COUNT DRACULA (1970) – Episode 179 – Decades Of Horror 1970s

“Over 50 years ago, Bram Stoker wrote the greatest of all horror stories. Now, for the first time, we retell exactly as he wrote, one of the first – and still the best – tales of the macabre.” Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they get sucked into their first film directed by Jess Franco, Count Dracula (1970), starring no less than Christopher Lee, Herbert Lom, and Klaus Kinski.

Decades of Horror 1970s
Episode 179 – Count Dracula (1970)

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Count Dracula, a gray-haired vampire who regains his youth by dining on the blood of maidens, is pursued in London and Transylvania by Professor Van Helsing, Jonathan Harker, and Quincey Morris after he victimizes them and their loved ones.

 

• Director: Jesús Franco
• Writers: Augusto Finocchi, Jesús Franco; Bram Stoker (from the novel by)
• Selected cast:
  • Christopher Lee as Count Dracula
  • Herbert Lom as Professor Abraham Van Helsing
  • Klaus Kinski as R.M. Renfield
  • Frederick Williams as Jonathan Harker
  • Maria Rohm as Mina Murray
  • Soledad Miranda as Lucy Westenra
  • Paul Muller as Dr. John “Jack” Seward
  • Jack Taylor as Quincey Morris
  • Jesús Puente as the Minister of Interior
  • Franco Castellani as Renfield’s Warden
  • Emma Cohen as Vampire Woman (uncredited)
  • Jesús Franco as Van Helsing’s servant (uncredited)

Sir Christopher Lee is perhaps the best Dracula on film. (Okay, you could argue Bela Lugosi – that’s fair.) He’s most famous for playing the Count in the series of Hammer films from (Horror of) Dracula (1958) to The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973). However, he also teamed up with Jess Franco to deliver a “truer” adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel in Count Dracula (1970). Notable actors Herbert Lom and Klaus Kinski are also on board as Van Helsing and Renfield respectively. So, how does this version stand up against the Hammer Horror films and the Universal Monster movies? The 70s Grue-Crew is here to find out and they are pleasantly surprised . . . for the most part.

At the time of this writing, Count Dracula is available to stream from Wicked Horror TV, Tubi, Kanopy, Crackle, Plex, Crackle, Filmzie, and various PPV options. In terms of physical media, the film is currently available as a Blu-ray from Severin.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode in their very flexible schedule will be The Possessed (1977), another one of those TV horror movies of the 1970s. You might recognize some of the cast.

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