Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been told on screen hundreds of times. In 1974, actor Jack Palance teamed with director/writer/producer Dan Curtis (most noted for the producing the Dark Shadows television series) and scribe Richard Matheson (author of the books I Am Legend and Stir of Echoes, as well as scripts like Duel and The Legend of Hell House) for a TV movie about the vampire that would end up making a surprising impact. MPI is releasing a fine Blu-ray of the title this week.
While adaptation was made for TV in the US, but was given a theatrical release across Europe in a version that featured a little more blood (mostly spilling out of the mouths of the vampires when they are being staked). This Blu-ray features the widescreen, uncut version of the film, and provides the American edited scenes in the extras section of the disc. The package also contains interviews with the late Curtis and Palance, who share their memories of making the film, a trailer and some outtakes (silent footage that features a smile or two from cast members at the end of takes). In all, it is a Blu-ray that should please the movie’s supporters.
Of course, the story follows Transylvanian vampire Count Dracula (Jack Palance). After trapping a British solicitor in his castle, he heads out for England and begins to feast on the blood of a young woman. When the woman becomes gravely ill, her fiancé enlists the help of Van Helsing in her recovery and the two men soon decide to hunt down the villain responsible.
Interestingly enough, director Curtis and screenwriter Matheson borrowed a plotline from Dark Shadows to add a new twist to their version of the story. It involved turning the character of Lucy into a reincarnation of Dracula’s lost love. This element added a more relatable and romantic motivation for the vampire’s pursuit of the young woman. It’s quite remarkable that a minor story alteration for a TV movie would end up heavily influencing the story and the way these monsters would be perceived for decades to come.
While the filmmakers did offer a new wrinkle to the formula, by today’s standards this effort does come across as very stiff and familiar. That is, at least until the halfway mark when it finally begins to take more liberties with its source material. Thankfully, it’s always a hoot to watch Palance give his take on the title character. He makes for a menacing vampire and it is extremely entertaining to watch Dracula become enraged and violently flip coffins and tables in frustration, or throw a beat-down on the staff of a Transylvanian hotel.
For a low budget production, the photography is also impressive. Many of the exposition scenes are shot with a familiar soft lighting and there’s an abundance of obvious day-for-night shooting. Still, when the more horrific elements of the story take hold, there are plenty of interesting and exciting camera angles. Standouts include the shadowy depths of Dracula’s castle that conceal several brides, as well as a haunting shot from the deck of the Demeter the displays a crewmember tied to wheel in the foreground and the title character visible on the shore. Additionally, some of the fight scenes near the end are captured in an interesting manner. While the occasional specs of dirt are visible, in general the image quality of the Blu-ray far surpasses anything that anyone familiar with the film could hope to see.
In the end, vampire film historians and enthusiasts may want to pick Dan Curtis’ Dracula. It’s certainly creaky, but this title is significant for adding a new element to a well worn formula and for featuring a memorable performance by one of Hollywood’s greatest performers.