Dual/Duel Review: Christopher Lee's Draculas

 Dual/Duel reviews are an online smackdown between two books, movies, games, podcasts, etc. etc. that I think are interesting to compare, contrast, and comment on. For a list of other dual/duel reviews, go here.

I was amazed to discover that Christopher Lee played Count Dracula not only for the Hammer Studios horror films from the 1950s to the 1970s but also for an independent production in 1970 (in the middle of the Hammer run!). I will present these two performances of the iconic blood-sucker in chronological order, so the first Hammer film is, indeed, first.

Horror of Dracula (1958) directed by Terence Fisher

Known simply as "Dracula" in the United Kingdom, this Hammer Horror follow up to Curse of Frankenstein brings back Peter Cushing (here as Dr. Van Helsing) and Christopher Lee (here as Count Dracula). The story starts off seeming like a faithful adaptation of the novel with Jonathan Harker (John Van Eyssen) going to Dracula's castle. But viewers quickly find out that he's there to kill Dracula. Harker reveals he is already working with Van Helsing. Harker is thrown a curve ball when a young woman (Valerie Gaunt) wants him to help her escape from the castle. He agrees and tries to comfort her only to find out she is also a vampire. Dracula saves him from the vampire woman though Harker is knocked out in the scuffle. Harker manages to survive to the next day but has slept through most of it. He finds the tomb where Dracula and the vampire woman are resting. Harker dispatches the woman after a lot of effort. He's too slow to finish off Dracula, who has risen at the (second) death cries of the woman. Dracula bites Harker. 

The scene then changes to Van Helsing showing up in the town Harker passed through. The local tavern keeper does not want to provide any help in finding Castle Dracula but the serving woman is more helpful, even passing on Harker's journal. Van Helsing arrives at Dracula's castle as a hearse is speeding away with a white coffin. Van Helsing discovers the newly vampiric Harker and stakes him through the heart. Then he returns to Harker's fiancee Lucy (Carol Marsh) who has taken ill and is living with her brother Arthur (Michael Gough) and his wife Mina (Melissa Stribling). Lucy then goes through the novel's story beats for her character (slowly succumbing to multiple Dracula bites, dying, rising as a vampire who stalks children), which puts Arthur on board with hunting down Dracula. Things get worse when Dracula starts attacking Mina. Arthur and Van Helsing struggle to find where Dracula is hiding during the day, eventually discovering his white coffin in Arthur's basement! Dracula takes Mina back to his castle where the final confrontation goes down.

The movie cleverly changes up a lot of the novel's plot elements to throw viewers off their expectations. But most parts (except Renfield--they only had 82 minutes) are in the story. Some bits are confusing--it's unclear if they ever went to England. I just assumed they did for Arthur and Mina's home, but then they are able to return to where Dracula's coffin was shipped in less than a day with no mention of sea voyaging (or even channel voyaging). On the other hand, Lee is very menacing as Dracula, even when he isn't given extra makeup with bloodshot eyes and blood-dribbling lips. He's a little stiff at the beginning when initially dealing with Harker, who he clearly does not suspect will cause trouble. Interestingly, all his dialogue is in this first sequence. After he leaves his castle, he has no lines, only a physical performance. Lee has the screen presence to dominate just like Dracula should. The Hammer style is in full flourish, with bright technicolor and women more scantily clad than in the Universal horror films.

Recommended.

Count Dracula (1970) directed by Jesus Franco 

This Spanish production starts with Jonathan Harker (Fred Williams) on a train to Transylvania where he has a nice chat with a fellow passenger, until the fellow passenger discovers that Harker is headed to Dracula's castle. They debark in a town where Harker spends the night at an inn. The people at the inn are all incredulous and stand-offish with Harker. The innkeeper's wife tries to warn off Harker, but he continues on anyway. He takes a coach to the Borgo Pass where he meets with Dracula's coach that takes him to the castle. The Count himself (Christopher Lee) opens the door and offers hospitality to Harker, who provides details on Dracula's purchase of an abandoned home in England. Harker asks why Dracula would leave his home. Dracula gives a long speech about his ancestors and their great warrior tradition, protecting their country from eastern invaders. But in his old age (he has grey hair and a grey mustache), the count has some wanderlust. Harker has a harrowing night of what seems like a dream--three vampire women want him but Dracula stops them by offering a local baby (the mom appeared in a previous scene at the castle gates begging for her child). Harker is his. In the morning, Harker wakes up to bite marks on his neck and no way of escape other than jumping from his window.

Harker wakes up in an English sanitarium run by Van Helsing (Herbert Lom) who is slowly nursing him back to health. The other inmate viewers meet is Renfield (Klaus Kinski), a weird case of a man obsessed with eating bugs and staring out the window at the building next door--the very abandoned home that Dracula purchased. Harker doesn't see it right away, so no one is warned. Harker's finacee Mina (Maria Rohm) and her best friend Lucy (Soledad Miranda) come to check on him and decide to stay at the sanatorium. Lucy goes through her story arc of being victimized by Dracula, dying, and victimizing local children. By this point, Van Helsing has an idea what's going on and gathers Lucy's fiance and Harker to fight Dracula.

Dracula eventually attacks Mina as he gets younger and younger each time he feeds. The men break into Dracula's house but he's already fled back to Transylvania. On paperwork left lying around the house, Van Helsing sees the route Dracula arranged. His return will take three weeks. Harker and the fiance can make it to the castle in one week. They go and dispatch the three vampire women. Then they bless Dracula's coffin so he can't use. The wait for Dracula to arrive is short. They are on the roof and send some large boulders down to disrupt the local escort for Dracula's box (it's still daylight). The men race down, open the box, and set Dracula on fire. He dies in the flames, ending the film.

While this is a more plot-accurate adaptation, it does have some flaws. The lighting and sets are very reminiscent of the 1970s. Kinski (who had his own Dracula performance almost a decade later in Nosferatu) is reliably kooky as Renfield, though he does not contribute anything to the story other than a bit of atmosphere. He never escapes or does anything other than menace Mina when she tries to see him. He is a bit wasted, especially since he had second-billing after Lee but is only a third- or fourth-tier character in the story. The movie also has a lot of shots where the camera pushes in on a performers eyes, so much so that it would make a good drinking game for each time it shows up. The score is heavy-handed, a natural temptation for a horror film and overdone here. Lee is good as Dracula, more on that in a bit.

Mildly recommended.

Which is better?

Both plots move through their material at a good pace, with a bit more style being shown by the Hammer film. But the real interest is in Dracula himself. Lee achieves a dominating presence in both films, even though the first film doesn't let him use his sinister and smooth voice after the first third. Lee was reluctant to continue playing the vampire but was convinced that a lot of people would be put out of work if he did not continue the role. So he was more of a workman than a passionate player. He signed on for the Spanish production with the promise of a strictly faithful adaptation of the novel. He gives a very good performance here (that one speech is a lot of fun to watch) but the budget was curtailed during production and it shows. Lee is better in the Spanish film but the Hammer film is the one I would rather watch again. Also, his performance in the Hammer film is not much less than the later film.

Winner:

Loser: