Dracula
Short description
In 1913, Count Dracula leaves Transylvania for England, travelling by ship with crates of earth from his homeland. The vessel runs aground near the coast and sinks, and the count is the only survivor. He comes ashore near Whitby and is found by Mina Van Helsing, daughter of Professor Abraham Van Helsing. The professor's friend Dr. Jack Seward runs a nearby sanatorium, where Dracula is received as a guest. Before long, strange and deadly events begin among the people around Seward, and Van Helsing is drawn into the effort to understand what has arrived among them.
The film is John Badham's second feature as director, following Saturday Night Fever in 1977 and preceding WarGames in 1983. W.D. Richter wrote the screenplay, and Walter Mirisch produced for Universal Pictures and The Mirisch Company. Frank Langella plays Count Dracula, with Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing, Donald Pleasence as Dr. Seward, Kate Nelligan as Lucy Seward, Trevor Eve as Jonathan Harker, and Jan Francis as Mina Van Helsing. Made for a budget of 12 million dollars, it took 31 million dollars worldwide, a solid multiple of its cost.
The ratings are moderate and closely aligned: 6.5 out of 10 on IMDb from around 13,000 votes and 6.4 out of 10 on TMDB from roughly 294 votes, against a critics' rating of 6.4 out of 10 from 97 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film uses the same screenplay as an earlier film by director Tod Browning, which was in turn based on a script from the Broadway production.
- Both location and studio filming of the movie took place in the United Kingdom.
- Frank Langella, who played the role of Dracula, insisted that his character not appear in the film with fangs and animalistic eyes.
- In 1979, three Dracula films were released simultaneously: "Dracula" by John Badham, "Nosferatu" by Werner Herzog, and the comedy "Love at First Bite".
- Unlike the novel, in the film Mina is the daughter of Van Helsing, and she, not her friend Lucy, becomes Dracula's first victim. Lucy is engaged to Jonathan, and Jack Seward is not Lucy's fiancé but her father.
- Dracula's brides do not appear in the film.
- The film is based on Bram Stoker's novel “Dracula” (Dracula, 1897).
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
