The prolific Spanish director Jesus Franco, who has helmed over 160 films, makes marginal movies. Essentially, Franco's films contain only vestiges of drama, urgency, and sentiment. The mystery is that Franco has made so many films when most qualify as unremarkable. Franco's "Count Dracula" surpasses most of his monotonous movies, but it too suffers from anemia. Christopher Lee made a name for himself playing the most celebrated vampire in English literature, Bram Stoker's immortal vampire, and the elegant but imposing actor reprises his role for Franco as Dracula. Admittedly, Franco and scenarist Harry Alan Towers, a.k.a. Peter Welbeck, of "The Blood of Fu Manchu" strove for greater fidelity to the classic novel. Nevertheless, they do take liberties with the narrative the undermine "Count Dracula." Chiefly, the budgetary boundaries that they confronted compelled them to eliminate Dracula's voyage to England on the Demeter and they have omitted the relationship between Jonathan Harker and R.M. Renfield. Although Lee and fellow co-stars Herbert Lom and Klaus Kinski give "Count Dracula" some credibility by appearing in it, their marquee value is negated by the lackluster storyline. Aside from the solid cast, the only other asset that "Count Dracula" boasts is Bruno Nicolai's brilliantly atmospheric orchestral score that injects some suspense and tension into this dreary stuff. Among other things, Nicolai served as the arranger and conductor for the legendary Ennio Morricone on most of his best soundtracks.
The story takes place in 1897. Wannabe attorney Jonathan Harker (Frederick Williams of "A Bridge Too Far") travels from England to Transylvania where he confers with Count Dracula (Christopher Lee of "Horror of Dracula") about a real estate property that the nobleman wants to purchase outside of London. The early scenes show Harker traveling by train to see the Count. He doesn't understand why some of the people that he meets want to keep their distance from him. At his hotel, the innkeeper's wife warns him of his impending danger. Harker takes a stagecoach to Count Dracula's castle. The first coach deposits him in the middle of the wilderness. After a short wait, another arrives with a coachman, suspiciously resembling the Count, who offers Harker a flash of whiskey with which he may fortify himself. Harker refuses the coachman's offer and climbs aboard the vehicle.
Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) meets Harker at his castle. "Enter freely and of your own will," the Count bids him without explanation. No sooner has Dracula shown Harker to his room than the Englishmen is puzzled by an unusual sight. The mirror in his room casts a reflection of himself but shows nothing of the Count standing alongside him. Later, Harker asks the white-haired, heavily mustached Dracula why he has chosen to leave his castle in the Carpathian wilds, he replied, "I am not young, but I am restless." Harker's comments prompt Dracula to relive the exploits of his bloody past when he helped to repulse the invading Turks. Finally, Dracula concludes his monologue, "The wind blows coldly through these broken battlements. Although this is my home, I must move on." Harker observes that he could have sent the Count the real estate papers through the mail. Disagreeing with Harker, Dracula explains that he wanted to learn something about the people and customs of his new home and so he invited Harker as his guest. At this point, Harker's hackles rise at the howls of wildlife around the castle. Dracula utters his immortal line. "Listen to them, the children of the night, what music they do make." Later, Dracula intervenes when three of his women are poised to suck every last drop of blood from a supine Harker's throat. As it turns out, Harker has been dreaming. He decides to escape from Dracula's castle and does a header out of a window. The next time that we see him, he is a patient in Dr. Seward's sanitarium. Dr. John Seward (Paul Muller of "Lady Frankenstein") operates an asylum for the mentally ill and one of his consulting colleagues is Professor Abraham Van Helsing (Herbert Lom of "Mysterious Island") who has been studying the 'black arts.' Seward explains to Harker's fiancée Mina Murray(Maria Rohm of "Twenty Four Hours to Kill") that her future husband was brought to his sanitarium because of the outrageous stories that he told about Count Dracula and an army of bats. Mina has been accompanied by her friend, Lucy (Soledad Miranda of "She Killed in Ecstasy"), and she faints when she hears one of the patients screaming. Later, we learn that R.M. Renfield (Klaus Kinski of "Nosferatu") is kept there because he told a trip to Transylvania. Renfield's daughter died from loss of blood and has been insane and eating insect since her demise. Meantime, Dracula has moved into the house across the road from Seward's clinic, unbeknownst to any of the occupants until Harker realizes later that the count is residing there. Mina walks in on Dracula sucking the blood out of Mina and we get the scariest shot in "Count Dracula." Eventually, Harker and Lucy's fiancée, Quincy (Jack Taylor) pursue Dracula and burn him in his coffin.
Believe it or not, "Count Dracula" surpasses the typical Franco fiasco. Lee delivers a terrific soliloquy in his castle about his valorous combat against the invading Turkish horde, but he doesn't have half as many lines after he forsakes his castle. Lee appears appropriately sinister, but he is rarely frightening. As perfectly cast as he is as Renfield, Kinski seems wasted in a peripheral role, while Herbert Lom fares best with more substantial role as Van Helsing. "Count Dracula" is clearly an example of 1970's film-making. Franco's long-time collaborator, lenser Manuel Merino relies heavily on zooms to indicate surprise and tension. Meanwhile, Franco directs with his customary lack of fanfare and rarely covers a scene with additional shots. The Spanish production values are good, but there aren't any scenes set in London. Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" is a far better retelling than Franco's "Count Dracula."
The story takes place in 1897. Wannabe attorney Jonathan Harker (Frederick Williams of "A Bridge Too Far") travels from England to Transylvania where he confers with Count Dracula (Christopher Lee of "Horror of Dracula") about a real estate property that the nobleman wants to purchase outside of London. The early scenes show Harker traveling by train to see the Count. He doesn't understand why some of the people that he meets want to keep their distance from him. At his hotel, the innkeeper's wife warns him of his impending danger. Harker takes a stagecoach to Count Dracula's castle. The first coach deposits him in the middle of the wilderness. After a short wait, another arrives with a coachman, suspiciously resembling the Count, who offers Harker a flash of whiskey with which he may fortify himself. Harker refuses the coachman's offer and climbs aboard the vehicle.
Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) meets Harker at his castle. "Enter freely and of your own will," the Count bids him without explanation. No sooner has Dracula shown Harker to his room than the Englishmen is puzzled by an unusual sight. The mirror in his room casts a reflection of himself but shows nothing of the Count standing alongside him. Later, Harker asks the white-haired, heavily mustached Dracula why he has chosen to leave his castle in the Carpathian wilds, he replied, "I am not young, but I am restless." Harker's comments prompt Dracula to relive the exploits of his bloody past when he helped to repulse the invading Turks. Finally, Dracula concludes his monologue, "The wind blows coldly through these broken battlements. Although this is my home, I must move on." Harker observes that he could have sent the Count the real estate papers through the mail. Disagreeing with Harker, Dracula explains that he wanted to learn something about the people and customs of his new home and so he invited Harker as his guest. At this point, Harker's hackles rise at the howls of wildlife around the castle. Dracula utters his immortal line. "Listen to them, the children of the night, what music they do make." Later, Dracula intervenes when three of his women are poised to suck every last drop of blood from a supine Harker's throat. As it turns out, Harker has been dreaming. He decides to escape from Dracula's castle and does a header out of a window. The next time that we see him, he is a patient in Dr. Seward's sanitarium. Dr. John Seward (Paul Muller of "Lady Frankenstein") operates an asylum for the mentally ill and one of his consulting colleagues is Professor Abraham Van Helsing (Herbert Lom of "Mysterious Island") who has been studying the 'black arts.' Seward explains to Harker's fiancée Mina Murray(Maria Rohm of "Twenty Four Hours to Kill") that her future husband was brought to his sanitarium because of the outrageous stories that he told about Count Dracula and an army of bats. Mina has been accompanied by her friend, Lucy (Soledad Miranda of "She Killed in Ecstasy"), and she faints when she hears one of the patients screaming. Later, we learn that R.M. Renfield (Klaus Kinski of "Nosferatu") is kept there because he told a trip to Transylvania. Renfield's daughter died from loss of blood and has been insane and eating insect since her demise. Meantime, Dracula has moved into the house across the road from Seward's clinic, unbeknownst to any of the occupants until Harker realizes later that the count is residing there. Mina walks in on Dracula sucking the blood out of Mina and we get the scariest shot in "Count Dracula." Eventually, Harker and Lucy's fiancée, Quincy (Jack Taylor) pursue Dracula and burn him in his coffin.
Believe it or not, "Count Dracula" surpasses the typical Franco fiasco. Lee delivers a terrific soliloquy in his castle about his valorous combat against the invading Turkish horde, but he doesn't have half as many lines after he forsakes his castle. Lee appears appropriately sinister, but he is rarely frightening. As perfectly cast as he is as Renfield, Kinski seems wasted in a peripheral role, while Herbert Lom fares best with more substantial role as Van Helsing. "Count Dracula" is clearly an example of 1970's film-making. Franco's long-time collaborator, lenser Manuel Merino relies heavily on zooms to indicate surprise and tension. Meanwhile, Franco directs with his customary lack of fanfare and rarely covers a scene with additional shots. The Spanish production values are good, but there aren't any scenes set in London. Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" is a far better retelling than Franco's "Count Dracula."