Written by Simon Bacon
Published by Bear Manor Media
I collect Dracula movies. As of this writing, I have about a hundred different ones ranging from the Universal and Hammer classics to foreign versions, ultra-low budget productions, TV versions, and X-rated versions. It should go without saying that I am literally the intended audience for Simon Bacon’s new Bear Manor Media book, 100 Draculas On Screen. Surely the author will cover many I already have but perhaps, I thought, also point me to some I don’t yet know!
Bacon starts us off with an Introduction that is, itself, nearly 40 pages long. The Intro gives a very basic overview of what’s going to be covered in more depth later in the book, then explains that all that coverage will be broken down into individual chapters, each dealing with an aspect of the character that can match one letter of his name—D, R, A, C,…etc. Okay. Silly, but kinda fun.
Never minding the way he breaks them down, though, it’s the way he evaluates them that counts, and that’s where he’s particularly good. He’s particularly good at comparing and contrasting the different versions of the basic Bram Stoker story, as well as the different actors to have portrayed the role.
Unpopular as the actor tends to be with most fans, I’ve long since realized that John Carradine is my favorite Dracula, and Bacon sums him up better than I’ve been able to by writing, “If Lugosi’s Dracula was a white immigrant that looked like us but wasn’t us, then Carradine’s one was very much us (even if a very posh, privileged sounding us).”
The classically trained Carradine returned to the role in several less than savory drive-in flicks in later years. On the last episode of TV’s McCloud in the mid-70s, entitles “McCloud Meets Dracula,” Carradine plays the part of an actor known for playing the Count, and now thinking in his old age that he actually is Dracula. The ending is ambiguous.
That episode gets covered, as do a number of other TV Draculas including The Munsters’ Al Lewis and, more seriously, Louis Jourdan, Jack Palance, and even Michael Nouri, whose interpretation of the vampire came on a barely remembered experimental NBC program entitled Chillers.
The man behind Chillers was TV producer Kenneth Johnson, who had had major successes with the Incredible Hulk, The Six Million Dollar man, and the Bionic Woman. Johnson is one of a number of mostly behind the scene folks with short but fascinating interviews herein. Others include Peter Straughan (Nosferatu in Love), Rudolf Martin, (“Buffy vs. Dracula”), Todd Durham (Hotel Transylvania), and former TV Zorro Duncan Regehr (Monster Squad).
For the most part, though, the book consists of Bacon’s spoilery summaries of the venerable vampire’s pictures, from the big screen classics to the drive-in dregs, the foreign art films to the animated versions. I can’t help but notice, though, that when it comes to the latter, we seem to be missing things like the great Mad Monster Party or the cartoon adaptation of Marvel Comics’ Tomb of Dracula.
Another genre seemingly not even mentioned here is the X-rated Dracula, of which I have several in my collection. The closest covered in the book is the softcore Emmanuelle’s Sexy Bite. Jamie Gillis, one of the better actors in the adult film industry, portrayed Count Dracula twice in his career, once with a beard and once without. Visually, he looked quite impressive and one of his films was even released in an R-rated version.
Another odd omission comes during the section on the 1996 Vampirella movie. Coming some 20 years after it was first announced, never has a much-anticipated movie been so cheap-looking and disappointing. Bacon, however, spends several pages simply describing its plot, then moves on. There’s no mention of earlier attempts at filming, and not even a hint that it was based on the comics heroine from Warren’s long-running magazine of the same name. For that matter, there’s also no mention that the picture’s Big Bad, Roger Daltrey, is The Who’s legendary rock vocalist.
So, bottom line, 100 Draculas On Screen is a mixed bag. I love much of Bacon’s writing style but I question whether all the spoilers were a smart idea. I love his insights into the genre at times, although much of the time, he’s just summarizing plots. I appreciate the thoroughness of his inclusions, but shake my head at some of the items missed. Finally, I appreciate the numerous interesting interviews offering background info on various projects.
With those caveats, and on the strength of the fact that I did, yes, find a few more titles to look for as far as my own Dracula collection, I’m going to say…
Booksteve recommends.
