Count Dracula (1977)
Encyclopedia
Count Dracula is a British television
adaptation
of the famous novel
Dracula
by Bram Stoker
. It first aired in December 1977. It is among the more faithful of the many adaptations of the original book. Louis Jourdan played the title role.
. The scene then shifts to the Borgo Pass where Harker is left alone by the local driver. He flatly refuses to wait for Harker and tosses his luggage out before driving away. Soon, another carriage approaches, from Castle
Dracula (presumably) but the coachman does not speak. After reaching the ruined castle, Harker emerges and the coach drives away. Then Dracula himself opens the door for him, uttering the famous line "Welcome to my house. Enter freely and of your own will."
Harker, a solicitor
, is there to expedite Count Dracula's purchase of several properties in England, including Carfax Abbey. The Count is urbane and gracious, but also vaguely sinister. He insists Harker stay for a month to tutor him on the finer points of English
. As time goes by, Harker witnesses increasingly bizarre events. The Count—who has fangs and long fingernails—casts no reflection in the mirror. Twice Harker spots the Count crawling head first down the outside wall of the castle, seemingly defying gravity. Finally, he violates the Count's rules and goes to sleep in the library, where three beautiful women appear and seem to entrance him—until interrupted by Dracula himself, who gives the three a baby, which they devour. Harker explores and finds the Count asleep in a coffin, then tries to kill him with a shovel (which has no effect).
In England
, Mina and Lucy go to the seaside town of Whitby
and befriend an old sailor named Swales who tells them stories. One day, the three of them are atop a hill as a storm approaches, and the sailor notes a ship is in the storm, en route.
This ship is the Demeter
, which goes aground. Swales is found dead the next morning, at the very spot where he'd last seen and chatted with Mina and Lucy.
Dr. John Seward, owner of a local asylum
, is friendly with the Westenra family as well as Quincey Holmwood, an American
diplomat who has become engaged to Lucy. Among Seward's patients is the madman Renfield who is somehow aware of Dracula's arrival, and worships (yet fears) him. Then, one night, Lucy goes sleepwalking into the local graveyard
. Mina follows and briefly spots Dracula holding Lucy in his arms. From that night on, Lucy begins to change. She grows pale and weak, but rallies after sunset, and also begins to sport tiny fangs. While everyone worries over her, she welcomes Dracula to her bedroom where he drinks her blood.
Seward finally call on his friend Abraham Van Helsing for help with Lucy's strange illness. He almost immediately recognizes the signs and protects the girl's bedroom with garlic
. Meanwhile, Mina receives word that Jonathan has turned up in a convent in Budapest
, weak and delirious (having escaped from the castle). She goes to be with, and marry him. While she is gone, a final attack happens at the Westenra home as a wolf crashes through Lucy's bedroom window. The shock kills her mother (who has a weak heart). When found, Lucy is sprawled across the bed, pale and nearly dead.
As she fades, her manner shifts from her pure self to a kind of wild voluptuousness. When she finally dies, Van Helsing notices the wounds on her throat have vanished—and that she no longer casts a reflection.
Mina returns, deeply saddened at the loss of her family. Van Helsing takes Seward to Lucy's grave near dawn. They find a child nearby, dazed and talking about the "Bloofer lady" (i.e. "beautiful lady") and with tell-tale fang marks on his throat.
Van Helsing insists Seward and Quincey accompany him to Lucy's grave, where they see her approach—blood on her lips and gown. She speaks lovingly to Quincey, who nearly succumbs but flees when Van Helsing shows her a cross. In the tomb, Van Helsing explains what must be done and Quincey drives a wooden stake into Lucy's heart. Later, the professor fills her mouth with garlic and cuts off her head.
Harker, Van Helsing, Seward and Quincey all go to Carfax Abbey to sterilize the boxes of his native earth Dracula has had shipped there. They don't realize that now Dracula is visiting Mina and has bitten her. But Renfield does realize, and seeks to warn her and Seward. In revenge Dracula kills him, but before he dies Renfield manages to warn the men—who rush to Mina's bedroom, only to find her drinking blood from Dracula's chest. Dracula himself vanishes as they enter. Mina becomes hysterical, especially after Van Helsing touches her forehead with a piece of Holy Wafer
and it sears her flesh. From that moment on, until Dracula's demise, she carries the scar as well as slightly noticeable fangs.
As they continue to find Dracula's boxes, rendering them useless to him with crosses and the Host, they realize he must flee back to his castle. They follow. Eventually, Van Helsing and Mina go directly overland to the Castle while the others follow Dracula's coffin, transported by Gypsies. In the Transylvanian wilderness, Dracula's brides approach the pair, but Van Helsing draws a circle around them, filling it with pieces of Holy Wafer. The Brides cannot pass, although they call to Mina to join them, naming her "Sister". The next morning, Van Helsing goes into the Castle, driving wooden stakes in each of the Brides' hearts (and Mina, sleeping, evidently feels the blows).
Finally, there is a chase. Harker, Seward and Quincey are chasing the carriage that carries Dracula's coffin. In the process, they must fight Gypsies loyal to Dracula. At one point, Harker is saved when Mina shoots a threatening Gypsy with a rifle. With hardly a moment to spare, the pursuers reach the coffin and pull off its cover. Inside, Dracula smiles noticing that it is almost sunset. But Van Helsing drives a long wooden stake into the vampire
's heart, and his body erupts into a mini-sandstorm. All that is left are his clothes and ashes.
and the novel
:
Brett Cullum of DVD Verdict said the special effects were the film's "biggest downfall" and that it was "perhaps the least visually interesting" Dracula adaptation, though he offered a mostly positive review, remarking that there is "plenty to admire in the production", in particular the "sublime acting". MaryAnn Johanson of FlickFilosopher.com was less positive, writing: "Maybe it had more of an impact in the 70s ... but today, while it remains a stylishly surreal reinterpretation of Bram Stoker’s novel, there’s something a bit dated and stodgy about it."
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
adaptation
Adaptation
An adaptation in biology is a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection. An adaptation refers to both the current state of being adapted and to the dynamic evolutionary process that leads to the adaptation....
of the famous novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
by Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
. It first aired in December 1977. It is among the more faithful of the many adaptations of the original book. Louis Jourdan played the title role.
Cast
- Louis Jourdan as Count DraculaCount DraculaCount Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...
- Frank FinlayFrank FinlayFrancis Finlay, CBE is an English stage, film and television actor.-Personal life:Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay, a butcher. A devout Catholic, he belongs to the British Catholic Stage Guild. He was educated at St...
as Abraham Van HelsingAbraham Van HelsingProfessor Abraham van Helsing is a protagonist from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.Van Helsing is a Dutch doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc." The character is best known as a... - Susan PenhaligonSusan PenhaligonSusan Penhaligon is a British actress and writer, she is probably best known for her appearances in the controversial 1976 drama Bouquet of Barbed Wire and several ongoing roles in UK television series.-Early days:...
as Lucy Westenra - Judi BowkerJudi BowkerJudi Bowker is an English television and cinema actress. Her roles include Princess Andromeda in the 1981 film version of Clash of the Titans and Saint Clare in Franco Zeffirelli's 1972 film Brother Sun, Sister Moon.-Biography:...
as Mina Westenra - Jack Shepherd as RenfieldRenfieldR. M. Renfield is a fictional character in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.-In the novel:A description of Renfield from the novel:R. M. Renfield, aetat 59. Sanguine temperament, great physical strength, morbidly excitable,...
- Mark BurnsMark BurnsMark Burns was an English film and television actor.Burns was born in Bromsgrove in the county of Worcestershire and educated at Ampleforth College, North Yorkshire...
as Dr. John SewardJohn SewardJohn Seward, M.D. is a fictional character appearing in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.-In the novel:Seward is the administrator of an insane asylum not far from Count Dracula's first English home, Carfax. Throughout the novel, Seward conducts ambitious interviews with one of his patients,... - Bosco HoganBosco HoganBosco Hogan is an Irish actor of stage, screen and television.He is best known as Dr. Michael Ryan on Ballykissangel. He appeared in a minor role as convicted felon George Saden in John Boorman's film Zardoz , but his first major film role was as Stephen Dedalus in the 1977 Joseph Strick film...
as Jonathan HarkerJonathan HarkerJonathan Harker is one of the main protagonists in the 1897 horror novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. His journey to Transylvania and encounter with Count Dracula and the Brides of Dracula at Castle Dracula constitutes the dramatic opening scenes in the novel and most of the film adaptations.-In the... - Richard Barnes as Quincey P. Holmwood
Plot summary
Lucy Westenra spies on her sister Mina saying farewell to the latter's fiancée, Jonathan Harker. He is leaving on a business trip to TransylvaniaTransylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. The scene then shifts to the Borgo Pass where Harker is left alone by the local driver. He flatly refuses to wait for Harker and tosses his luggage out before driving away. Soon, another carriage approaches, from Castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
Dracula (presumably) but the coachman does not speak. After reaching the ruined castle, Harker emerges and the coach drives away. Then Dracula himself opens the door for him, uttering the famous line "Welcome to my house. Enter freely and of your own will."
Harker, a solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
, is there to expedite Count Dracula's purchase of several properties in England, including Carfax Abbey. The Count is urbane and gracious, but also vaguely sinister. He insists Harker stay for a month to tutor him on the finer points of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. As time goes by, Harker witnesses increasingly bizarre events. The Count—who has fangs and long fingernails—casts no reflection in the mirror. Twice Harker spots the Count crawling head first down the outside wall of the castle, seemingly defying gravity. Finally, he violates the Count's rules and goes to sleep in the library, where three beautiful women appear and seem to entrance him—until interrupted by Dracula himself, who gives the three a baby, which they devour. Harker explores and finds the Count asleep in a coffin, then tries to kill him with a shovel (which has no effect).
In England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Mina and Lucy go to the seaside town of Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
and befriend an old sailor named Swales who tells them stories. One day, the three of them are atop a hill as a storm approaches, and the sailor notes a ship is in the storm, en route.
This ship is the Demeter
Demeter
In Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains, the fertility of the earth, and the seasons . Her common surnames are Sito as the giver of food or corn/grain and Thesmophoros as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society...
, which goes aground. Swales is found dead the next morning, at the very spot where he'd last seen and chatted with Mina and Lucy.
Dr. John Seward, owner of a local asylum
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
, is friendly with the Westenra family as well as Quincey Holmwood, an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
diplomat who has become engaged to Lucy. Among Seward's patients is the madman Renfield who is somehow aware of Dracula's arrival, and worships (yet fears) him. Then, one night, Lucy goes sleepwalking into the local graveyard
Graveyard
A graveyard is any place set aside for long-term burial of the dead, with or without monuments such as headstones...
. Mina follows and briefly spots Dracula holding Lucy in his arms. From that night on, Lucy begins to change. She grows pale and weak, but rallies after sunset, and also begins to sport tiny fangs. While everyone worries over her, she welcomes Dracula to her bedroom where he drinks her blood.
Seward finally call on his friend Abraham Van Helsing for help with Lucy's strange illness. He almost immediately recognizes the signs and protects the girl's bedroom with garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
. Meanwhile, Mina receives word that Jonathan has turned up in a convent in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, weak and delirious (having escaped from the castle). She goes to be with, and marry him. While she is gone, a final attack happens at the Westenra home as a wolf crashes through Lucy's bedroom window. The shock kills her mother (who has a weak heart). When found, Lucy is sprawled across the bed, pale and nearly dead.
As she fades, her manner shifts from her pure self to a kind of wild voluptuousness. When she finally dies, Van Helsing notices the wounds on her throat have vanished—and that she no longer casts a reflection.
Mina returns, deeply saddened at the loss of her family. Van Helsing takes Seward to Lucy's grave near dawn. They find a child nearby, dazed and talking about the "Bloofer lady" (i.e. "beautiful lady") and with tell-tale fang marks on his throat.
Van Helsing insists Seward and Quincey accompany him to Lucy's grave, where they see her approach—blood on her lips and gown. She speaks lovingly to Quincey, who nearly succumbs but flees when Van Helsing shows her a cross. In the tomb, Van Helsing explains what must be done and Quincey drives a wooden stake into Lucy's heart. Later, the professor fills her mouth with garlic and cuts off her head.
Harker, Van Helsing, Seward and Quincey all go to Carfax Abbey to sterilize the boxes of his native earth Dracula has had shipped there. They don't realize that now Dracula is visiting Mina and has bitten her. But Renfield does realize, and seeks to warn her and Seward. In revenge Dracula kills him, but before he dies Renfield manages to warn the men—who rush to Mina's bedroom, only to find her drinking blood from Dracula's chest. Dracula himself vanishes as they enter. Mina becomes hysterical, especially after Van Helsing touches her forehead with a piece of Holy Wafer
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
and it sears her flesh. From that moment on, until Dracula's demise, she carries the scar as well as slightly noticeable fangs.
As they continue to find Dracula's boxes, rendering them useless to him with crosses and the Host, they realize he must flee back to his castle. They follow. Eventually, Van Helsing and Mina go directly overland to the Castle while the others follow Dracula's coffin, transported by Gypsies. In the Transylvanian wilderness, Dracula's brides approach the pair, but Van Helsing draws a circle around them, filling it with pieces of Holy Wafer. The Brides cannot pass, although they call to Mina to join them, naming her "Sister". The next morning, Van Helsing goes into the Castle, driving wooden stakes in each of the Brides' hearts (and Mina, sleeping, evidently feels the blows).
Finally, there is a chase. Harker, Seward and Quincey are chasing the carriage that carries Dracula's coffin. In the process, they must fight Gypsies loyal to Dracula. At one point, Harker is saved when Mina shoots a threatening Gypsy with a rifle. With hardly a moment to spare, the pursuers reach the coffin and pull off its cover. Inside, Dracula smiles noticing that it is almost sunset. But Van Helsing drives a long wooden stake into the vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
's heart, and his body erupts into a mini-sandstorm. All that is left are his clothes and ashes.
Deviations from the novel
This list is not exhaustive, but intended to convey a sense of the differences between the filmFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and the novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
:
- Dracula does not grow younger.
- Mina and Lucy are sisters.
- Quincey MorrisQuincey MorrisQuincey P. Morris is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's horror novel Dracula.-In the novel:He is a rich young American from Texas, and one of the three suitors for the hand of Lucy Westenra. Quincey is friends with the two other suitors, Arthur Holmwood and Dr. John Seward, as well as Jonathan...
and Arthur HolmwoodArthur HolmwoodArthur Holmwood is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.-In the novel:He is engaged to Lucy Westenra, and is best friends with the other two men who proposed to her on the very same day — Quincey Morris and Doctor John Seward...
are combined into one character. - Dracula is portrayed as attractive, urbane, even seductive.
- Dracula is not staked in the book, but has his throat slashed with Harker's kukriKukriThe kukri is a curved Nepalese Knife, similar to the machete, used as both a tool and as a weapon...
and is stabbed through the heart with Morris' Bowie knifeBowie knifeA Bowie knife is a pattern of fixed-blade fighting knife first popularized by Colonel James "Jim" Bowie in the early 19th Century. Since the first incarnation was created by James Black, the Bowie knife has come to incorporate several recognizable and characteristic design features, although its...
.
Reception
Critical reaction to the film has been mostly positive. Film historian Stuart Galbraith IV said that "Count Dracula remains one of the best-ever adaptations of Bram Stoker's novel" despite a "couple of missteps", remarking that "the cast is excellent", in particular praising the performances of Frank Finlay and Louis Jourdan, who he calls "especially good." Critic Steve Calvert agreed that Count Dracula was "one of the better versions" of Stoker's novel, calling it "perhaps even the best." He felt that "few actors have ever played the role [of Van Helsing as] convincingly" as Frank Finlay, that "without doubt, [Jack Shepherd is] the best on-screen embodiment there has ever been of the fly-munching Renfield", and remarked of Jourdan's performance, "[His] Dracula ... exudes a quieter kind of evil. A calculating, educated evil with a confidence and purpose all of its own."Brett Cullum of DVD Verdict said the special effects were the film's "biggest downfall" and that it was "perhaps the least visually interesting" Dracula adaptation, though he offered a mostly positive review, remarking that there is "plenty to admire in the production", in particular the "sublime acting". MaryAnn Johanson of FlickFilosopher.com was less positive, writing: "Maybe it had more of an impact in the 70s ... but today, while it remains a stylishly surreal reinterpretation of Bram Stoker’s novel, there’s something a bit dated and stodgy about it."