A semi-sequel / revisionist history of Dracula that combines parts of that novel with an alternate history of merry old England, doing alot but never quite coming together like it should.
The first in a series of sequels to Universal's 1931 English-language original, this film was loosely based on Stoker's short story, "Dracula's Guest", and is, by far, the best of the Universal sequels.
A weak follow up, this film supposedly follows Dracula's son (much as the previous film followed his daughter), but it's all just a ruse for a dumber, and more silly, story.
What's better than just one monster? How about four of them as Dracula, Frankenstein's Creature, the Wolf Man, and the hunchback all show up in a film vastly less impressive than the sum of its parts.
Already straining with the diminishing returns of the series, Universal tried again with their shared universe crossovers, but much like the previous film, this movie struggles to justify so many monsters sharing the same storyline.
With the scary monsters movies dead, Universal attempted to relaunch the series with a crossover film featuring the comedic stylings of Abbott and Costello. Although popular at the time, this film isn't really all that funny in the modern era.
A couple of decades later, Universal took another stab at Dracula with a new adaptation featuring Frank Langella and this film ended up being possible Universal's best version of the story to dare.
This creative misfire pits the famous monster hunter Van helsing against Dracula and his brides in an attempt to stop their stupid, stupid plans.
Dracula (2013)
Set in Industrial Age London, this version sees Dracula come to England to get revenge against an evil, vampire hunter organization that rules the city... and potentially the world.
Before the "Dark Universe", Universal attempted to relaunch the Monsters shared continuity with this original story recasting Dracula as the hero of his own tale. It was, sadly, pretty lame.
While Universal may have given up on the monsters after their glory days in the 1930s and 1940s, another film company was ready to make the monsters scary again, and their Dracula (titled "The Horror of Dracula" in the U.S.) brought the horror back to the monsters with a winning performance by Christopher Lee as the titular vampire.
Christopher Lee didn't have any interested in returning to the role of Dracula so Hammer went a different route, choosing to explore the adventures of Van Helsing fighting other vampires in Eastern Europe.
When plans fell apart for further Van Helsing adventures, Christopher Lee was coaxed back into the role for a film that was high on style but pretty weak when it came to story.
What do you do with a town full of atheists, all of whom fear the legend of a local vampire instead of God? You go to the castle to prove there's nothing to fear and accidentally revive the vampire lord in the process.
Dracula is back, obviously, in this tale about businessmen looking for more power by resurrecting an evil vampire. Things, naturally, don't go well for anyone involved.
Dracula returned for one last adventure back in the olden days as a carousing idiot wanders into the evil vampire's abode and accidentally revives him. And then things get even more stupid from there.
With the classic series running on fumes, Hammer opted for a "modern" (for the time) reboot of the frachise, pulling Dracula in the then-present era of 1972 to continue his reign of terror. The film, though, feels as old and dreary as many of the sequels that came before.
A sequel to the modern relaunch of the series, this film wastes any good will the previous film engendered on a drab and dull retread of everything we've seen before.
The last film in the Hammer series, this movie at least tries something novel, pitting a team of vampire hunters against Dracula and his own army of ninja vampires. It's an amusing idea the film otherwise squanders, though.
The second of three vampire films from Toho (the first of which, The Vampire Doll, didn't feature Dracula at all), this film has the most connection to our famous vampire, but is also the weakest film in the trilogy.
The film film in the "Bloodthirsty Trilogy" this film has barely any connection to Dracula, or the film that came directly before, but honestly is much better for it.
Probably the worst Dracula adaptation every made, this film falls apart not due to production issues but because the story is so insanely stupid it's a wonder any studio ever signed off on the script.
And yet, out of the ashes of the previous travesty we get one of the better low budget Dracula films. It does everything it can to redeemd the series by largely ignoring everything that happened before.
The finale to the Dracula 2000 series, this film doesn't have the style of the first sequel but is still a damn sight better than the movie that originated it all.
Other Works
Count Dracula (1970)
One of the few times Lee returned to the role of Dracula, this film isn't connected to the Hammer series, and also lacks any of the good qualities that made that series half-way watchable.
Dracula (1973)
There were a number of Dracula productions in the 1970s, but this is probably one of the worst, featuring a mis-cast Jack Palance in the title role.
Dracula, along with a bunch of off-brand Monsters, come to a small town to take over the world and the only people ready to stop them are a group of rowdy pre-teens.
Forced to find a way to prove that the evil of the waxwork was real, our two surviving teens end up on an adventures through time, fighting monsters and cheating death all over again.
A film that's glorious for its production values and horrible because of its sotyr and acting. This film is both a feast for the eyes and one of the worst Dracula movies ever made.
Batman is forced to take on not only the scum of Gotham, including Penguin and Joker, but his worst foe yet: the immortal vampire Dracula.
Dracula (2006)
A BBC mini-series, this production struggles with pacing and story, creating a boring dirge out of Bram Stoker's novel.
Dracula 3D
I would not have expected Dario Argento to make a bad Dracula, but the man, once a master of horror, managed to defy my expectations. Sadly, that's not a good thing.
Castlevania (2017)
A newer anime adaptation of the video game series. Of course, considering the source material, it feature Dracula as well.
Created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat (of Sherlock fame), this mini-series has a lot of spectacular ideas, solid production value, and a pretty great story. Like a lot of Gatiss/Moffat productions, though, it falls apart at the five-yard-line.
A woman finds out she has a family she never knew about, but that only leads her into trouble at a wedding where she's apparently the guest of honor.
See Also:
The Kiss of the Vampire: Once planned as the next film in Hammer's "Van Helsing" series, it was reworked to be a generic vampire film when Cushing refused to return to the role of Van Helsing.
Blacula: A great version of the Dracula story, just with an African-American character in the lead role. One of the favorites of the editiors of this site.
Scream Blacula Scream: A sequel to the blaxploitation original, this film isn't as good as what came before, which is sad because the character of Blacula still had a lot of (un)life in him.
Shadow of the Vampire: A great retelling of the filming of Nosferatu, this film is equal parts comedy and horror and works so gloriously well.
Further Reading:
The Castlevania Game Series: With more titles than we could even count here, Castlevania has all the Dracula action you could ever want.
2018 Halloween Night Movie Marathon Playlist: We kick off our first Halloween with Asteroid G up and running with a marathon of horror films to creep and delight until the sun rises once more.