The original TV miniseries with David Soul, Lance Kerwin, James Mason, and Bonnie Bedelia had a major impact on me, though not when it aired in 1979. Unfortunately I was unaware of it at that time, at a college where no one watched TV. I first saw it maybe in the late 1990s when I first got cable and DS was airing on the Sci-Fi channel. Those were the days . . . I agree with MB that the biggest drawback was the portrayal of the vampire as a Nosferatu type creature - why depart from the original concept of the novel? (Though I have to admit, I only started the novel once, set it aside, and never got back to it.) The Rob Lowe version had some plusses, some minuses, and was less memorable for me - I can't recall at all how the vampire was even portrayed, and I didn't care much for the kid who played the boy. Thanks for linking to the clip of the new version. I think I'll just stick with the oldie.
