You can live your entire life without ever seeing a Dracula film and still have a vivid impression of the figure.
The films, mostly due to the performances of two men: Bela Lugosi and Sir Christopher Lee, are responsible for the image of the world’s most renowned vampire.
If many people still think of Lugosi’s Dracula as the ultimate version, Lee is a strong contender for the silver. Lee took efforts to give his own perspective of Dracula, and a generation of moviegoers gets attract by his wild, sexually charged portrayal. Lee gave more Dracula portrayals on film than any other actor from the 1950s to the 1970s, and here we rate them all.
1. Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1996)
Director- Terence Fisher
Helen Kent, her husband Alan Kent, his brother Charles Kent, and his wife Diana Kent, an English couple, are vacationing in the Carpathian Mountains and plan to climb the mountains. While eating in a tavern, they meet Father Sandor, who urges them not to visit Carlsbad’s castle. They disregard the warnings, however, and travel to the iconic castle in a mysterious carriage. They are greeted by Dracula’s scary servant Klove, who informs them that his master has been dead for many years. Helen overhears someone calling her late at night, while Alan notices Klove moving a trunk down the corridor. Alan decides to eavesdrop on Klove and follows him. In the basement, however, the servant assaults him and uses his blood to resurrect Count Dracula from the ashes. The trio of English tourists will now be confronted with the presence of the demonic beast.
2. Dracula Has Risen From The Gave (1968)
Director- Freddie Francis
Monsignor returns to his castle in the mountains with the local priest one year after defeating Dracula to exorcise his castle. The priest, on the other hand, unintentionally resurrects Dracula and becomes his slave. Meanwhile, Monsignor returns to Keinenberg on the birthday of his niece Maria, who resides in his house with her mother Anna. Maria is head over heels in love with atheist Paul, who works with waitress Zena in his friend Max’s pub, where he also resides. Dracula vows to exact vengeance on Monsignor and travels to Keinenberg with the priest.
3. Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
Director- Alan Gibson
Dracula is killed by a stake constructed from the remains of a wooden wheel during the final confrontation between Lawrence van Helsing and Count Dracula on top of a coach in London in 1872. Lawrence dies as a result of his wounds, and when he is being buried, a servant of Dracula burys the stake beside the grave and keeps a bottle of Dracula’s ashes and the ring. One hundred years later, in the colourful year of 1972, Johnny, the servant’s great-grandson, joins a “group” that includes Jessica, the granddaughter of the current vampire hunter, Abraham van Helsing, and with their unknowing assistance, resurrects Dracula in the twentieth century, intent on destroying the Van Helsing house.
4. Horror Of Dracula (1958)
Director- Terence Fisher
Jonathan Harker accepts a job as a cataloger for Count Dracula’s immense library. He is, in fact, on a mission to assassinate the Count, who is a vampire. The Count obtains the upper hand before Harker can do so, and Harker soon becomes one of the wandering dead. Harker’s fiancée, Lucy Holmwood, has piqued Dracula’s interest, and it’s up to Harker’s colleague, Dr. Van Helsing, to keep her safe. He has a hard time persuading Lucy’s brother, Arthur Holmwood, of the perils of vampires, let alone their existence. However, Count Dracula soon targets Arthur’s wife Mina, and he and Van Helsing must rush to uncover his hideaway before she is forever lost to them.
5. Dracula And Son (1976)
Director- Eduoard Molinaro
Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) and his son Ferdinand (Bernard Ménez) flee their castle in Transylvania after being chased out by enraged locals. The Prince of Darkness winds himself in London, England, where he uses his vampire identity to become a horror movie star. Meanwhile, his son is ashamed of his heritage and works as a night watchman in Paris, France, where he meets and falls in love with a girl. When a father and son are reunited and both fall in love with the same girl, tensions naturally emerge.
6. Scars Of Dracula (1970)
Director- Roy Ward Baker
This is the sixth instalment in the Hammer’s Dracula series, and the fifth to feature Christopher Lee in the role of Dracula. Dracula returns to his old habits of sucking the blood from women after rising from the ashes, causing angry villagers to set fire to Dracula’s home, ignorant that the count is safe in his secret chamber and unharmed, while his army of bats exact retribution on the villagers’ wives and children. Months later, a flirty man wrongfully convicted of rape flees the city and arrives to the castle, where the Count greets him.
7. Count Dracula (1970)
Director- Jesus Franco
Franco’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a non-Hammer production with Christopher Lee reprising his role as the Count. In order to discuss property concerns with his client, Count Dracula, an English lawyer travels to Transylvania. The caretaker’s wife warns him against continuing his journey the next day while he is sleeping in a lodge in Bistritz for the night. The lawyer dismisses her warning as mere superstition and continues his trek to the Borgo Pass, where he is met by the Count’s mystery coachman. He is greeted by a skinny, tall, gaunt elderly man who announces himself as Count Dracula after he arrives at the Count’s castle.
8. The Satanic Rites Of Dracula (1973)
Director- Alan Gibson
This is the eighth and last picture in Hammer’s Dracula series, and the fourth starring Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. The events of the last film occur two years later in this film. On the site of Dracula’s death in the last film, a massive headquarters belonging to a reclusive personality has been built. After one of their officers obtains information about elite people committing satanic rites in a mansion on the outskirts, Van Helsing is approached by the Secret Service once more.
9. One More Time (1970)
Director- Jerry Lewis
Charles Salt and Christopher Pepper own a failing nightclub. Pepper’s wealthy twin brother, Lord Sydney Pepper, offers them assistance, but they are swiftly denied a loan. Pepper, undeterred, returns and discovers his brother has been slain. He decides to see his brother’s tragic death as an opportunity, posing as him to keep the club going — except that his brother was a diamond smuggler, and his henchmen are still hunting him.
10. Taste The Blood Of Dracula (1970)
Director- Peter Sasdy
This is the fifth film in Hammer’s Dracula franchise, and the fourth to feature Christopher Lee as Count Dracula. After the events of the last film, this one takes place. A businessman travelling across Eastern Europe is knocked senseless and thrown from his carriage. He hears a deathly cry and sees Dracula screaming in anguish with a gigantic cross impaling him from behind, and he turns from blood to reddish dust after regaining consciousness and roaming in the wilderness.
