Dracula (1958 film)
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| Dracula | |
|---|---|
 US DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Terence Fisher |
| Produced by | Anthony Hinds |
| Written by | Novel: Bram Stoker Screenplay: Jimmy Sangster |
| Starring | Peter Cushing Christopher Lee Michael Gough Melissa Stribling Carol Marsh |
| Distributed by | Rank (UK) Universal (U.S.) |
| Release date(s) | 1958 |
| Running time | 82 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £81,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Dracula is a 1958 British horror film, and the first of a series of Hammer Horror films inspired by the Bram Stoker novel Dracula. It was directed by Terence Fisher, and stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. In the United States, the film was retitled Horror of Dracula to avoid confusion, and to avoid international copyright infringement, with the Tod Browning-directed Dracula (1931) starring Bela Lugosi as the Count.
Production began at Bray Studios on the 17 November 1957 with an investment of £81,000.[1] It is remembered for its pioneering combination of fantasy, romance and sexuality, and its unprecedented gore.
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[edit] Plot
Jonathan Harker arrives at the Count's castle posing as a librarian. He is startled inside the castle by a young woman begging his aid and claiming she is a prisoner. The woman looks horrified at the sight of Dracula on the stairs and runs out. Dracula then greets Jonathan and guides him to his room where he locks him in. Jonathan starts to write in his diary and his true intentions are revealed — he is here to kill Dracula.
The woman begs Jonathan to help the next evening and clutches at him. She leans against him as if crying but then bites his neck. Dracula arrives and yanks her off and fights with her. The pair depart and Jonathan is worried he might become a vampire. Jonathan descends to the coffin room where he finds Dracula and the woman in their coffins for sunrise. Armed with a stake he impales the female first. Dracula awakes at her screams. When Jonathan turns to Dracula's coffin it is empty and Dracula is waiting by the door for him.
The story truly begins after this when Dr. Van Helsing arrives looking for his friend Jonathan. He is horrified when he discovers Jonathan lying in a coffin as a vampire. Staking his friend, he leaves to deliver the horrifying news in person to Jonathan's fiancée Lucy, her brother Arthur Holmwood and his wife Mina Holmwood. Arthur is quick to dismiss Dr. Van Helsing but soon seeks his aid when Lucy falls ill. It's soon revealed that Dracula wishes, in an act of revenge, to replace the woman Jonathan took from him with Lucy.
Lucy becomes a vampire and tries to lure a young niece to her but the girl is saved by Dr. Van Helsing and Arthur. Dr. Van Helsing suggests using Lucy as a means to find Dracula but Arthur refuses and so Dr. Van Helsing stakes Lucy in her coffin.
Dr. Van Helsing and Arthur hear of a coffin recently arriving from Dracula's home and try to track it resorting to bribes. They finally arrive where the coffin should be but it appears to have vanished. They return home to find Mina in a strange state. Determined to find the coffin they plan to leave again but not before Arthur begs Mina to take a cross. Mina is very reluctant and when Arthur presses it into her hand she screams, jumps up and faints. A cross-shaped burn mark is found on her hand.
Dr. Van Helsing soon discovers Dracula's coffin in the basement and places a cross inside it. Dracula locks him in the basement and takes Mina whilst Arthur frees Dr. Van Helsing. A chase then begins as Dracula rushes to return home before sunrise. He attempts to bury Mina in the soil and finds Dr. Van Helsing and Arthur close behind and dashes into his home. Inside Dr. Van Helsing and Dracula battle it out, Dracula almost strangling Dr. Van Helsing. Dr. Van Helsing fakes a faint and escapes from Dracula's clutches. He tears open the curtain to let in the sunlight and, forming a cross of candlesticks, he forces Dracula into it. Mina regains her humanity, the cross-shaped scar fading from her hand as Dracula turns to ash and leaves only a ring behind.
[edit] Sequels
It was followed by seven sequels beginning with The Brides of Dracula in 1960. Peter Cushing returned as Professor Van Helsing, and David Peel played Baron Meinster, a descendent of Dracula and replacement for Christopher Lee. Lee returned as Dracula for the rest of the sequels, with the exception of The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, a.k.a. "The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula" (1973):
- Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)
- Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968)
- Taste the Blood of Dracula (1969)
- Scars of Dracula (1970)
- Dracula AD 1972 (1972)
- The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)
[edit] Trivia
- Both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee would later play villains in the Star Wars films, Grand Moff Tarkin and Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus, respectively.
- This movie is notable for a making a significant change to how vampires are depicted, as it is the first portrayal of vampires having fangs, which has become a mainstay in the genre.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ *Rigby, Jonathan, (2000). English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. ISBN 1-903111-01-3.
[edit] External links
| Characters of Dracula |
|---|
| Dracula | Jonathan Harker | Mina Harker | Abraham Van Helsing | Lucy Westenra | Renfield |
| Film Adaptations of Dracula |
| Nosferatu | Dracula (1931) | House of Dracula | Dracula (1958) | Count Dracula (1969) | Dracula (1979) | Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht | Love At First Bite | Bram Stoker's Dracula | Dracula: Dead and Loving It | Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary |
| Hammer Dracula films |
|---|
| Dracula Dracula (1958) | The Brides of Dracula (1960) | Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) | Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) | Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) | Scars of Dracula (1970) | Dracula AD 1972 (1972) | The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) |
