Nachts, wenn Dracula erwacht (1970)

Director:

Jesus Franco

Writers:

Bram Stoker (novel) and
Dietmar Behnke (dialogue: German version)

Release Date:

1973 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Jess Franco's version of the Bram Stoker classic has Count Dracula as an old man who grows younger whenever he dines on the blood of young maidens.

Plot Keywords:

Blood | Dracula | Vampire | Child Murder | Infanticide

Cast

Christopher Lee	...	Count Dracula
Herbert Lom	...	Prof. Abraham Van Helsing
Klaus Kinski	...	R.M Renfield
Soledad Miranda	...	Lucy Westenra
Maria Rohm	...	Mina Murray
Fred Williams	...	Jonathan Harker
Paul Muller	...	Dr. John Seward (as Paul Müller)
Jack Taylor	...	Quincey Morris
Jesús Puente	...	Minister of Interior
José Martínez Blanco	...	Traveller / Dr. Seward (voice: Spanish version) (as J. Martinez Blanco)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Franco Castellani

Also Known As:

Count Dracula (UK) (USA)
Bram Stoker's Count Dracula
Dracula 71
El conde Drácula (Spain)
Il conte Dracula (Italy)
Il demone nero (Italy)
Nachts, wenn Dracula erwacht (West Germany)
The Nights of Dracula

Runtime:

98 min | UK:97 min | Sweden:91 min

Country:

Spain | West Germany | Italy | Liechtenstein

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | Spain:13 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:12 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Company:

Corona Filmproduktion

Trivia:

Christopher Lee was reportedly tired of playing Dracula and was convinced to join the cast only after being promised that the film would be a faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula novel. The film, however, ultimately made numerous significant changes to the story.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dracula burns up at the end, the skeleton which remains has no fangs.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook (1991)

Copolla should have watched this before making his

With "El Conde Dracula" Jess Franco has made an extrordinary Vampire film. While not with out it's faults, the mangling of the plot and the compressing of some characters into each other, the film is saved by wonderful atmosphere and top notch acting- most notably from Christopher Lee as the titular Count, Klaus Kinski as the Mad Renfeild and Herbert Lom as Van Helsing. Lom, at first, appears to be walking through his role, but as the movie progresses, his Van Helsing becomes so subtly shaded as to rival Dracula for the viewers attention. A fine film that would have benifited from a larger budget (Note the German Shepherds which stand in for wolves!), "El Conde Dracula" can be enjoyed by the vampire novice as well as the enthusiast. This is the first major Dracula film to depict the Counts "Lizard Crawl" down the Castle Wall and the wolf attack on the grieving mother. Highly recommended.