6. Dracula (1992)
One of the most famous contemporary cinematographic interpretations of Count Dracula’s story (and book adaptations for that matter) is Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece from 1992. We have another monumental actors’ couple to give life on the screen to two eternal characters: Gary Oldman as Dracula and Anthony Hopkins as Prof. Van Helsing, with the beautiful presence of Winona Ryder as Mina to complete the scenery. We have again a Count (played at the level of genius by Oldman) who is seductive, charming, frightening and attractive in the same time.
His performance added another brick to the foundation of Dracula’s personality, as he is becoming more and more exciting: his dark and intoxicating essence ignites passion, sexual attraction and fascination and his character is now more than ever romantic, obsessive, alluring and scary in the same time. Gary Oldman managed to turn Dracula into a powerful icon of fear mixed with seduction and there are few other interpretations to match this one.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
Wins and nominations: it won 3 Oscars and 5 Saturn Awards, including for Best Horror Film, Best Actor (Gary Oldman), Best Director (Coppola) and Best Costumes. This masterpiece is available for purchase in Blu – Ray and DVD and you can buy it from Amazon.
7. Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)
It’s time for comedy too, as Halloween is a fun holiday and we all deserve some laughs! Mel Brooks turned and twisted Dracula’s character in some very interesting ways and if you happen to be a fan of iconic Leslie Nielsen, you will enjoy this movie just like everybody else. Of course, some people got really offended by the director’s jokes and general mockery of the story and character, as they were dedicated fans of the doom and gloom atmosphere and the more serious interpretations of the count, while others still see it as an entertaining piece which is meant to pull some laughs and some memorable quotes. Mel Brooks isn’t at his only felony of this sort: his Young Frankenstein was nominated for two Oscars, which proves Mel has his own ways of dealing with famous villains from a fresher, humorous perspective.
IMDB Rating: 5.4 stars
Wins and nominations: no wins here, but you can add this quite underrated comedy to your Halloween treats list by purchasing it from Amazon.
8. Dracula 2000 (2000)
This movie didn’t register the expected success with the public, and yet it benefited from two famous and great actors: Gerard Butler in the role of Dracula and Christopher Plummer interpreting Abraham Van Helsing, with additional contributions from Johnny Lee Miller whom you may be more familiar with due to his Sherlock Holmes interpretation in TV series Elementary and Nathan Fillion (as a secondary character Father David), who made television history with his role in Firefly and the more recent Castle. And yet, the movie didn’t have such a great impact on the viewers, although some voices claimed the movie is far way better than the average opinion. What was interesting in the movie was the Christian interpretation and angle revolving around the figure of Judas Iscariot, but Gerard Butler had a decent performance.
IMDB Rating: 4.7 stars
Wins and nominations: it was nominated in 2001 in the Best Horror Film category of the Saturn Awards. If you want to give this movie a fair chance, you can buy it from here.
9. Dracula (2013 TV Series)
Halloween will come just in time for us all to enjoy a good Dracula drama series, as by then we will have some episodes ready and aired from this new NBC series starring the gorgeous Jonathan Rhys Meyers that everybody is talking about these days. Set to premiere on October 25th at 10 p.m. on NBC, this show is very acclaimed (and awaited) by the critics and viewers alike, as it seems the choice of Meyers as Dracula has been deemed both wise and ingenious. Not to mention with a high potential for success.
Entertainment Weekly gives us some spoilers and some considerations over the matters: “the vampire drama has been done to death. But if anyone can bring it back from its shriveled, dehydrated-human-jerky corpse, it’s Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who’s such a pale, slithery nightstalker, it’s easy to believe he actually spends his nights slurping from goblets of Type-A Negative and growing out his fingernails to Nosferatu lengths. So it’s a stroke of genius to cast him as Dracula in this 19th century period drama, which finds our fanged hero posing as an American entrepreneur so that he can seek revenge on the Order of the Dragon, a group of Victorian high-society folks who cursed him long ago.”
So turn on the TV, as Dracula is coming, younger, more seductive, more exciting and more adventurous than ever!
10. BONUS – Hotel Transylvania (2012)
Well, we didn’t quite respected the chronological order, but we saved the best for the last! Hotel Transylvania is an animation movie that had a lot of success last year and is still an incredibly entertaining movie to watch for both kids and parents. This Halloween will always be remembered if you decide on watching the animation as you will meet a very concerned Dracula (who is a widow husband, a father, an entrepreneur, a friend and a family member for many other monsters, a guy with principles and fears and an individual who constantly complains that humans want to kill him, while making up false stories and rumors about his person).
It was considered one of the best and funniest animations in the last years, you will find a cohort of famous and talented actors borrowing their voices to the characters and a story that will not let you for a second not laugh. A true delightful treat for the holidays to share with the loved ones.
IMDB rating: 7.0 stars
Wins and nominations: Nominated for a Golden Globe, it won People’s Choice Award (Adam Sandler for the voice of Drac‘), Kid’s Choice Award – Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie and it surely made a good impression with the media, movie critics and the public. Want to own this movie? Follow this link and you can have it in no time!
BONUS NUMBER 2
We have an official release date for Hotel Transylvania 2 on 25 September 2015 and even if we don’t have much details yet, we can’t wait for the trailer and the movie!
Are you a Dracula fan? Which of these movies have you seen? Did you like others and want to recommend them?
I think that most of us when we were kids dressed up in vampires. Even the girls! At least me I loved to seem frightening in my vampire costume. Although if I had seen any of those movies above at that age I would certainly not have slept all the night :): D :)))
When I was little I adored to dress up in vampire for the Halloween ! Each year my parents had to buy me a new suit more scary than the last year one :)))
Hi Andreea! I am glad that I read a fascinating article about the legendary Dracula. Of course, every director has impressed those years through a real technique of rendering the supernatural ‘Dracula’ and over the years we see how technology stands out due to special effects that we find in movies. Do not forget that even Michael Jackson’s Thriller video was inspired by the legendary myth of Dracula 😉