Friday, May 8, 2009

Top Five Draculas

I watched a horrible old Hammer film last night, The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, but it made me misty and nostalgic for old, crusty horror.

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:

Cate Gardner said...

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.

Rebecca Nazar said...

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.

Jamie Eyberg said...

Oldman was brilliant in that movie, the rest of the cast, meh.

Jeremy D Brooks said...

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...)

Aaron Polson said...

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.

Fox Lee said...

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.

Robert said...

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.

Katey said...

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!

Danielle Birch said...

Bela Lugosi was terrifying. He's my pick.

Unknown said...

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.