Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson, Twilight) or Count Orlok (Max Schrek, Nosferatu)? In the looks department there is little contest (hopefully), but what about the fear factor? Count Orlok could effortlessly spur any woman to beat the world record 100-meter dash in nightgown, slippers and rollers. Therein is the difference. Advocates of the original vampire movies seem to absolutely loathe what the modern vampire has become. Teenagers however, cannot get enough and are just begging to be bitten.
At the end of the day, the vampire renaissance is probably here to stay, but tribute can still be paid to the origins of the vampire movie and the actors that starred in them, for without them, Edward Cullen might never have made it out of print.
Nosferatu – 1922
Nosferatu was not the first vampire movie ever made but the third. It is however, the most successful of the three and still sends shivers down the spine.
Based (loosely) on Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, Max Schrek’s portrayal of Count Orlok, a bushy-eye browed, anorexic vampire with rat-like teeth is a marvel considering the entire movie was silent. Schrek loomed exceptionally well and that stare! The movie is eighty plus years old and still that stare can cause many to choke on the popcorn. Classic.
- Title: Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens
- Release date: June 3 1929 (USA)
- Director: F.W. Murnau
- Writer: Henrik Galeen (writer)
Dracula – 1931
The 1931 version of Dracula was the first vampire movie with sound and introduced us to Bela Lugosi's famous line (with the accent now), "Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make." Of course being Hungarian gave Lugosi an air of authenticity and having starred in the 1927 stage production of Dracula, the movie role was a simple step. Lugosi's genre was horror movies and when he died in 1956, he was buried in the black cape used in the Dracula movie.
- Title: Dracula
- Release Date: February 14 1931 (USA)
- Director: Tod Browning
- Writers: Bram Stoker adapted by Hamilton Deane
The Horror of Dracula – 1958
Robert Pattinson will always be known as Edward Cullen, but Christopher Lee, will indelibly be seen as the definitive Count Dracula. British film studio, Hammer Film Productions, first cast Lee in the 1958 film, Horror of Dracula. It would launch his career as one of the most memorable vampires in history.
Lee has played Dracula a total of ten times, more than any other actor ever and seven of those were courtesy of Hammer Studios. He is probably the first vampire character to be seen as debonair but dangerous. Shame he always got killed.
Sir Christopher Lee, as he is now known, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2009. Not quite a Count, but just as good.
- Title: The Horror of Dracula
- Director: Terence Fisher
- Writers: Jimmy Sangster based on the novel by Bram Stoker
- Release Date: May 8 1958 (USA)
Bram Stoker's Dracula – 1992
Director Francis Ford Coppola’s, 1992 version of Bram Stoker’s book was a cinematic marvel and a feast for the eyes. Packed with stars Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder and Sir Anthony Hopkins, vampire fans seemed to either love it or hate it. Oldman certainly had the portrayal dead on, but did he have the charisma? The debate will probably continue for some time to come.
Ryder did make a delightful Mina and Hopkins sarcasm was quite frankly, hilarious. The Academy loved it, awarding it three Oscars, but Oldman as Dracula will always be a preference for some and not for others.
- Title: Bram Stoker's Dracula
- Director: Francis Ford Coppola
- Writers: James V. Hart based on the novel by Bram Stoker
- Release Date: November 13 1992 (USA)
Bram Stoker
When Bram Stoker put pen to paper in 1897 and created his classic vampire story, he probably never envisioned his title character dominating the imagination for over one hundred years. Despite the passage of those years and the variations in temperament, personality and disposition, the vampire genre will eternally be slave to one single vampire, the incomparable and supreme master of all, Count Dracula.
June is going to be the start of a scorching summer for vampire fans with True Blood returning to HBO and the release of Twilight: Eclipse in cinemas. Stay tuned for updates.
Sources:
Vampires: A Chronology. Melton, Gordon. J
House of Horrors. Hammer Horror.
Elizabeth Batt - Elizabeth Batt is a former large animal nurse, certified NREMT, lover of equines and conservationist.
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