will love 2012’s Hotel Transylvania (on Crave, Netflix or AppleTV). Count Dracula now owns a hotel where the guests are monsters. Her daughter Mavis is celebrating her 118th birthday when a human named Jonathan appears who will win the young girl’s heart. And if your kids like this very good animated film, know that the franchise has three sequels…

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

Batman Dracula… it exists

Die-hard Dracula fans will be delighted to know that a Batman Dracula was produced and directed by Andy Warhol! Released in black and white in 1964, the 120-minute feature film was never released theatrically because the artist – who had not obtained the rights to use Batman – used it for his exhibitions. Excerpts from this Batman Dracula can be seen in the 2006 documentary which is easily found online.