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Gag Gifts, Occasion Gifts - Dracula
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List Price: $14.98
Our Price: $9.99
Your Save: $ 4.99 ( 33% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Starring: Frank Langella, Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasence, Kate Nelligan, Trevor Eve
Directed By: John Badham
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Universal
EAN: 9780783255330
Format: Color
ISBN: 0783255330
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Universal Studios
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2004-10-19
Running Time: 109
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: 1979-07-20
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Editorial Reviews:
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The vampire count scales walls and visits bedrooms at an english manor: van helsing investigates. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 10/19/2004 Starring: Frank Langella Donald Pleasence Run time: 109 minutes Rating: R Director: John Badham
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Absolutely no bite, at all...
Comment: I wanted to like this. I guess that goes without saying, right? I mean, we always want to watch a good movie. So I guess the better way to say it would be that I was expecting this to be a good movie.
It isn't.
I hear that it seemed like a really good idea at the time, so maybe I can understand why they went ahead with the film. Frank Langella had revived Dracula on the stage and so bringing him to the screen seemed like a smart move. Sadly, Langella is the worst part of this movie.
We all know the story of Dracula, the undead ladies man with a taste for that warm red stuff that runs through your veins. In `Dracula' we meet Count Dracula after the ship he is on wrecks and he is washed ashore. He's found and nursed to health and is taken to by young Mina Van Helsing. He kills her. Then Dracula begins to court the likes of Lucy Seward, the beautiful friend of the late Mina, all the while Mina's father Abraham is trying to find his daughters killer.
Director John Badham really tries to give `Dracula' depth of darkness, but the chunky script provided by W.D. Richter really messes things up. You mix the lackluster script with Badham's brooding direction and you have a rather boring adaptation instead of what could have been intelligent and disturbing. The special effects are a highlight, at least some of them, but Langella's ridiculous hair and makeup make a lot of what could have been neat appear to be nothing more than a joke. Watching him scale a wall is rather funny.
Speaking of Langella, could he be any more boring?
The acting here is a big sore spot. I remember hearing people claim that this was closest Langella ever came to an Oscar nomination. How? He was stiff and completely lacking of any charm. Worse yet, when he was supposed to be eerie and scary he was hokey and borderline comical. I couldn't see any reason why any woman would be drawn to him. Donald Pleasence and Laurence Olivier aren't much better really. In fact, the only highlight I can think of is the luminous Kate Nelligan who actually convinces as the swooning and manipulated Lucy.
I'd skip this one, entirely. There are many other vampire films with real edge, with a little more bite so-to-speak. If you want a good unintentional laugh then put this one in. You can even hit mute. Watching Langella drift around in the darkness looking like a gothic clown is pretty hysterical.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Stylish, Elegant Classic
Comment: This 1979 version of Dracula is a beautiful film, harkening back to the old classic style horror film. Wonderfully cast, Frank Langella is a compelling Dracula, in an underplayed and very naturalistic performance, brimming with charm, elegence and intensity. Likewise Kate Nelligan, Lord Laurence Olivier and Donald Pleasance also give very memorable performances. The film is light on gore, stately paced and heavy on beautiful and engrossing gothic atmosphere. The sets, locations, costumes and overall production design are truly grand and the cinematography is gorgeous. John Williams provides the film with a score that fits perfectly and is one of his very best (which is really saying something) - perfectly displayed in the wonderfully psychedelic "wedding" scene designed by Maurice Bender. A modern version of an old fashioned horror film and brilliantly executed with class and style.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Frank Langella is the best Dracula
Comment: I've read Bram Stoker's original novel and enjoy seeing different film versions of the Dracula story. I especially enjoy seeing different actors' take on the titular character. To properly review this 1979 version with Frank Langella allow me to briefly comment on the various Dracula films and actors in the starring role:
Bela Lugosi in "Dracula" (1931 b&w): Lugosi has the quintessential Drac accent and is charismatic in the role, but the film itself is very dated and most modern viewers will find it boring and unappealing. The film is short at a mere 75 minutes, but I can never manage to get through it.
Christopher Lee in the Hammer film series (1958-1973): Christopher is evil incarnate in the role; unfortunately he comes off one-dimensional and therefore a bit boring (he rarely ever speaks), not to mention he gets very little screen time in the grand scheme of things. The series has its share of good moments ("Tastes the Blood of Dracula"), bad ("The Satanic Rites of Dracula"), decent ("Horror of") and bizarre ("Dracula A.D. 1972").
Jack Palance in "Dracula" (1973): This is a surprisingly effective made-for-tv version of the tale. Palance is sympathetic as a man in miserable bondage to vampirism. Quite good despite its tv-oriented limitations.
Gary Oldman in Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1992): This one is visually oppulent and captivating throughout the first half. Unfortunately Oldman is unmemorable in the titular role and is only effective as the old-man Dracula seen at the beginning. Later in the story he does a great imitation of John Lennon (lol). Despite its title the film is not truly faithful to its source. Dracula here is portrayed as a not-truly-bad victim of severe love-sickness rather than a paragon of unadulterated evil as portrayed by Stoker. Still, the first half is loaded with great scenes, including Drac's Brides' seduction of Harker and the subsequent horrifying baby sacrifice. The second half unfortunately loses the film's initial captivating appeal.
Which brings us to Frank Langella's take on the character in this 1979 version. Langella plays Dracula as a gentleman with serious dark charm. Behind this facade lurks beastial evil, total arrogance and powerful supernatural abilities. The story shows that Dracula can seduce just about any woman with his hypnotic powers and dark charisma; he can also climb walls upside down and morph into a creature of the night at a whim. The story shows his weaknesses as well, which Van Helsing (Laurence Olivier) and his partner (Donald Pleasence) take advantage of.
Another highlight is Kate Nelligan's effective portrayal of Lucy, whom Drac chooses as his vampire bride.
In addition, more than any other Dracula film this one features the best dialogue bits, e.g. "Time is on my side. In a century when you are dust I will call and awaken Lucy my queen from her grave," "You fools -- You think with your crosses and your waffers you can destroy me? I AM THE KING OF MY KIND," etc. (The band Helstar utilized quotes from this film for their 1989 masterpiece NOSFERATU).
The story completely omits the initial Transylvania sequence, opting to start with Drac's arrival in England on a mysterious shipwreck of dead men. Ordinarily I'd object to this since I love that creepy opening sequence, but it works here. The rest of the film plays loose with Stoker's novel, but all the necessary elements are here. This works for those who are bored with the basic Dracula tale and require fresh ideas to stay interested.
PERSONAL RATING: A-
Customer Rating:
Summary: FRANK LANGELLA AS DRACULA
Comment: OH MY GOODNESS.HE WAS THE BEST ONE EVER PLAYED,BESIDES BEING BEAUTIFUL AND CHARMING HE WAS SUCH A GREAT PERFORMER,ALTHOUGH THEY SHOULD HAVE MADE A SWITCH IN THE LADIES,LUCY SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE GIRL HE KILLED, AND THE ONE WHO WAS LUCY SHOULDVE GOTTEN THE AX,BUT THE PERFORMANCES IN ALL WAS EXCEPTIONALLY GRAND. LANGELLA I WANTED TO MARRY U FROM THE TIME I SEEN THIS PERFORMANCE. SMACK!!!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Simply the best Dracula.
Comment: This is simply the best Dracula film ever made. Atmospheric, lavish, romantic gothic and erotic. There are other Dracula films that have charms of their own, but this brings a new and unique presentation to the classical theatrical Dracula. If you want fangs and gore, get a Hammer Films version.
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