''Dracula'', also known as ''Bram Stoker's Dracula'' and ''Dan Curtis' Dracula'', is a 1974 British

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

gothic

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

and

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of t ...

's 1897 novel ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

''. It was written by Richard Matheson and directed by ''

Dark Shadows ''Dark Shadows'' is an American Gothic fiction, Gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulatio ...

'' creator Dan Curtis, with Jack Palance in the title role of

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been i ...

. It was the second collaboration for Curtis and Palance after the 1968 TV film '' The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde''.

Plot

In Bistritz, Hungary May 1897, natives in

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

seem afraid when they learn solicitor Jonathan Harker is going to Castle Dracula. Jonathan finds

abrupt and impatient to get things done. Dracula reacts very strongly to a photograph of Harker's fiancée Mina Murray and her best friend,

Lucy Westenra Lucy Westenra is a fictional character in the 1897 novel ''Dracula'' by Bram Stoker. She is the 19-year-old daughter of a wealthy family and is Mina Harker, Mina Murray's best friend. Early in the story, Lucy gets proposed to by three suitors, A ...

. After preventing his brides from devouring Harker, he forces the young solicitor to write a letter saying he will be staying in Transylvania for a month. Harker climbs down the castle wall and finds Dracula's coffin but is attacked and knocked out by one of Dracula's gypsy servants before he can stake Dracula. They later throw him in the lower levels of the crypt, where the brides attack him again. The ship the ''Demeter'' runs aground carrying only Dracula and the dead captain lashed to the wheel. Soon after, Lucy begins to fall ill. Her fiancé, Arthur Holmwood, is perplexed and calls in Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. Dracula arrives at the house in Hillingham and uses remote hypnosis to make the occupants fall asleep, he then turns his attention to Lucy. Entranced, Lucy awakes in a highly aroused state and, sensing Dracula’s presence, is drawn outside to him and completely spellbound. After a brief and passionate seduction she is fully pliant and completely under his will and consumed by bloodlust, Dracula bites on Lucy's neck and feeds on her blood as she is in a helpless state of bliss. Van Helsing starts to recognize what might be happening, after Lucy is found, drained of blood, under a tree the next morning. Dracula has flashbacks of his wife Maria – of whom Lucy is the spitting image – on her deathbed centuries earlier. Lucy's mother Mrs. Westenra is in the room with Arthur when Dracula comes calling the last time, a wolf shattering the window and attacking Arthur. Lucy soon rises from the dead and comes to the window of Arthur's home, begging to be let in. Arthur does so, delighted and amazed that she's alive, unaware that she is now a vampire under Dracula's control. This very nearly gets him bitten, but Van Helsing interrupts with a cross causing her to flee. They go to Lucy's grave and drive a wooden stake into her heart. When Dracula comes to the tomb later and beckons to her, he goes berserk upon finding that she's truly dead. Mina tells Van Helsing about the news story about the ''Demeter'', the boxes of earth, and Jonathan going to meet Dracula to sell him a house. From these clues, Van Helsing and Holmwood go about finding all but one of Dracula's "boxes of earth" (containing his native soil, in which a vampire must rest). But back at the hotel, the vampire hunters discover Dracula is there seeking revenge. He has bitten Mina and, before their eyes, forces her to drink blood from a self-inflicted gash in his chest. The tracking of Dracula back to his home commences with Van Helsing hypnotizing Mina. Via the bond of blood, she sees through Dracula's eyes and discovers where he is headed. At the castle, Van Helsing and Holmwood find and stake the brides. Jonathan, now a rabid and bloodthirsty vampire, attacks Arthur and Van Helsing, but in the struggle is knocked by Arthur into a pit of spikes and killed. The final confrontation with Dracula takes place in what looks like a grand ballroom. Arthur produces a cross, temporarily keeping Dracula at bay, but the vampire throws a table at them, knocking it away. As Dracula attacks Arthur, Van Helsing pulls down the window curtains, and sunlight pours in. Dracula is weakened, giving Van Helsing the opportunity to pierce his heart with a long spear. They leave him there. Before the portrait of a living warrior Dracula, with Lucy's past self Maria in the background, a text scrolls across the screen about a warlord

Vlad the Impaler Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler ( ) or Vlad Dracula (; ; 1428/31 – 1476/77), was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most important rulers in Wallachian hi ...

who lived in the area of Romania known as Transylvania, and how it was said he had found a way to conquer death– a legend no one has ever disproven.

Cast

* Jack Palance as

Vlad III the Impaler Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler ( ) or Vlad Dracula (; ; 1428/31 – 1476/77), was List of princes of Wallachia, Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most imp ...

* Simon Ward as Arthur Holmwood *

Nigel Davenport Arthur Nigel Davenport (23 May 1928 – 25 October 2013) was an English stage, television and film actor, best known as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Birkenhead in the Academy Award-winning films '' A Man for All Seasons'' and ''Chariots of Fir ...

as Abraham Van Helsing * Pamela Brown as Mrs. Westenra * Fiona Lewis as

/ Maria * Penelope Horner as Mina Murray * Murray Brown as Jonathan Harker Virginia Wetherell, Barbara Lindley, and Sarah Douglas appear as Dracula's wives. George Pravda plays an innkeeper in Transylvania and Hana Maria Pravda plays the innkeeper's wife. Reg Lye portrays the zookeeper killed by Dracula's wolf. The

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

clerk is portrayed by

John Challis John Spurley Challis (16 August 1942 – 17 September 2021) was an English actor. He had an extensive theatre and television career but is best known for portraying Boycie, Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in the long-running BBC Television sitcom ...

. Stuntman Eddie Powell makes an uncredited appearance as the man killed by Dracula at the Whitby inn.

Production

Dan Curtis decided to film ''Bram Stoker's Dracula'' in two locations:

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, where there were old castles and quiet land, and England, where the remainder of the story is set.

Release

The initial CBS TV broadcast in October 1973 was pre-empted for an address by

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

on the resignation of

Spiro Agnew Spiro Theodore Agnew (; November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th vice president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second of two vice presidents to resign, the first being John C. ...

. Instead it was broadcast in February 1974.

Legacy

The film was released on VHS and

Laserdisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

. In the 1990s

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

and

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...

, who wanted to emphasize that his cinematic adaptation of ''

'' would be unlike any that had come before, purchased the rights to the title ''Bram Stoker's Dracula''. In addition to the title of Curtis' movie, Coppola also utilized its two key elements which distinguish it from the novel and previous adaptations: the depiction of Count Dracula and

– the historical Dracula– as being the same person, and the relationship between

(Gary Oldman) and his reincarnated wife:

( Fiona Lewis) in the 1974 movie, and Mina Murray (

Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born ), known professionally as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Having come to attention playing quirky characters in the late 1980s, she achieved success with her more dramatic performances in the 1990s. Ryder's L ...

) in the 1992 film. The

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

series '' The Tomb of Dracula'' features a Dracula whose appearance was based on Jack Palance. The series debuted in 1972, before Palance had actually played the role of Dracula. Artist

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the Social Security Death Index via ...

was inspired by Palance's performance in '' The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' (1968), Curtis and Palance's previous television movie.

References

External links

* *
Transcribed script online
{{Richard Matheson 1974 television films 1974 horror films 1974 films British horror television films British vampire films Dracula films Dracula television shows Films about reincarnation Films set in Transylvania Films set in 1897 CBS films Films directed by Dan Curtis Films with screenplays by Richard Matheson Fiction about polygamy Cultural depictions of Vlad the Impaler Films set in castles 1970s English-language films 1970s British films English-language horror films