Today's Top Five FridayTM: The top five actors to play Count Dracula, as decided by me.
1. Bela Lugosi - no competition. Lugosi had the accent, the charm, the eyes. From Dracula (1931):
2. Christopher Lee - Along with Terence Fisher, Lee was the man behind Hammer Films resurrection of the famous vampire on film. And he had blood on his fangs...something Lugosi was never allowed back in the '30s. Watch The Horror of Dracula and see that blood in bright red technicolor.
3. Gary Oldman - Francis Ford Coppola's entry into the Dracula filmography (Bram Stoker's Dracula) had some casting issues. (Um...Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves?) Oldman as the eponymous vampire was one of his better choices (along with Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing).
4. Max Schreck - Nosferatu is creepy. So many shadows...so spooky. This film owes its staying power to German Expressionism and Schreck's chilling portrayal as Herr Orlock (er...Dracula).
5. Jack Palance - Dracula (1973) wasn't a great movie (despite the adaptation by Richard Matheson). But, hey - Palance is a badass.
Wait...where's Frank Langella? John Carradine? Lon Chaney, Jr.? Bah. Make your own list.
10 comments:
Although I love vampire movies I hate Dracula. He just doesn't do it for me. So instead, here's my top five vampire movies.
1. Near Dark
2. The Lost Boys
3. Fright Night
4. 30 Days of Night
5. Salems Lot.
Lugosi #1 ? He had the sex appeal of a dead or undead carp. Now Lee and Palance *swoon*
Count Dracula movies are okay. Give me vampire books. I love Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles and my girls enjoyed Bunnicula.
Oldman was brilliant in that movie, the rest of the cast, meh.
Alice Krige in Sleepwalkers...they were vampire-ish beasts, weren't they? It's been a long time...I last saw that when it was in the theaters.
And I agree with Cate on Fright Night...I loved that movie. Sarandon made a great vampire.
Third choice: Bernie Madoff, although he didn't just play one on TV. (Ba-dum--CRASH! Thank you, thank you...no, you're all too kind...)
Cate - I looooved The Lost Boys.
Rebecca - I never saw ol' Drac as a sex symbol...a predator, yes...
(I still love Bunnicula)
Jamie - double-meh
Jeremy - har-de-har-har. Fright Night was a good show.
I haven't seen enough vampire movies to get a vote, let alone make a list. All I know is that I never want to see them sparkle.
For some reason I liked DRACULA 2000 a lot. It's one of those really bad movies that's somehow good. Maybe it's the neat backstory, I don't know, but I found it worthwhile.
I never saw ol' Drac as a sex symbol
That would explain why Langella isn't there, because dude was hot, as hot as Lugosi, even. ... I could go on for three hours about each of your choices and why I think they're awesome, but I will say that this is a good list, and most satisfying.
Also, Robert, I thought Dracula 2000 was badass, too!
Bela Lugosi was terrifying. He's my pick.
Love the list Cate, but 30 Days of Night, while with plenty of awesome vamps (the way vamps should be) had an ending that annoyed me.
And Aaron, what about Leslie Nielson? (Neilson?) I loved that Dracula: Dead and Loving It movie back in the day. He does a wicked fun Drac.
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