''Count Dracula'' (german: Nachts, wenn Dracula erwacht, translation=''At night, when Dracula awakens'') is a 1970
gothic horror
Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...
film directed by
Jesús Franco
Jesús Franco Manera (12 May 1930 – 2 April 2013) was a Spanish filmmaker, composer, and actor, known as a prolific director of low-budget exploitation and B-movies. In a career spanning from 1959 to 2013, he wrote, directed, produced, act ...
, based on the novel ''
Dracula'' by
Bram Stoker. It stars
Christopher Lee,
Herbert Lom
Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru (11 September 1917 – 27 September 2012), known professionally as Herbert Lom (), was a Czech-British actor who moved to the United Kingdom in 1939. In a career lasting more than 60 ye ...
and
Klaus Kinski.
Although ''Count Dracula'' stars Lee in the title role, it is not a
Hammer production like
his other Dracula films, being produced instead by
Harry Alan Towers
Harry Alan Towers (19 October 1920 – 31 July 2009) was a British radio and independent film producer and screenwriter. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 f ...
. Klaus Kinski, who would play Dracula himself nine years later in ''
Nosferatu the Vampyre
''Nosferatu the Vampyre'' (german: Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht, lit=Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night) is a 1979 horror film written and directed by Werner Herzog. It is set primarily in 19th-century Wismar, Germany and Transylvania, and was conce ...
'', is also featured in the film as Renfield. ''Count Dracula'' was advertised as the most faithful adaptation of
Bram Stoker's novel. Among other details, it was the first film version of the novel in which Dracula begins as an old man and becomes younger as he feeds upon fresh blood.
The film was shot at the
Tirrenia Studios and
on location in Spain. The film's sets were designed by the
art director Karl Schneider.
Plot
Jonathan Harker, a lawyer traveling from London to Transylvania to secure property for Count Dracula, arrives at Bistritz to stay for the night. There, he is warned by a concerned lady against continuing his journey. Believing that her concerns are rooted in peasant superstition, he ignores her, but starts to feel unnerved by the way everyone looks at him. Harker later arrives at the Borgo Pass, where the Count's mysterious coachman picks him up.
Harker disembarks at Castle Dracula, and the coach immediately rushes off. Harker approaches the main door and meets a thin, tall, gaunt old man. He turns out to be Dracula and takes Harker to his bedchamber. There, Harker notices that Dracula casts no reflection.
Later, Harker goes to sleep and wakes in an ancient crypt where three beautiful vampiresses harass him. Dracula rushes into the room and orders them to leave Harker alone. He then gives them a baby to feed on. Harker wakes up screaming in his room and assumes it was a nightmare, but two small wounds on his neck indicate otherwise.
Harker soon realises he is a prisoner, and tries to escape by climbing out his bedroom window. He finds his way back to the crypt where Count Dracula and his three brides rest in coffins. Harker runs out of the crypt screaming, and jumps out of the castle's tower into the river below.
Harker wakes up in a private psychiatric clinic outside London, owned by Dr. Van Helsing, in the care of Dr. Seward. He is told he was found delirious in a river near Budapest. No one believes his story about Castle Dracula until Van Helsing finds the two punctures on Harker's neck. Harker's fiancée Mina and her close friend Lucy also arrive to help take care of him. Unbeknownst to them, Count Dracula has followed Harker back to England and now resides in an abandoned abbey close to the hospital.
As Mina takes care of Harker, her friend Lucy's health strangely declines. Dracula has been secretly appearing to her by night and drinking her blood, growing younger as he feeds off his victim. Quincey Morris, Lucy's fiancé, joins Drs. Seward and Van Helsing in an attempt to save Lucy by giving her blood transfusions.
One of the patients at the clinic, R. M. Renfield, becomes of considerable interest to the men. Renfield is classed as a ''zoophagus'': he eats flies and insects in order to consume their life, believing that each life he consumes increases his own. He reacts violently whenever Dracula is nearby. He later dies from shock.
Lucy eventually dies, becomes one of the undead and murders a young child. The ordeal is put to an end when Quincey, Seward and Van Helsing ambush Lucy, stake her through the heart and decapitate her. Harker, restored to health, joins the group who now are sure that Count Dracula is a vampire.
Dracula turns his attention to Mina and begins corrupting her as well. Van Helsing suddenly has a stroke and remains in a wheelchair. Dracula visits the weakened man, mocking his attempts to destroy him. Quincey, Harker and Seward track Dracula to the abandoned abbey, but he has fled to Transylvania with the aid of a traveling Gypsy band.
As Count Dracula's Gypsy servants take him back to his castle, he is trailed by Harker and Quincey. After battling the Gypsies, the two heroes find Dracula's coffin and set it on fire. Dracula, unable to escape in full daylight, is consumed by flames.
Cast
*
Christopher Lee as
Count Dracula
Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some ...
*
Herbert Lom
Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru (11 September 1917 – 27 September 2012), known professionally as Herbert Lom (), was a Czech-British actor who moved to the United Kingdom in 1939. In a career lasting more than 60 ye ...
as
Professor Abraham Van Helsing
*
Klaus Kinski as
R.M. Renfield
*
Frederick Williams as
Jonathan Harker
*
Maria Rohm
Maria Rohm (13 August 1945 – 18 June 2018) was an Austrian actress and producer.
Born Helga Grohmann in Vienna, she started her acting career at the very young age, working at the famous Viennese Burgtheatre as a child actor from ages 4 throug ...
as
Mina Murray
Wilhelmina "Mina" Harker ( née Murray) is a fictional character and the main female character in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''.
In the novel
She begins the story as Miss Mina Murray, a young schoolmistress who is engag ...
*
Soledad Miranda
Soledad Rendón Bueno (9 July 1943 – 18 August 1970), better known by her stage names Soledad Miranda or Susann Korda (or sometimes Susan Korday), was an actress and pop singer who was born in Seville, Spain. She starred in several erotic th ...
as
Lucy Westenra
Lucy Westenra is a fictional character in the 1897 novel ''Dracula'' by Bram Stoker. The 19-year-old daughter of a wealthy family, she is Mina Murray's best friend and Count Dracula's first English victim. She subsequently transforms into a vam ...
*
Paul Muller as
Dr. John "Jack" Seward
*
Jack Taylor as
Quincey Morris
Quincey P. Morris is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic novel ''Dracula''.
In the novel
He is a rich young American from Texas, and one of the three men who propose to Lucy Westenra. Quincey is friends with her other two suit ...
*
Jesús Puente
Jesús Puente Alzaga (18 December 1930 – 26 October 2000) was a Spanish actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1957 to 2000.
In 1954 he represented ''The Taming of the Shrew'' of William Shakespeare at the Teatre Grec.
Selecte ...
as the Minister of Interior
* Franco Castellani as Renfield's Warden
Reception
Robert Firsching of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' wrote, "This doggedly faithful adaptation is plodding and dull. Even Christopher Lee (in an uncharacteristically weak performance as Dracula), Klaus Kinski (as the mad Renfield), and seven credited screenwriters cannot make this confused, distant film worthwhile. Franco appears as a servant to Professor Van Helsing (Herbert Lom), and though certainly literate, the film nevertheless fails as both horror and drama."
Brett Cullum of ''DVD Verdict'' wrote, "For curious Dracula fans, Jess Franco's ''Count Dracula'' is a neat find. It's a stellar cast working under a low budget, and it comes off entertaining if not a classic. It's a
B-movie treatment at best, but... Lee comes off fiery and committed to making this Count one that will be noticed."
[DVD Verdict Review - Jess Franco's Count Dracula](_blank)
Brian Lindsey of ''Eccentric Cinema'' wrote, "Upon weighing
he film'spros and cons, ''Count Dracula'' emerges a substantially flawed film. But I can still recommend it to any fan of Lee, Franco, Miranda, and even of Stoker's novel."
[Eccentric Cinema , COUNT DRACULA (1970)](_blank)
/ref> George R. Reis of ''DVD Drive-In'' wrote, "''Count Dracula'' is flawed in many ways, but for fans of gothic horror, it's still irresistible... Barcelona naturally allows for some truly handsome scenery and an appropriate castle for Dracula to dwell in, and the performances of the international cast are above average."
Dracula scholar Leslie S. Klinger said "the picture begins well, closely following the Stoker narrative account of Harker's encounter with Dracula. The film rapidly proceeds into banality, however, and except for the characterization of Lee as an older Dracula and the brilliant Kinski, the film is largely forgettable."
Film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...
called it "one of the world's worst horror films" in his review of Pere Portabella's film ''Cuadecuc, Vampir
''Vampir-Cuadecuc'' is a 1970 Spanish experimental feature film written, produced, and directed by Pere Portabella. It stars Christopher Lee, Herbert Lom, Soledad Miranda, and Jack Taylor. The film tells an abbreviated version of the Dracula s ...
'', which was shot during the making of this film.
Home media
''Count Dracula'' was released on DVD in 2007 by Dark Sky Films. Special features include an interview with director Jesús Franco, a reading from Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'' novel by Christopher Lee, and a text essay on the life of actress Soledad Miranda. The DVD has come under criticism for omitting the scene in which a distraught mother pleads for her baby's life at the door of Dracula's castle. The DVD also uses the Italian credits for the film but with the French title card ''Les Nuits de Dracula''.
See also
* Vampire films
Vampire films have been a staple in world cinema since the era of silent films, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptat ...
References
External links
*
''Count Dracula''
at Variety Distribution
Variety Distribution is an Italian-based film distribution company.
It distributes Italian films worldwide, produced from the 1930s onward.
History
Variety Distribution (formerly Variety Film and Variety Communications) has been in the film p ...
*
*
''Count Dracula''
at the Dark Sky Films website.
{{Jesús Franco
1970 films
1970 horror films
British horror films
German horror films
British vampire films
German vampire films
Italian vampire films
Spanish vampire films
West German films
1970s English-language films
English-language German films
English-language Italian films
English-language Spanish films
Films directed by Jesús Franco
Films scored by Bruno Nicolai
Films shot in Barcelona
Dracula films
Gloria Film films
Films shot at Tirrenia Studios
Films set in castles
German supernatural horror films
1970s British films
1970s Italian films
1970s German films