Dracula (1973)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Dracula |
| Original title | Dan Curtis' Dracula |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1973 |
| length | 100 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Dan Curtis |
| script | Richard Matheson |
| production | Dan Curtis Robert Singer |
| music | Bob Cobert |
| camera | Oswald Morris |
| cut | Richard A. Harris |
| occupation | |
| |
Dracula is a 1973 British television horror film based on Bram Stoker 's novel of the same name . Directed by Dan Curtis . The title role was played by Jack Palance . The television production essentially follows the novel and does not require gross depictions of violence. The main focus of the film is on its meticulous, sometimes colorful, Victorian- style decor . It was also shown under the title Count Dracula .
action
The lawyer Jonathan Harker travels to the castle of Count Dracula in Transylvania to buy a property in England. The withdrawn aristocrat, however, quickly turns out to be a bloodthirsty vampire who is after Lucy Westenra, the best friend of Jonathan's fiancé Mina, because he believes he recognizes the rebirth of his great love in her. Dracula forces Jonathan to write letters to his employer and to his family that would excuse his long absence, after which he leaves him to his vampiric playmates and sets off on a trip to England.
The Demeter runs aground on the English coast, only Dracula and the dead captain, tied to the steering wheel, are found. Shortly thereafter, Lucy’s health rapidly declined. Desperate, her fiancé, Arthur Holmwood, turns to Dr. Van Helsing, who soon suspects what is really behind Lucy's mysterious illness. Dracula, meanwhile, is awash with memories of his past life. Memories of his desperation when he stood guard at his wife's deathbed and it took several men to stop his anger. At that time he dedicated himself to the dark forces in order to defy death. After Lucy dies and is resurrected a vampire, she visits Arthur to bite him, but is pushed back by Van Helsing with a crucifix. Arthur and Van Helsing pursue her into her crypt and drive a wooden stake through her heart. When Dracula comes to her a little later and notices that his great love has been stolen from him for the second time, he becomes furious and swears to take everything they love from his adversaries.
He attacks Mina, bites her neck and forces her to drink of his blood in front of Holmwood and Van Helsing. Then he flees back to Transylvania. With Mina's help, they can follow the Count's trail to his castle, as the unholy blood connection enables her to see through his eyes. Arrived at Dracula Castle, Dr. Van Helsing and Arthur Holmwood initially oppose the count's vampire wives and Jonathan, who is now a vampire himself. The great confrontation with Dracula takes place in one of the halls. At first the vampire lord seems to have an advantage, but at the last moment Arthur realizes that day has come and pulls the heavy curtains aside. Sunlight rushes in and the count retreats in horror to the wall, where Van Helsing impales him with an old spear. Above him hangs a painting that shows him during his lifetime with his beloved wife, who looks very similar to Lucy.
Reviews
- Cinema : “ An atmospherically rather slack version of the vampire saga. "
- Lexicon of international film : “ Well interpreted and photographed, the film offers undemanding but atmospherically appealing horror entertainment. "
- Hans D. Furrer, Vampir Filmzeitschrift: “ Jack Palance is a Dracula that is well worth seeing, albeit of a different kind than Christopher Lee . He may appear less demonic and less self-confident, and if he dreams of his glorious past in flashbacks, he may even be a little sentimental [...]. It is a sign of the times that this 'bloodless' (and also not peppered with sex scenes) Dracula film adaptation […] was described as old-fashioned. People want to see the stake dig its way through the heart these days. You want to watch the vampire turn to dust. What is lost is what was left to the imagination of the audience in old films and stimulated them. The old-fashioned is only positive in Dan Curtis' Dracula. "
Others
- The television premiere of the film was postponed due to the resignation of US Vice President Spiro T. Agnew .
- Leading actor Jack Palance said he was happy when filming ended. He, as a Method Actor , stated that he was already more absorbed in the role of Dracula than he liked.
- This television film, largely forgotten today, introduces the motif of the historical Vlad Țepeș in a film for the first time . The theory, popularized by Raymond McNally and Radu Florescu in their book In Search of Dracula in 1972 and no longer corresponds to the current state of research, was only taken up by Francis Ford Coppola for his Oscar-winning film adaptation Bram Stoker's Dracula .
literature
- Bram Stoker : Dracula . German by Karl Bruno Leder. Insel, Frankfurt a. M./Leipzig 2004, ISBN 3-458-34803-4 .
DVD release
- 2004: Count Dracula. Power Station GmbH.
Web links
- Dracula at the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dracula. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ cf. Ronald M. Hahn and Volker Jansen: Lexicon of the horror film. Bastei-Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1989, ISBN 3-404-13175-4 .