Dracula (1979)

This 1979 version of the Bram Stoker tale takes it's cue from the then-recent hit Broadway revival of the old Hamilton Deane & John Balderston play than from the original source.The familiar tale has been reconfigured, with some characters changing drastically while others are dropped all together. Lucy is now the central female role, played ably by a fetching Kate Nelligan. Instead of being one of her suitors, Dr. Seward (Donald Pleasence) is now her father. The Mina character takes the secondary role held by Lucy in the book, and in this version, she's the daughter of Dr. Van Helsing. That iconic role is played by Laurence Olivier, looking very old and frail. Jonathan Harker, fiancée of Lucy and real estate agent to Dracula, is a bland Trevor Eve. The crazed Renfield acts as little more than an inept butler to Dracula, and is played by Tony Haygarth, who the previous year had played an especially detestable Nazi in the TV miniseries "Holocaust".The center of the film is Frank Langella as the title count. His performance made him a true superstar of the stage, and it translates fairly well to the big screen. His full lips, big dark eyes and thick head of blown dry hair make him the most overtly sexual of all the screen Draculas.The production is nice to look at for the most part, but some scenes are a little too under lit. The sweeping John Williams score is suitably evocative. One romantic sequence using backprojected laserlight has the unfortunate effect of casting a disco vibe about the whole thing, suitable since directing duties went to Saturday Night Fever's John Badham. Olivier's performance is all over the place, at turns leaden, then scenery-chewing, with a wandering accent to boot. His health was a serious issue at this time, so some understanding is in order. One shouldn't expect much in the way of scares or gore, with a few minor exceptions. The novel's unsavory subtexts regarding fear of immigrants and female sexuality are thankfully absent. All in all, suitable viewing on lonely nights for those with a darker taste in romance.

If you like your Dracula with sex appeal, this is the film version for you. Frank Langella provides just the right amount of emotive flourish to make women swoon. How can one doubt it when Lucy's (Kate Nelligan) response to the Count upon their introduction is "Oh, I love to be frightened..." The story line also builds on the accepted traditions of vampire lore with mentions of corporeal transference, materialization and astral bodies. Langella's eyes have a hypnotic power that was never so expertly utilized in prior incarnations of the Dracula character, and the idea that he would cut himself so Lucy could drink his blood to claim immortality was a clever bit of writing. Sort of sexy too if one is inclined that way.As a classic, old time movie fan, I was particularly pleased with the nod to the original Bela Lugosi film "Dracula" from 1931. It was when Count Dracula brought Lucy outside of Carfax Abbey to the sounds of howling wolves in the distance. Waxing poetic, Dracula says "Listen to them, the children of the night. What sad music they make". By adding the word 'sad' to the description, the writers improved the original dialog in a way that conveys a surreal, romantic flavor to the encounter between vampire and victim.Interestingly, the film is not big on special effects, and I was curious about the version shown on Turner Classics the other evening that almost appeared to be a black and white film. Some other viewers have commented on it, and I'm curious as to why Universal Pictures took this approach. Be that as it may, the 'bleached' treatment shouldn't detract from one's enjoyment of the picture, with it's stylistic handling of the Dracula mythos.

This version of the lusty count isn't that bad. Frank Langella makes for a sympathetic count and its perhaps this element that stops it from being really frightening. As dashing as Frank is he exudes little in the way of menace. However, the British locations are sumptuous and the supporting cast of Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasance,Trevor Eve and Tony Haygarth as an excellent Renfield are all good. One complaint is that the late Lord Olivier is perhaps a bit to old to play Van Helsing, as the role usually involves a tussle with the Count. The director has created a great, creepy atmosphere and Frank Langella does a very good Dracula. As much as I love Bela Lugosi, with his accent and intensity, Langella has an erotic quality that even Lugosi can't match.The highlight of the film for me is where Van Helsing and Seward, having found that Van Helsing's niece Mina has been turned into a vampire by Dracula, unearth her coffin and find it empty. They go through a hole in the coffin's side into an old abandoned mine-working in search of her (Mine-workings don't appear in the original novel, but part of the film's ingenuity lies in making things like this add to the film's resonance and power). Van Helsing, searching the dark and dripping tunnels by flickering candlelight, drops his crucifix and, stooping to pick it up, catches sight of his niece reflected in a puddle at his feet. He looks up and sees what she has become. The beautiful Mina (played by the radiant Jan Francis) has become a thing of real horror, what a vampire would really be like if they actually existed - a loathsome, visceral fiend, living in the drains and feeding off rats and slugs. This is the bit that kept me awake for nights on end, and which still gives me the willies even now. All in all, still love this film, still holds up after all these years and doesn't look that date, considering it was released in 1979.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

This interesting if not all that successful version of the familiar Bram Stoker tale is largely a vehicle for Frank Langella. He plays a soulful, romanticized Count Dracula, whose ship crashes on an island shore. As he makes himself at home in Carfax Abbey, he becomes acquainted with the likes of Dr. Seward (Donald Pleasence), Jonathan Harker (Trevor Eve), and Dr. Sewards' daughter Lucy (the lovely Canadian actress Kate Nelligan). He becomes determined to make Lucy his bride, while the intrepid Professor Van Helsing (Laurence Olivier) catches on to what he is doing."Dracula" '79 isn't without its pleasures. However, purists may take exception to a script by W. D. Richter that makes a number of unfortunate changes from the original material. (Mina is VAN HELSINGS' daughter?) Director John Badham, who became an action genre specialist in the 80s, does a decent enough job with this horror film. It's quite visually striking at times (with matte shots by the legendary Albert Whitlock), although some viewers may not care for the way that Badham has desaturated the colour; this plays almost like a black & white production, albeit shot in widescreen by Gilbert Taylor. One highlight is a memorable lovemaking sequence.Langella does a fine job as our smouldering, blood sucking antihero, especially when he's seducing Mina and Lucy or facing off against Professor Van Helsing. And Olivier is fun as the vampire hunter / expert. Pleasence is amusing as Seward, as is Tony Haygarth as the loony, bug munching Renfield (who's more sympathetic here than in other adaptations of the story). Nelligan does alright as Lucy, but Eve is a fairly bland Harker. Sylvester McCoy has a small role as an asylum attendant.This is noteworthy for its atmosphere, its production design (by Peter Murton), and rousing score by John Williams. It's suitably creepy at times (dig those "crawling the walls" shots) and appropriately erotic.Six out of 10.