OT...Dracula on AMC

[michael c]

just an fyi.the 1979 version of "dracula" starring frank langella will be airing tonight(fri.7/15)at 10:00pm on the  american movie classics channel(ch.43 in the new york area).

[michael c]

did anybody else catch this?

it was sooo dated!it was shot in the washed-out natural palette popular in the late 1970's.it looked like a gothic ralph lauren ad.that's not to say there wasn't beauty there as well.

but frank langella's blow-out was more than i could take.

[CyrusL]

I enjoy this version, but there are some serious plot loopholes, they kill Lucy twice for example, but most women I know LOVE Frank Langella in this. If you can find it, the BBC version circa 1974 with Louis Jordan is perhaps the best adaption of the book. It used to run on PBS around Halloween in the '70s, sometimes on one evening, sometimes as 3 1 hour shows. Not available on video in the US sadly. 

Michael

[michael c]

i do remember that when this movie first came out my mom and her friends just thought frank langella was the dreamiest.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

This '79 version of Dracula isn't particularly well regarded by critics, but I must say I enjoy it far more than I do Francis Ford Coppola's '92 version which is all style over substance, IMO. However, I probably prefer the '66 Hammer studio version (and subsequent series) featuring Christopher Lee over most other versions.

[PennyDreadful]

 The only thing I really liked a lot about the Langella Dracula was the John Williams score.  The film itself is so-so IMO.

[victoriawinters]

There were some stellar moments in the film as well as some duds.  Laurence Olivier was pretty bad.  I think Frank Langella brings lots of charisma to the role.  Kate Nelligan and he worked well together and had some chemistry as well.  [spoiler]The red lighted love scene was my favorite.[/spoiler]

I also agree wholeheartily with the opinions of John Williams.  He did do a good job with the score.

[Gothick]

I got to see a video of the Louis Jourdan version many years ago, and I'd love to see it again.  The ending is the closest to the book ever filmed, I believe.

Apart from that, some of my other favorites:

The Lugosi Dracula--the first fifteen minutes or so show you everything you ever need to know about Gothic horror.

The Jack Palance Dracula; some wonderful moments.

I think of the Hammers my current favorite is the 1969 Taste the Blood of Dracula, because it's been so beautifully restored on DVD, and Anthony Corlan (aka Higgins) makes a lusciously beautiful hero; Ralph Bates has a wonderful bit in the beginning, as well.

I've been meaning to screen again the Lee version directed by Jesus Franco, El conde Dracula.  I last saw it in the mid Seventies.  Klaus Kinski's disturbing realism in the part of a viciously deranged Renfield stood out.

G.

[Patti Feinberg]

The Lugosi Dracula--the first fifteen minutes or so show you everything you ever need to know about Gothic horror.

Amen and amen Gothick....soooo good.

Patti

[Raineypark]

While we're on the topic of "Dracula"....is anyone planning to read "The Historian"?

[arashi]

and Anthony Corlan (aka Higgins) makes a lusciously beautiful hero

He is devilishly hansome isn't he? Of the Hammer Dracula movies I have only seen three, I admit, however they are my favorite Dracula movies. Christopher Lee plays such a feral Dracula, more so like the book Dracula than anyone else to play him. I adore Legosi's Dracula and that movie (especially Dwight Frye) but Lee just is Dracula.

[Heather]

The Lugosi Dracula--the first fifteen minutes or so show you everything you ever need to know about Gothic horror.

Absolutely! And yeah, I'd watch a good Hammer film any day...thanks Steve. 

[Midnite]

While we're on the topic of "Dracula"....is anyone planning to read "The Historian"?

I'm loving it.  The story is told through a series of letters, not unlike the Stoker novel.  Her beautiful writing carries me through the parts where the pace is slowed.  I may be a while with it yet, however, since I couldn't resist starting the Harry Potter book too. 

[ProfStokes]

While we're on the topic of "Dracula"....is anyone planning to read "The Historian"?

Me--I'm halfway through it now (the lecture in Budapest).  As Midnite said, it is very close to the spirit of Dracula what with the numerous travel info and the fact that the story is told through letters and journals.  A reviewer in my local paper complained that the story was too drawn out and I admit to feeling impatient with the many interruptions, but on the whole I'm enjoying the book a lot.

Another book that I've recently read and enjoyed is Fred Saberhagen's The Dracula Tape.  Like Interview with a Vampire, it involves Dracula telling a reporter his side of the story.  It follows the source material very closely but features amusing commentary from Dracula on the events Stoker depicted.  It also manages to address some inconsistencies and loose ends from the original book.

ProfStokes

[Gothick]

Hey Arashi, Anthony Corlan actually played a vampire in the 1972 sleeper Vampire Circus (released by Hammer but has a very different flavor from the studio's usual product).  It's not officially available in the US but I bought a gorgeous, letterboxed bootleg on eBay--the colors were really beautiful, and Corlan wasn't the only lovely man in the cast.

Best, Gothick