Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

I wanted to like this. I guess that goes without saying, right? I mean, we always want to watch a good movie. So I guess the better way to say it would be that I was expecting this to be a good movie.

It isn't.

I hear that it seemed like a really good idea at the time, so maybe I can understand why they went ahead with the film. Frank Langella had revived Dracula on the stage and so bringing him to the screen seemed like a smart move. Sadly, Langella is the worst part of this movie.

We all know the story of Dracula, the undead ladies man with a taste for that warm red stuff that runs through your veins. In `Dracula' we meet Count Dracula after the ship he is on wrecks and he is washed ashore. He's found and nursed to health and is taken to by young Mina Van Helsing. He kills her. Then Dracula begins to court the likes of Lucy Seward, the beautiful friend of the late Mina, all the while Mina's father Abraham is trying to find his daughters killer.

Director John Badham really tries to give `Dracula' depth of darkness, but the chunky script provided by W.D. Richter really messes things up. You mix the lackluster script with Badham's brooding direction and you have a rather boring adaptation instead of what could have been intelligent and disturbing. The special effects are a highlight, at least some of them, but Langella's ridiculous hair and makeup make a lot of what could have been neat appear to be nothing more than a joke. Watching him scale a wall is rather funny.

Speaking of Langella, could he be any more boring?

The acting here is a big sore spot. I remember hearing people claim that this was closest Langella ever came to an Oscar nomination. How? He was stiff and completely lacking of any charm. Worse yet, when he was supposed to be eerie and scary he was hokey and borderline comical. I couldn't see any reason why any woman would be drawn to him. Donald Pleasence and Laurence Olivier aren't much better really. In fact, the only highlight I can think of is the luminous Kate Nelligan who actually convinces as the swooning and manipulated Lucy.

I'd skip this one, entirely. There are many other vampire films with real edge, with a little more bite so-to-speak. If you want a good unintentional laugh then put this one in. You can even hit mute. Watching Langella drift around in the darkness looking like a gothic clown is pretty hysterical.

This 1979 version of Dracula is a beautiful film, harkening back to the old classic style horror film. Wonderfully cast, Frank Langella is a compelling Dracula, in an underplayed and very naturalistic performance, brimming with charm, elegence and intensity. Likewise Kate Nelligan, Lord Laurence Olivier and Donald Pleasance also give very memorable performances. The film is light on gore, stately paced and heavy on beautiful and engrossing gothic atmosphere. The sets, locations, costumes and overall production design are truly grand and the cinematography is gorgeous. John Williams provides the film with a score that fits perfectly and is one of his very best (which is really saying something) - perfectly displayed in the wonderfully psychedelic "wedding" scene designed by Maurice Bender. A modern version of an old fashioned horror film and brilliantly executed with class and style.