Dracula in popular culture

Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula at the Hollywood Wax Museum

The character of Count Dracula from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, has remained popular over the years, and many films have used the Count as a villain, while others have named him in their titles, such as Dracula's Daughter, The Brides of Dracula, and Zoltan, Hound of Dracula. Dracula has enjoyed enormous popularity since its publication and has spawned an extraordinary vampire subculture in the second half of the 20th century. More than 200 films have been made that feature Count Dracula, a number second only to Sherlock Holmes. At the center of this subculture is the legend of Transylvania, which has become almost synonymous with vampires.

Most adaptations do not include all the major characters from the novel. The Count is usually present, and Jonathan and Mina Harker, Dr. Seward, Dr. Van Helsing, and Renfield usually appear as well. The characters of Mina and Lucy are occasionally combined into a single female role. Jonathan Harker and Renfield are also sometimes reversed or combined. Quincey Morris and Arthur Holmwood are often omitted or, occasionally, combined into one character.

Films

Early adaptations

One of the first film adaptations of Stoker's story caused Stoker's estate to sue for copyright infringement. In 1922, silent film director F. W. Murnau made a horror film called Nosferatu: eine Symphonie des Grauens ("Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror"), which took the story of Dracula and set it in Transylvania and Germany. In the story, Dracula's role was changed to that of Count Orlok, played by Max Schreck.

The Stoker estate won its lawsuit, and all existing prints of Nosferatu were ordered destroyed. However, a number of unlicensed copies of the movie survived to the present era, where they entered the public domain.

There are reports of a 1920 Soviet silent film Drakula (Дракула), based on Stoker's novel. The film would have predated the lost 1921 Hungarian film Dracula's Death, and is thus claimed to be the first film adaption of Dracula. Nothing regarding this film is known to survive; there are no known production stills, and there is very little information about this film available. Most sources agree that the existence of this film is questionable because no details appear to have survived, and its existence is not verifiable.[1]

The 1931 film version of Dracula was based on the 1927 stage play dramatized, with the Stoker estate's endorsement, by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston (see below), starred Bela Lugosi versus Edward Van Sloan, both of whom had originated their respective roles on the stage in the aforementioned play, and was directed by Tod Browning. It is one of the most famous versions of the story and is widely considered a horror classic. In 2000, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. The films had music only during the opening (the famous main theme from Swan Lake, which was also used at the beginning of other Universal horror productions) and closing credits, and during a brief sequence set at an opera. In 1999, Philip Glass was commissioned to compose a musical score to accompany the film. The current DVD release allows access to this music.

At the same time as the 1931 Lugosi film, a Spanish language version was filmed for release in Mexico. It was filmed at night, using the same sets as the Tod Browning production with a different cast and crew, a common practice in the early days of sound films. George Melford was the director, and it starred Carlos Villarías as the Count, Eduardo Arozamena as Van Helsing and Lupita Tovar as Eva. Because of America's movie industry censorship policies, Melford's Dracula contains scenes that could not be included in the final cut of the more familiar English version. It is also included on the Universal Legacy DVD.

During the 1930s and 1940s, the Universal Studios horror films made Dracula a household name by starring him as a villain in a number of movies, including several where he met other monsters (the most famous being the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, in which Lugosi played Dracula on film for the second and final time.)

Universal Studios productions of Dracula

The Universal Studios films in which Dracula (or a relative) appeared (and the actor portraying the character) were:

  1. Dracula (1931 - Bela Lugosi (collectively the most famous interpretation)) (A second version was filmed at the same time in Spanish, with Carlos Villarías as Dracula)
  2. Dracula's Daughter (1936 - Gloria Holden)
  3. Son of Dracula (1943 - Lon Chaney, Jr.)
  4. House of Frankenstein (1944 - John Carradine)
  5. House of Dracula (1945 - Carradine)
  6. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948 - Lugosi)
  7. Dracula (1979 - Frank Langella)

Hammer Films productions of Dracula

Christopher Lee as Dracula

In 1958, Hammer Films produced Dracula, a newer, more Gothic version of the story, starring Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Abraham Van Helsing. It is widely considered to be one of the best versions of the story to be adapted to film, and in 2004 was named by the magazine Total Film as the 30th-greatest British film of all time. Although it takes many liberties with the novel's plot, the creepy atmosphere and charismatic performances of Lee and Cushing make it memorable. It was released in the United States as Horror of Dracula to avoid confusion with the earlier Lugosi version. This was followed by a long series of Dracula films, usually featuring Lee as Dracula.

The Hammer films in which Dracula (or a follower) appeared (and the actor portraying the character) were:

  1. Dracula (1958) - (Christopher Lee) Released in the US as Horror of Dracula
  2. The Brides of Dracula (1960 - David Peel as Dracula disciple Baron Meinster)
  3. Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966 - Lee)
  4. Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968 - Lee)
  5. Taste the Blood of Dracula (1969 - Lee)
  6. Scars of Dracula (1970 - Lee)
  7. Dracula AD 1972 (1972 - Lee)
  8. The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973 - Lee). Released in the US as Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride
  9. The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1974 - John Forbes-Robertson). Variously released as The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula and Dracula and the Seven Golden Vampires

Though Dracula is pronounced as dead in The Brides of Dracula, he is resurrected for Dracula: Prince of Darkness, before being killed off again. This formula is followed in each succeeding film apart from the last, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires.

Christopher Lee, the British actor who played in the Hammer Dracula films, reminisced in a 1999 interview for NPR.[2]

Other productions 1953–1979

Drakula İstanbul'da (1953) was a Turkish made production starring balding Atif Kaptan as the count. It was the first sound film to depict Dracula with fangs.

Blood of Dracula (1957) was producer Herman Cohen's attempt to cash in on his previous success with I Was a Teenage Werewolf. The film was basically "I was a Teenage Dracula", with the same story of a wayward teenager (Sandra Harrison) being transformed into a legendary fiend by an ill-willed adult (Louise Lewis). Herbert L. Strock directed.

The Return of Dracula (1958) brought the Count to modern day America. Matinee idol Francis Lederer played Dracula, who flees vampire hunters in Transylvania to take up residence in small-town America in the guise of an artist he had previously murdered. The Count begins to feed on the local populace and create more vampires before he is tracked to his lair in an abandoned mine and destroyed. Paul Landres directed from a screenplay by Pat Fielder. The film is also known, for some reason, as The Fantastic Disappearing Man. It has been shown on television under the title The Curse of Dracula.

Batman Dracula (1964) is a black and white American film produced and directed by Andy Warhol, without the permission of DC Comics.

Billy the Kid vs. Dracula (1966) saw the Count in America's old west, facing off with a pre-outlaw years Billy the Kid. John Carradine returned to the role of Dracula under the direction of William Beaudine.

The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) was directed by Roman Polanski and introduced him to Sharon Tate. This was a parody of Hammer's films and featured Ferdy Mayne as the Dracula-like Count von Krolock.

Batman Fights Dracula (1967) is a lost color Filipino film directed by Leody M. Diaz and written by Bert R. Mendoza. It is a parody of Batman films and the horror genre.

Blood of Dracula's Castle (1969) was a low-budget entry from director Al Adamson. Alex D'Arcy and Paula Raymond play Count and Countess Dracula, who have taken up residence in a castle in America under the aliases of Count and Countess Townsend. Too genteel to stalk their prey by night, these fiends are content to sip their blood from cocktail glasses prepared by their faithful butler George (John Carradine). In the end, they meet their doom in the rays of the morning sun.

Jonathan (1969) was an arty take on the legend from Germany. Jonathan (played by Juergen Jung) infiltrates the castle of the undead Count (who is never actually named in the film) played by Paul Albert Krumm.

Count Dracula (1970), directed by Jesus Franco starring Christopher Lee as Dracula. In spite of its star, Franco's film is not a part of the Hammer series, and was shot on a small budget. Lee is made up to look like the description of the Count from Stoker's novel, and he does seem to grow younger as the story progresses, but the film otherwise takes some huge liberties with the plot. The international cast includes Herbert Lom as Van Helsing and Klaus Kinski as Renfield.

Jess Franco followed this with Vampyros Lesbos in 1971, in which Soledad Miranda plays Nadina, a descendant of the Dracula family.

Cuadecuc, vampir is a 1970 experimental film by Spanish filmmaker Pere Portabella. It was shot on the set of Jesus Franco's Count Dracula, starring Christopher Lee as Dracula and Herbert Lom as Van Helsing.

1970 saw Al Adamson return with Dracula vs. Frankenstein, a grade Z budget film with Zandor Vorkov as the Count terrorizing a California boardwalk community with Frankenstein's monster in tow. Screen legends J. Carrol Naish and Lon Chaney, Jr. appeared, and Famous Monsters of Filmland editor Forrest J. Ackerman cameoed as an unlucky victim.

1972 also saw the release of Blacula, a low-budget blaxploitation horror film about an African prince vampirized by Count Dracula himself (who is portrayed by Charles Macaulay) in a brief opening prologue. The 1973 sequel, Scream Blacula Scream briefly replays this scene as a flashback.

In 1974, Paul Naschy starred in Count Dracula's Great Love, directed by Javier Aguirre for the Spanish production company Janus Films. This movie predated Francis Ford Coppola's vision of Dracula as a romantic figure by 20 years.

In 1974, Andy Warhol presented an outrageously campy Dracula (also known as Blood for Dracula), directed by Paul Morrissey and starring cult icons Udo Kier (as the Count) and Joe Dallesandro.

Dracula and Son (1976) is a French comedy again starring Christopher Lee as Dracula, here having trouble convincing his son to take up the family mantle of vampirism. (In interviews, Lee has claimed that his character was not called Dracula during filming, and that the producers only decided to make it a Dracula film after the fact.)

In 1978, an independent film company produced the horror thriller Zoltan, Hound of Dracula starring Michael Pataki as the mild-mannered family psychiatrist destined to encounter the resurrected hound of Dracula.

Doctor Dracula is a 1978 horror film directed by Al Adamson, featuring horror movie icon John Carradine.

Dracula Sucks (aka Lust at First Bite) is a 1978 adult (hardcore) horror film based on Bram Stoker's novel. Starring Jamie Gillis as Dracula, Annette Haven as Mina, Reggie Nalder as Van Helsing.[3]

Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula is a 1979 film written and directed by Harry Hurwitz, who was credited as "Harry Tampa." This was the fourth and final time John Carradine played Count Dracula.

In 1979 Frank Langella starred as a sexually charged version of the Count in the big budget Dracula directed by John Badham and featuring a score by John T. Williams. Based on the 1977 Broadway revival of the 1927 Deane-Balderston play, in which Langella had starred in the title role, it also starred Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing and Donald Pleasence as Dr. Seward.

Love at First Bite (1979) is a romantic comedy spoof set in contemporary New York City starring George Hamilton as the Count.

Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979) is a remake of the 1922 film, starring Klaus Kinski and directed by Werner Herzog, the vampire is specifically called "Count Dracula" rather than "Graf (Count) Orlok".

Dracula adaptations 1980–1999

Dracula adaptations 2000–present

Stage

Program for the 1897 Lyceum Theatre stage production of Bram Stoker's Dracula, or The Undead

Drama

Musical

Opera

Ballet

Tobias Batley as Dracula and Martha Leebolt as Mina in David Nixon's ballet

Radio

Television

TV adaptations

"Dracula" has been adapted for TV several times, with some adaptations taking many liberties and others trying to stay faithful more or less to original source.

TV appearances

Animation

Dracula has even been adapted for children's literature and entertainment, serving as the basis for several vampire cartoon characters over the years, although in the interest of creating child-friendly characters, the vampiric nature of the character is often understated or not referenced at all.

Novels

Makt Myrkranna (Powers of Darkness, 1901) by Bram Stoker and Valdimar Ásmundsson (10. July 1852 – 17. April 1902), is a rewritten Icelandic version of Stoker´s novel, and also contains an original preface written by Stoker himself. First appearing in serial form in the newspaper Fjallkonan (The Lady of the Mountain) between January 1900 and March 1901, before being published in book form later the same year. New characters include detective called Barrington and a whole group of villainous aristocrats: Romanian Prince Koromesz, his sister, the beautiful Countess Ida Varkony; Margravine Caroma Rubiano, a medium; and Madame Saint Amand, an elegant young woman noted for taking a number of distinguished lovers.[30][31]

Av Swedish version from 1899, serialized in the country's newspapers Dagen and Aftonbladet under the title was Mörkrets Makter, which just like the Icelandic title means Powers of Darkness. The translations contains parts not present in neither Dracula or Makt Myrkranna, and was translated by someone who used the pseudonym “A—e.”[32]

Dracula has also inspired many literary tributes or parodies, including Stephen King's Salem's Lot, Kim Newman's Anno Dracula- which features a world where Dracula defeated Van Helsing's forces and took over England- Fred Saberhagen's The Dracula Tape, Wendy Swanscombe's erotic parody Vamp, Dan Simmons's Children of the Night, and Robin Spriggs's The Dracula Poems: A Poetic Encounter with the Lord of Vampires. The novel Sherlock Holmes VS Dracula, or The Adventure of the Sanguinary Count by Loren D. Estleman features Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson becoming involved in the confrontation with Dracula, told as though the two were dealing with Dracula when he was not confronting Van Helsing's crew (although Holmes and Watson were not part of Van Helsing's core group as the professor feared the extra publicity the detectives might attract to their cause).

In The Diaries of the Family Dracul, a trilogy by Jeanne Kalogridis, Vlad's relationship with his mortal descendants is explored, as are the specific terms of his vampiric curse and his pact with the Romanian peasants who serve him. The novels are written in epistolary form, and the story is intertwined with that of Stoker's novel as well as events from the life of Vlad the Impaler, expanding on minor characters and details from the Dracula mythos and Romanian history and culture.

Elizabeth Kostova's 2005 novel The Historian follows several historians whose research has led them too close to Dracula as they hunt the vampire across Europe.

Meg Cabot's 2010 novel Insatiable has a main character named Meena Harper who has a relationship with Dracula's son, Lucien.[33]

In the book series Vampire Hunter D, which takes place ten thousand years in the future, D's adversary Count Magnus discovers that D is the son of Dracula, who is referred to as "The Sacred Ancestor" in the series.

Freda Warrington's Dracula the Undead is an unofficial sequel to Dracula.

Will Hill's Department 19 is about Jamie Carpenter, a descendant of Henry Carpenter, Van Helsing's valet who saves Van Helsing's life multiple times. Department 19 (or Blacklight), is an organization started by the people from the original Dracula, and they fight vampires across the world.

Dacre Stoker, who is a great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, co-wrote with screenwriter Ian Holt a sequel to Dracula titled Dracula the Un-dead (Stoker's original title), which reveals that Dracula was not actually the true villain but sought to eliminate the more dangerous Elizabeth Bathory, the storyline also revealing that Quincey Harker is actually the son of Mina and Dracula, and ends with the death of all characters while the sole survivor Quincey is last seen boarding the RMS Titanic. Dacre Stoker claims that parts of the work are based on excised material from the original novel and Stoker's notes.[34] In North America, the book was published by E.P. Dutton.[35]

A Betrayal in Blood by Mark A. Latham takes an unconventional interpretation of the original novel when Sherlock Holmes is hired by his brother Mycroft to investigate Dracula's death. In the course of the novel, Holmes confirms that Dracula was not a vampire, but in reality his death was part of a complex plan orchestrated by Van Helsing; a former German agent, Van Helsing was acquainted with Dracula in their youth, but after Dracula had an affair with Van Helsing's wife that resulted in the birth of a son, the son was given up for adoption to become Arthur Holmwood and Dracula was told that he was dead. In the course of the novel, Holmes determines that Van Helsing set up various complex deceptions to create the illusion of Dracula as a vampire, killed Quincey Morris because he realized the truth, hired an actress to pose as the vampire Lucy to reinforce his deception, and blackmailed Jonathan and Mina to assist him due to their role in the death of Jonathan's employer, while Renfield was the solicitor who was actually sent to Dracula's castle and driven insane by Dracula's manner. At the conclusion of the novel, the Harkers have been arrested, Holmwood is psychologically broken, and Van Helsing commits suicide to escape a trial after he is caught by Holmes and Watson.

Short stories

Comics

Anime and manga

Music

Dracula became a popular subject in music of different genres, from pop to hip hop, and gained a big prominence in rock and metal.

Games

Vlad Tepes is one of the more mysterious elder vampires in Vampire: The Masquerade. An Autarkis of the Tzimisce Clan, he has been present at many of the major events in the World of Darkness. In the Vampire: The Requiem setting, he is the founder of the 'Ordo Dracul', a secretive organisation to which the player's characters may claim membership. Both games draw much from the novel Dracula and vampire legends in general.

In the Castlevania series (known as "Akumajo Dracula" (Demon Castle Dracula) in Japan). Count Vlad Tepes Dracula, as he is known in the series, is the ultimate source of evil that the others must confront, after adventuring through Dracula's castle. The other aspect in relations to the Count is his son, Adrian Fahrenheit Tepes, commonly known as "Alucard", who has dedicated his life to ensure the survival of the human race and the preventing of his father's tyranny. In the Lords of Shadow reboot/spinoff series, Dracula was once a holy knight named Gabriel Belmont who was turned into a vampire and claimed overwhelming power in the first game's Reverie and Resurrection DLC's. The trilogy portrays Dracula in a more sympathetic light. So far the Lords of Shadow series are the only games in the franchise, outside of the fighting game spinoff Castlevania Judgement, where Dracula is featured as a playable character.

Now-defunct software company CRL produced a series of games in the 1980s featuring classic horror classics including Dracula. These were the first game titles in the UK to receive BBFC certification (they were rated "15"), normally reserved for films and videos. There were two adventure games, Dracula: Resurrection and The Last Sanctuary. Both took place after the novels end and continued Jon and Mina's fight against the Count.

Count Dracula appears in Sierra Entertainment's Kings Quest II, which was released in 1985. The hero of the game, King Graham, has to defeat Dracula by driving a stake through his heart.

Dracula: Resurrection, Dracula: The Last Sanctuary, Dracula 3 - The Path of the Dragon, Dracula 4: The Shadow of the Dragon and Dracula 5: The Blood Legacy form a series of adventure games published by Microids (Anuman Interactive). They were published in 2011, 2012, 2011, 2013 and 2013 respectively.[43]

Dracula: Origin is a 2008 PC point-and-click adventure developed by Ascaron Entertainment, in which the player assumes the role of Abraham Van Helsing in a storyline based on the original novel.

Count Dracula, appearing as an anthropomorphic duck named Dracula Duck, appears as the final boss of the NES game DuckTales, as well as the remake DuckTales: Remastered.

Others

The General Mills cereal mascot Count Chocula is a vampire who craves Count Chocula cereal rather than blood. His title of count is an allusion to that of Count Dracula's.

The association of the book with the Yorkshire fishing village of Whitby has led to the staging of the bi-annual Whitby Gothic Weekend, an event that sees the town visited by Goths from all over Britain and occasionally from other parts of the world. In addition, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution runs a fundraising bungee jump event in the town every April named the Dracula Drop.

Mad magazine has published countless spoofs of Dracula. In one, appearing in the Mad Summer Special 1983, on the inside front cover, a cartoon sequence drawn by Sergio Aragonés shows Dracula attacking a hippie who has taken LSD; Drac staggers away, seeing colorful hallucinations including blood, bats and such.

In the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, composer Peter Bretter (Jason Segel), in a subplot, finishes his Dracula-themed rock opera titled A Taste for Love.

Russian authors Andrey Shary and Vladimir Vedrashko in 2009 published a book Sign D: Dracula in Books and on the Screen devoted in particular to Dracula image implications in Soviet and Russian popular and mass culture.

Tourism

There are several locations associated with Dracula and Bram Stoker related tourism in Ireland, Britain, and Romania.

See also

References

  1. Glut, Donald F. The Dracula Book (1975) ("Other film versions of Dracula are reported to have been made about this time — one being Russian — but there is no real verification to substantiate these claims.")
  2. Dracula : NPR
  3. https://horrorpedia.com/2015/01/31/dracula-sucks-aka-lust-at-first-bite-1978-adult-movie-horror-vast-plot-reviews-buy/
  4. http://www.vampirebeauties.com/2012/04/vampiress-xxx-review-this-aint-dracula.html?zx=eb748b3ea0ec114
  5. "Dario Argento Vamps Out for 'Dracula 3D'"
  6. http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/8064/malayalam/dracula-2012/index.htm
  7. http://www.stagesofhalfmoon.org.uk/productions/dracula-1984/
  8. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/marin-sorescu
  9. http://www.culture.ru/movies/1002/drakula
  10. Carrell, Severin (2008-06-06). "Edinburgh Fringe gets dramatic dose of reality". London: guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
  11. "Fringe Benefits". dailyrecord.co.uk. 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
  12. http://www.aksioma.lviv.ua/play-eng-my-sidekick-Dracula.htm
  13. http://www.littleonestheatre.com.au/DRACULA
  14. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/dracula-camp-horror-with-teeth/story-e6frg6n6-1227590037591
  15. http://www.takawiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Pale+Kiss+%28Star+1987%29&highlight=Pale+Kiss+-+Count+Dracula%27s+Love-
  16. https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/20/nyregion/theater-musical-dracula-on-teaneck-stage.html
  17. http://www.redteatral.net/versiones-musicales-dr-cula--el-musical-1
  18. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/89939336/
  19. http://www.bernardjtaylor.com/Nosferatu/nos.html
  20. http://archiv.rhein-zeitung.de/on/98/06/09/magazin/news/dracula.html
  21. http://www.dracula-uk.com/
  22. http://www.cesnur.org/2006/dracula_rock_eng.htm
  23. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1753736/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
  24. http://www.novabillings.org/production-archives-history/opera2/nosferatu/
  25. https://www.pbt.org/the-company/artistic/repertoire/dracula/
  26. https://secure.dobgm.gov.tr/opera2013/weser2013.aspx?EserKodu=1167&Bsz=1
  27. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nj7fh
  28. A page on the BBC official website about their film adaptation of Dracula
  29. Air date: September 26, 2000
  30. Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula, New York Journal of Books
  31. Dracula in Iceland
  32. Icelandic version of Dracula, Makt myrkranna, turns out to be Swedish in origin
  33. http://www.megcabot.com/insatiable/
  34. Flood, Alison (2008-10-06). "Stoker's blood relation resurrects Dracula". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  35. "Dutton signs new Dracula". Business and Industry. 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  36. Pulp and Dagger - Graphic Novel Review - The Curse of Dracula
  37. Moore & Reppion on 'The Complete Dracula', Newsarama, January 30, 2009
  38. A Preview of Marvel's New Death of Dracula Comic
  39. Twelfth and last issue: . Third collection:
  40. http://www.vampyres-online.com/sovereign.html
  41. http://www.cosmosgaming.com/gaming-news/microids-announces-the-release-of-adventure-game-dracula-5-the-blood-legacy-on-pc-and-mac/
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