This article comes from Den of Geek UK.
Draculais one of the classic monster stories.
Its the quintessential vampire tale.
Its silent, black and white, and gorgeous.
Luckily for us, one survived.
Theres nothing seductive about him, hes just terrifying.
Especially now that were jaded and cynical about special effects and CGI.
Because this film looks scarier than anything created on a computer, and its all real.
Dracula (1931)
Who plays Dracula?Bela Lugosi.
Here, its Renfield, not Jonathan, who goes out to meet Dracula in his castle in Transylvania.
Its beautiful to look at, for one thing.
Dracula (1958)
Who plays Dracula?Christopher Lee.
Whats the story?ItsDracula, but slightly wonky.
He fails, leaving Van Helsing to take up the hunt.
Its still Mina who has to fight to extricate herself from Draculas clutches in the end.
But whats special about it today is the cast.
Sesame Street (1972)
Who plays Dracula?Originally Jerry Nelson, and now Matt Vogel.
Whats the story?Okay, this is kind of a cheat.
The Count loves to, er, count.
Hes basically the most adorable incarnation of Dracula youll ever find.
Blacula (1972)
Who plays Dracula?Charles Macaulay.
Whats the story?This film is about one of Draculas proteges, rather than Dracula himself.
What makes it special?Isnt the idea of a blaxploitation take onDraculaspecial enough for you?
The fashion is glorious, and the music is wonderful too.
Blood for Dracula (1974)
Who plays Dracula?Udo Kier.
Bram Stokers Dracula (1992)
Who plays Dracula?Gary Oldman.
Knowing suicide is a sin, Dracula figures shes damned and turns against God himself, becoming a vampire.
The rest of theDraculastory is intact, but with a side of overly dramatic tragic romance.
But it gets points for keeping all the characters in their places.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2000)
Who plays Dracula?Rudolf Martin.
What makes it special?Theres something about crossovers thats always oddly irresistible.
(Spikes indignation is a particular highlight.)
This episode is mostly just fun.
Dracula 2000 (2000)
Who plays Dracula?Gerard Butler.
(Who just happens to be Van Helsings daughter.)
What makes it special?It kind of shouldnt be, because its so silly.
Its got that self-aware, slightly camp late-90s horror thing going on, and its never actually scary.
What makes it special?Lets be clear about this,Blade Trinityis a pretty terrible film.
Those things just about make it worth watching, but forDraculasuper-fans, it hasnt got much to offer.
Purcells Dracula is apparently meant to be charismatic, but he just comes off dull and thuggish.
This feature was originally posted in October 2013.
