Dracula (1979)

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Movie
German title Dracula
Original title Dracula
Country of production USA , UK
original language English
Publishing year 1979
length 110 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director John Badham
script Bram Stoker ( novel )
Hamilton Deane
John L. Balderston
W.D. Richter
production Marvin Mirisch
Walter Mirisch
Tom Pevsner
music John Williams
camera Gilbert Taylor
cut John Bloom
occupation

Dracula is a horror , love , film drama from director John Badham in 1979 with Frank Langella in the title role. The film is a remake of the classic of the same name starring Bela Lugosi and is also based on the play by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston .

action

The Transylvanian Count Dracula travels to England, where he wants to move into his new home in a half-ruined castle in the immediate vicinity of an insane asylum.

Dr. Seward, the director of the institution, invites the new neighbor to an evening reception, where he meets his daughter Lucy and her ailing friend Mina. The two ladies, especially Mina, are immediately fascinated by the charming guest from wild Eastern Europe. On the following day, Mina's already ailing health continued to decline, showing all signs of anemia until she finally died. She fell under Dracula's spell and was killed by the bloodthirsty vampire.

Seward notifies Mina's father, Professor van Helsing, who immediately orders an exhumation after several people, mostly children, disappear in the neighborhood and even an inmate of the institution claims that her baby was killed by the deceased. It is found that the body has disappeared and that there are catacombs and vaults just below the tomb, through which one can get to practically anywhere in the city. There they meet the undead Mina, who immediately tries to attack van Helsing and Seward. But her father drives a stake through her heart at the last second.

Professor van Helsing succeeds in unmasking Dracula as the origin of the evil; however, this managed to ensnare Lucy. Together with her he wants to flee back to Transylvania by ship in order to make her his bride for eternity. Van Helsing and Lucy's fiancé, Jonathan Harker, take up the chase and put the vampire prince on board the sailing ship. The professor tries to stake Dracula, but is impaled by him with his own stake. With the last of his strength, the dying man succeeds in ramming the hook of a winch into the vampire's back, whereupon Harker actuates the mechanism.

Dracula is dragged up from the hold into the rays of the sun, which has now risen, where he crumbles to ashes; only his black cloak remains, which, like a bat, is carried away by the wind.

Reviews

The film was received in part controversial and heavily criticized. Well-known film critics , such as Bodo Fründt vom Stern, for example, found that the film could "soften the knees of American housewives audiences" , while the film service spoke of a certain "loss of appetite" that is evident over the entire length of the film. Film observer critic J. M. Thie said that the director only achieved "routine mediocrity" with his staging and that the actors act listless and out of place, especially the main actor Frank Langella. In contrast, the magazine acknowledges tip one that "former strip" sometimes "juicier, more powerful and even more exciting" , but not "so beautiful" were.

  • Cinema : “Langella embodies the Transylvanian throat fetishist as a gentleman to whom his victims indulge in suicidal lust. The gruesome bloodsucker à la Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee is out, the new one values ​​manners and way of life! "
  • Lexicon of international film : A version of the classic material that works with the stylistic devices of the fairytale-like opera-like equipment, excellently photographed and carefully staged.
  • Die Zeit , October 12, 1979: Despite the exquisite decorations, the first-class actors (Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasance, Kate Nelligan), the excellent music (John Williams), the careful tricks - some of the earlier versions shot on a more modest budget were very many more passionate, more lustful. This is a "Dracula" especially for art cinema goers: who only appreciate the dazzling fascination of evil when the terrible is presented in a tasteful way.

DVD release

  • Dracula / November 6, 2009 / Winkler Film

Others

  • Donald Pleasence was originally offered the role of van Helsing. However, he declined because he found the part too similar to his role as Dr. Loomis from the Halloween film series . Instead he accepted the smaller role of Dr. Seward.
  • The names of the two female roles have been swapped, so here Lucy is shown as "the heroine", while Mina is "the ailing victim".
  • The family connections have also changed: Lucy is the daughter of the director of the institution, Dr. Seward and Mina the daughter of Professor Abraham van Helsing.
  • Frank Langella is the first count since Bela Lugosi whose fangs are not shown.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Ronald M. Hahn, Volker Jansen: Lexicon of the horror film . Bastei-Lübbe, 1985, page 103
  2. ↑ Dracula. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ↑ Film tips . In: Die Zeit , No. 42/1979