Which one is your preference? Note that by Dracula movies I mean the ones based or loosely based on the events depicted in the Bram Stoker novels, so not stuff like Dracula Untold or Dracula 2000.
The contestants:
Nosferatu (1922)
Director: Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Actor: Max Schreck
Description: The very first one, which is old enough to be a silent movie from the German expressionist era. It's not technically based on the novel due to copyright shenigans at the time (and copies of the film were almost completely wiped out thanks to it) but the plot is basically the same with the names switched around a bit, with Dracula becoming Orlok.
Dracula (1931)
Director: Tod Browning
Actor: Bela Lugosi
Description: The film that made Bela Lugosi a superstar. A couple of changes to the plot here, like Renfield taking on aspects of Harker's role.
Horror of Dracula (1958)
Director: Terence Fisher
Actor: Cristopher Lee
Description: The first of many, many Dracula films by Hammer. This one being a much looser interpretation of the original novel. You can tell that Cristopher Lee wasn't a big name yet when this was being made, since Peter Cushing is the one recieving main credit. Funnily enough the same thing would happen with Gerard Butler in Dracula 2000.
Nosferatu (1979)
Director: Werner Herzog
Actor: Klaus Kinski
Description: Eccentric filmmaker Herzog's remake of the 1922 movie. This one makes some interesting changes and additions to the plot, particularly near the end of the movie and lets the traditionally passive female role assume a much more active one.
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Actor: Gary Oldman
Description: This is likely the one most are familiar with. Lots of big, still relevant actors are in this one and the standout addition is probably the exploration of Dracula's origins, which became the focal point in this year's Dracula Untold.
Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)
Director: Mel Brooks
Actor: Leslie Nielsen
Description: Lol.
Personally, my pick would be the 1979 Nosferatu remake. I think the original 1922 Nosferatu aged better than both the Universal and Hammer ones, and I'm already a fan of Werner Herzog, so this was a match made in heaven. The whole movie has such a dreary and depressing atmosphere to set it apart from the rest, which is amplified further by the plot changes and the "twist", as well as Popol Vuh's creepy music (...which actually sounds the same in all other Herzog movies, even though they're not horror).
The contestants:
Nosferatu (1922)
Director: Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Actor: Max Schreck
Description: The very first one, which is old enough to be a silent movie from the German expressionist era. It's not technically based on the novel due to copyright shenigans at the time (and copies of the film were almost completely wiped out thanks to it) but the plot is basically the same with the names switched around a bit, with Dracula becoming Orlok.
Dracula (1931)
Director: Tod Browning
Actor: Bela Lugosi
Description: The film that made Bela Lugosi a superstar. A couple of changes to the plot here, like Renfield taking on aspects of Harker's role.
Horror of Dracula (1958)
Director: Terence Fisher
Actor: Cristopher Lee
Description: The first of many, many Dracula films by Hammer. This one being a much looser interpretation of the original novel. You can tell that Cristopher Lee wasn't a big name yet when this was being made, since Peter Cushing is the one recieving main credit. Funnily enough the same thing would happen with Gerard Butler in Dracula 2000.
Nosferatu (1979)
Director: Werner Herzog
Actor: Klaus Kinski
Description: Eccentric filmmaker Herzog's remake of the 1922 movie. This one makes some interesting changes and additions to the plot, particularly near the end of the movie and lets the traditionally passive female role assume a much more active one.
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Actor: Gary Oldman
Description: This is likely the one most are familiar with. Lots of big, still relevant actors are in this one and the standout addition is probably the exploration of Dracula's origins, which became the focal point in this year's Dracula Untold.
Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)
Director: Mel Brooks
Actor: Leslie Nielsen
Description: Lol.
Personally, my pick would be the 1979 Nosferatu remake. I think the original 1922 Nosferatu aged better than both the Universal and Hammer ones, and I'm already a fan of Werner Herzog, so this was a match made in heaven. The whole movie has such a dreary and depressing atmosphere to set it apart from the rest, which is amplified further by the plot changes and the "twist", as well as Popol Vuh's creepy music (...which actually sounds the same in all other Herzog movies, even though they're not horror).
