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Who was the best Dracula?

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    Who was the best Dracula?

    So I was having this discussion on another forum and there's a lot of different opinions on who the best Dracula was. I have been a fan of many of the Dracula films, but it was still an easy choice for me. I wonder who you would choose; Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Klaus Kinski or Gary Oldman?

    Bela is definitely the most iconic Dracula, with Lee coming in second. However, do they really represent the Dracula of Stoker's novel? Lee's Dracula is clearly based or influenced by Brownings/Lugosi's Dracula, though arguably improved. The more romantic figure. In the novel he is often described as ugly, with hair growing out his ears and hair on the back of his hands, and acted in strange creepy ways. When reading the novel he fills the reader and characters with a sense of dread, he did not impress. That is why I would say Max Schreck is the best Dracula. The mere site of his character instills the viewer with fear and loathing. His movements and actions are genuinely unsettling. He lived the role, and there is no actor who could have played a better Dracula in silent film, nay, in film alone.

    Of course the flip side would be that, Browning/Lugosi really took the Dracula image and made it their own. They made it even more popular than it's originator was able on his own. Either way, that's just one man's opinion.
    Last edited by Theli; 01-07-2014, 01:40 AM.

    #2
    Louis Jourdan in the 1975? PBS version. Just my opinion.

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      #3
      Never even heard of it. I'll look into it.

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        #4
        Originally posted by Theli View Post
        That is why I would say Max Schreck is the best Dracula.
        Max Schreck never actually played Dracula. He played Count Orlok in the film Nosferatu.
        "I watched Titanic when I got back home from the hospital, and cried. I knew that my IQ had been damaged."
        - Stephen King

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          #5
          I loved Christopher Lee as Dracula, but I will probably vote for Gary Oldman. In my opinion, his portrayal of Dracula is probably the closest to Bram Stoker's original vision.
          "I watched Titanic when I got back home from the hospital, and cried. I knew that my IQ had been damaged."
          - Stephen King

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            #6
            Yeah i know a mere technicality though. Nosferatu is the Dracula story with some names changed to attempt to circumnavigate copyrights. That's why it was nearly removed from existence by Stokers wife, if i recall correctly. Werner Herzog's remake uses the actual names from the book, though switched some around for some mystifying reason.

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              #7
              Originally posted by T-Dogz_AK47 View Post
              I loved Christopher Lee as Dracula, but I will probably vote for Gary Oldman. In my opinion, his portrayal of Dracula is probably the closest to Bram Stoker's original vision.
              Yeah, Oldman was great. I'd love to see a new big budget production with him.

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                #8
                Jack Palance in the 1974 TV movie was the only Dracula that actually scared me. Probably because Palance could kick just about anybody's ass he wanted to...
                "I'm a vegan. "

                ---Kirby Bliss Blanton , The Green Inferno (2013)

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by srboone View Post
                  Jack Palance in the 1974 TV movie was the only Dracula that actually scared me. Probably because Palance could kick just about anybody's ass he wanted to...
                  He was the Man!

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                    #10
                    I'll say Gary Oldman, hands down. My mother always liked Frank Langella, though I can't imagine why.

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by Neiaushie79 View Post
                      I'll say Gary Oldman, hands down. My mother always liked Frank Langella, though I can't imagine why.
                      I've seen that opinion before. Just made an order with that version of Dracula.

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                        #12
                        Come to think of it, the best Dracula has to be Mr Burns in The Simpsons...

                        Simpsons Dracula 1.jpg

                        Simpsons Dracula 2.jpg
                        "I watched Titanic when I got back home from the hospital, and cried. I knew that my IQ had been damaged."
                        - Stephen King

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                          #13
                          I'm going with Gary Oldman as well. But that might be because he's Judy one if my favorite actors overall. I don't think there will ever be a better Jim Gordon.

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                            #14
                            That is exactly what I was going to say. I think that he gave me nightmares for a few years.
                            Originally posted by srboone View Post
                            Jack Palance in the 1974 TV movie was the only Dracula that actually scared me. Probably because Palance could kick just about anybody's ass he wanted to...

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by Neiaushie79 View Post
                              I'll say Gary Oldman, hands down. My mother always liked Frank Langella, though I can't imagine why.
                              Unlike other classic Draculas, Frank Langella never wore fangs and never appeared with a bloody face; his Dracula is charming, suave, and sophisticated, with the emphasis being on his seductive powers over the opposite sex. The 1979 movie version with Frank Langella as Dracula plays more like a love story than a horror film. It is quite apposite then, that the movie was titled Dracula: A Love Story.

                              frank-lagella-dracula-ftr.jpg
                              Last edited by T-Dogz_AK47; 01-10-2014, 06:26 AM.
                              "I watched Titanic when I got back home from the hospital, and cried. I knew that my IQ had been damaged."
                              - Stephen King

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