Dracula
Original film poster
Directed by	Terence Fisher
Produced by	Anthony Hinds
Written by	Novel: Bram Stoker Screenplay: Jimmy Sangster
Starring	Peter Cushing Christopher Lee Michael Gough Melissa Stribling Carol Marsh
Distributed by	Rank Organisation Universal Studios
Release date(s)	May 8, 1958
Running time	82 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£81,000
Followed by	The Brides of Dracula
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Dracula is a 1958 British horror film, and the first of a series of Hammer Horror films inspired by the Bram Stoker novel Dracula. It was directed by Terence Fisher, and stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. In the United States, the film was retitled Horror of Dracula to avoid confusion, and to avoid international copyright infringement, with the Tod Browning-directed Dracula (1931) starring Bela Lugosi as the Count. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Terence Fisher (February 23, 1904 - June 18, 1980), was a film director who worked for Hammer Films. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Abraham Bram Stoker (November 8, 1847 – April 20, 1912) was an Irish writer, best remembered as the author of the influential horror novel Dracula. ... Jimmy Sangster is a British screenwriter and director born on 2nd December 1924. ... Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE, (26 May 1913-11 August 1994) was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played Baron Frankenstein and Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite his close friend Christopher Lee. ... For other persons named Christopher Lee, see Christopher Lee (disambiguation). ... Michael Gough (born November 23, 1914) is an English character actor who has appeared in over 100 films. ... Carol Marsh in Brighton Rock (1947) Carol Marsh (b. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... This article is about the American media conglomerate. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 128th day of the year (129th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... For the characters, see Brides of Dracula. ... // Events February 16- In the Money is released on this date. ... “Horror Movie” redirects here. ... Hammer horror refers to a series of gothic horror films produced from the late 1950s until the 1970s by the British film production company Hammer Film Productions Ltd. ... Abraham Bram Stoker (November 8, 1847 – April 20, 1912) was an Irish writer, best remembered as the author of the influential horror novel Dracula. ... This article is about the novel. ... Terence Fisher (February 23, 1904 - June 18, 1980), was a film director who worked for Hammer Films. ... Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE, (26 May 1913-11 August 1994) was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played Baron Frankenstein and Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite his close friend Christopher Lee. ... For other persons named Christopher Lee, see Christopher Lee (disambiguation). ... Charles Albert Browning, Jr. ... Dracula is a 1931 horror film produced by Universal Pictures Co. ... // Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff Ingagi, starring Sir Hubert Winstead Mata Hari, starring Greta Garbo and Lionel Barrymore City Lights starring Charles Chaplin Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde starring Fredric March Best Picture: Cimarron - MGM Best Actor: Lionel Barrymore - A Free Soul Best Actor: Wallace Beery - The Champ Best Actor: Fredric... Bela Lugosi as Dracula United States stamp. ...

Production began at Bray Studios on the 17 November 1957 with an investment of £81,000.^[1] It is remembered for its pioneering combination of fantasy, romance and sexuality, and its unprecedented gore. Bray Studios is a film and television studio next to the River Thames near Windsor, England. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ...

Plot summary

Jonathan Harker arrives at the Count's castle posing as a librarian. He is startled inside the castle by a young woman begging his aid and claiming she is a prisoner. The woman looks horrified at the sight of Dracula on the stairs and runs out. Dracula then greets Jonathan and guides him to his room where he locks him in. Jonathan starts to write in his diary and his true intentions are revealed — he is here to kill Dracula.

John Van Eyssen as Jonathan Harker

The woman begs Jonathan to help the next evening and clutches at him. She leans against him as if crying but then tries to bite him. Dracula arrives and yanks her off and fights with her. Jonathan tries to protect her but is overpowered by Dracula and bitten. The pair depart and Jonathan is worried he might become a vampire. Jonathan descends to the coffin room where he finds Dracula and the woman in their coffins for sunrise. Armed with a stake he impales the female first. Dracula awakes at her screams. When Jonathan turns to Dracula's coffin it is empty and Dracula is waiting by the door for him. Image File history File links Dracula1958-1. ... Image File history File links Dracula1958-1. ... John Van Eyssen (1922-1995) was a South African born actor, agent and executive. ...

The story truly begins after this when Dr. Van Helsing arrives looking for his friend Jonathan. He is horrified when he discovers Jonathan lying in a coffin as a vampire. Staking his friend, he leaves to deliver the horrifying news in person to Jonathan's fiancée Lucy, her brother Arthur Holmwood and his wife Mina Holmwood.

Arthur is quick to dismiss Dr. Van Helsing but soon seeks his aid when Lucy falls ill. Van Helsing suggests that Dracula wishes to replace the woman Jonathan took from him with Lucy.

Lucy becomes a vampire and tries to lure a young niece to her but the girl is saved by Dr. Van Helsing and Arthur. Dr. Van Helsing suggests using Lucy as a means to find Dracula but Arthur refuses and so Dr. Van Helsing stakes Lucy in her coffin.

Christopher Lee as Count Dracula

Dr. Van Helsing and Arthur try to track down the destination of Dracula's coffin (which had left the castle just as Van Helsing was arriving there), resorting to bribes. Meanwhile, Mina is called away from home by a message telling her to meet Arthur at a certain address. The next morning, they find Mina in a strange state. Determined to find the coffin they plan to leave again but not before Arthur begs Mina to take a cross. Mina is very reluctant and when Arthur presses it into her hand she screams, jumps up and faints. A cross-shaped burn mark is found on her hand. Arthur and Van Helsing then leave for the location they found out (the very same address Mina was called to - not by Arthur but Dracula) but when they arrive there the coffin has vanished. Image File history File links Christopher_Lee_as_Dracula. ... Image File history File links Christopher_Lee_as_Dracula. ... For other persons named Christopher Lee, see Christopher Lee (disambiguation). ...

During the night, Van Helsing and Arthur guard both of Mina's windows against a return of Dracula, but he visits and bites her nonetheless. A remark by the maid leads Van Helsing to the coffin's location: the basement of the Holmwoods' house. He places a cross inside it, while Dracula locks him in the basement and takes Mina with him. Arthur frees Dr. Van Helsing. A chase then begins as Dracula rushes to return home before sunrise. He attempts to bury Mina in the soil and finds Dr. Van Helsing and Arthur close behind and dashes into his home.

Inside Dr. Van Helsing and Dracula battle it out, Dracula almost strangling Dr. Van Helsing. Dr. Van Helsing fakes a faint and escapes from Dracula's clutches. He tears open the curtain to let in the sunlight and, forming a cross of candlesticks, he forces Dracula into it.

Dracula crumbles into nothingness, as Van Helsing watches in horror. Mina regains her humanity, the cross-shaped scar fading from her hand as Dracula turns to ash and leaves only a ring behind.

Deviations from the novel

• Harker is a librarian/Vampire Hunter rather than a solicitor. He also becomes a vampire.
• Mina is Arthur Holmwood's wife, while Lucy is his sister and the fiancée of Jonathan.
• The characters of Renfield and Quincey Morris are omitted
• There is no mention of Carfax Abbey or an insane asylum.
• Doctor Seward only appears once, in a brief scene as the family doctor, and is completely unaware of the supernatural goings-on.
• Dracula has only one Bride and she is destroyed by Jonathan Harker, not Van Helsing. She ages upon her true "death."
• There is no sea voyage from Transylvania to England but only a short distance between the Count's castle at Klausenburg and the city inhabited by the Holmwood family. Only one coffin is transported to the city.
• Dracula does not "youthen", nor can he shapeshift.
• Dracula is destroyed by sunlight.

A vampire hunter or vampire slayer is someone who specializes in finding and destroying vampires and sometimes other creatures of dark fantasy as well. ... A solicitor is a type of lawyer in many common law jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and in a few regions of the United States. ... Philip Burne-Jones, The Vampire, 1897 Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings that subsist on human and/or animal lifeforce. ... The Honourable Arthur Holmwood (later Lord Godalming) is a fictional character in Bram Stokers novel Dracula. ... Dwight Fry as Renfield in the 1931 adaptation of Dracula. ... Quincey Morris is a is a fictional character in Bram Stokers novel Dracula. ... For other uses, see Dracula (disambiguation). ... The Brides of Dracula are the three seductive female vampires, minions of the infamous King of Vampires, Count Dracula - who inhabit his castle in Transylvania with him, in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. ... Map of Romania showing Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca (Hungarian: Kolozsvár, German: Klausenburg, Latin: Claudiopolis), the seat of Cluj county, is one of the most important academic, cultural and industrial centers in Romania. ...

Miscellanea

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Prior to this film, the 1957 Mexican film El Vampiro starring German Robles and the Turkish version of the story Drakula Istanbula both featured fangs. However, neither Christopher Lee nor director Terence Fisher had seen these films and any influence was negligible. Neither El Vampiro nor Dracula Istanbula were widely seen at the time.
• In the scene in which Dracula is conversing with Harker in his room in the castle, you can see the breath of both John Van Eyssen and Chistopher Lee, indicating it was very cold that day on the set at Bray Studios. However, this is an inadvertent flub, since being undead, Dracula should not have a body temperature warm enough to produce visible breath in the cold.
• The filming of Dracula's destruction included a shot in which Dracula appears to peel away his decaying skin. This was accomplished by putting a layer of red makeup on Christopher Lee's face, and then covering his entire face with a thin coating of mortician's wax, which was then made up to conform to his normal skin tone. When he raked his fingers across the wax, it revealed the "raw" marks underneath. Still photos of this startling shot exist, but it was cut out of the disintegration sequence in the film.

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ...

UK Re-Release Controversy

When the film was originally released in the UK, the BBFC gave it an X rating, being cut, but the hallowe'en 2007 uncut re-release was given a 12A, sparking controversy among critics, and tabloid newspapers. The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is the organisation responsible for film classification (see Motion picture rating systems and History of British Film Certificates) within the United Kingdom. ... Halloween (disambiguation). ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... (Redirected from 12A) All Mazda Wankel rotary engines are essentially a single family - they all derive from the first Wankel experiments in the early 1960s. ...

Notes and references

1. ^ *Rigby, Jonathan, (2000). English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. ISBN 1-903111-01-3. 

External links

• Dracula (1958) at the Internet Movie Database
• Dracula (1958) at All Movie Guide
• Dracula (1958) at Rotten Tomatoes
• BFI Screenonline article
• Britmovie article