I must say that in my opinion this version of "Dracula" by John Badham lacks the sort of charm, color and movement that has Terence Fisher's "Horror of Dracula" (1958) released by Hammer 20 years earlier with Cristopher Lee as the Count and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing.
Nevertheless, this is a watchable version that fans of the genre (or of the Prince of Darkness) will find entertaining. A sort of Gothic atmosphere, good settings, acceptable special effects and an interesting cast help this product.
Frank Langella makes an interesting Dracula, charming and polite, but he doesn't match Lee's sinister and menacing side as in the other movie. The rest of the cast is very good mainly the great Lawrence Olivier (in one of his last works) and the always reliable Donald Pleasence. As for Kate Nelligan, she never reached his fine performance as the unfaithful wife of a crippled man in the interesting thriller "The Eye of the Needle".
A most watchable version of Bram Stoker's book though, in my opinion, inferior to Hammer's 1958 picture about the Count. That aside, I must say I prefer this version to the more recent and expensive film with Gary Oldman, too long and complex for a simple horror story where the main feature is an undead human vampire thirsty of the blood of his living equals.
Nevertheless, this is a watchable version that fans of the genre (or of the Prince of Darkness) will find entertaining. A sort of Gothic atmosphere, good settings, acceptable special effects and an interesting cast help this product.
Frank Langella makes an interesting Dracula, charming and polite, but he doesn't match Lee's sinister and menacing side as in the other movie. The rest of the cast is very good mainly the great Lawrence Olivier (in one of his last works) and the always reliable Donald Pleasence. As for Kate Nelligan, she never reached his fine performance as the unfaithful wife of a crippled man in the interesting thriller "The Eye of the Needle".
A most watchable version of Bram Stoker's book though, in my opinion, inferior to Hammer's 1958 picture about the Count. That aside, I must say I prefer this version to the more recent and expensive film with Gary Oldman, too long and complex for a simple horror story where the main feature is an undead human vampire thirsty of the blood of his living equals.