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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: MPI
EAN: 0030306812793
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Special Edition, NTSC
Label: MPI Home Video
Manufacturer: MPI Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MPI Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: February 27, 2007
Running Time: 98 minutes
Sales Rank: 25653
Studio: MPI Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1973
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Editorial Review:
Description:
Count Dracula is a highly atmospheric adaptation of the classic Bram Stoker novel, directed with panache by auteur Jess Franco (Venus in Furs, The Diabolical Dr. Z).
Screen icon Christopher Lee (Horror of Dracula, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) portrays the titular Count Dracula, who flees the cold confines of his Carpathian castle for the shores of England, where he must feed on the blood of beautiful Lucy (Soledad Miranda, Vampyros Lesbos) and Mina (Maria Rohm, 99Women) in order to grow youthful and stay alive.
Also featuring excellent performances by Herbert Lom (The Ladykillers) as Van Helsing and Klaus Kinski (Nosferatu the Vampyre) as Renfield, as well as an ominous score by Bruno Nicolai (Eugenie de Sade, The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave), Count Dracula is presented for the first time on DVD in the U.S.
Amazon.com:
Jess Franco, the Spanish director known for soft-core films featuring vixens in various precarious situations, successfully incorporates Bram Stoker's Dracula into his repertoire with Count Dracula. Starring Hammer's Dracula Christopher Lee, this film is unrelated to the Hammer films, to its credit. This film may be the most accurate telling of Stoker's classic vampire story, so faithful is it to the novel, even to include many of the book's lines in the script. With an array of truly Gothic, medieval sets, and a cast well-versed in horror, including Klaus Kinski (Werner Herzog's Nosferatu) as Renfield, and Soledad Miranda (Vampyros Lesbos) as Lucy, Count Dracula authentically captures Stoker's careful blend of physical monstrosity and sexual fetish to portray the Count's quest for eternal life. For example, few vampire films besides Franco's take time to feature Lucy and her lover Quincy's blood transfusions that reinforce blood's metaphoric connection to sexual desire. Moreover, Maria Rohm plays Mina Harker with the proper innocence to serve as a foil character to her promiscuous friend, Lucy. Dr. Van Helsing, in this film, gets ample opportunity to sleuth vampirism. Franco relays the story of this Transylvanian count who leaves his castle in the Carpathian mountains for a house in England by accentuating the sexual aspects of the plot, which is what any Franco fan would hope for. Additionally enlightening is this DVD's featurette, in which Franco describes his theories about vampire films. --Trinie Dalton
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - count dracula
another great film christopher lee did, very different from the other ones he did. this is the last of the dracula films he did.
Rating: - Much better than the television version!
When I initially saw this film many years ago on television, I thought it was schlock. I didn't care for the liberties Franco had taken with Bram Stoker's novel, apparently altering the plot to "improve" it, or the choppy editing and sudden closeups. All in all, I felt like I'd wasted my time. Still, being a collector and a completist, I decided to purchase this DVD. I'm very glad that I did.
This uncut version of "Count Dracula," while it occasionally strays from Stoker's original text, does follow the novel far more closely than any other movie version I've seen. Despite being filmed in color, it retains a great deal of the eerie atmosphere exuded by the earlier black and white Tod Browning/Bela Lugosi version. There are no sumptuous castle interiors, a la Hammer, nor is there excessive gore. Many things are surprisingly understated and spare. There's an occasional splash of blood, but a lot is left to the imagination, which actually works in the film's favor.
I think I recall having read that this was Lee's favorite Dracula portrayal. Considering the amount of material taken directly from the book, that's understandable. For example, Dracula is an old man when Jonathan Harker first encounters him, and he progressively becomes younger as he feeds upon new victims - something often left out of other adaptations. We're treated to the Count here as Stoker most likely envisioned him: gaunt, mysterious, alternately subdued and terrifying, the unconquerable warrior, ... Read More
Rating:  - Classic Horror
Classic telling of the Brom Stoker story.Well worth veiwing; it has atmosphere, and Christopher Lee.
Rating:  - Jess Franco's Count Dracula
Atmospheric as promised. Christopher Lee is great as Dracula. It's the
worst dubbing I've ever seen. If they're going to the trouble of putting
this on DVD with a great build-up the least they could is re-dub it. If
you are considering buying this I'd say rent it instead.
Rating: - Christopher Lee IS the modern day king of the Vampires
One can argue that Christopher Lee's portrayal of the undead count is one of filmland's best. Famous for the Hammer series of Dracula films , Lee is directed by Jesse Franco, who's attempt at telling the tale as Bram Stoker intended falls flat in some areas. Lee's Dracula has always had a menacing aura about it, filled with lust and evil, but here we find a more subdued count with less screen appeal than in previous incantations. The supporting cast is weak (excluding Herbert Lom whose presence is always powerful) with no real substance. Klaus Kinski plays a crazy, but odd part. Maybe it's just that I am so used to Lee in Hammer's versions, with the great sets, costumes and heart punding musical scores,that I just can't get out of this film what his previous films bring. Lee has portrayed the count on film more times than any other actor. Unless you are a die-hard Lee or Franco fan, skip this one and get the entire Hammer collection of Dracula films, you won't be sorry! I gave this film 3 stars only because it is Lee as Dracula, and watching him act is always a treat!
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