"Mystery and Imagination"
Dracula (1968)

Director:

Patrick Dromgoole

Writers:

Charles Graham (adaptation)
Bram Stoker (novel)

TV Series:

"Mystery and Imagination" (1966)

Original Air Date:

18 November 1968 (Season 4, Episode 3)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Dracula | Vampire | Based On Novel | Character Name In Title | Anthology

Cast

Bernard Archard	...	Dr. Van Helsing
Nina Baden-Semper	...	Vampire
Michael Da Costa	...	Jenkins
Denholm Elliott	...	Dracula
Susan George	...	Lucy Weston
Hedley Goodall	...	Swales
Joan Hickson	...	Mrs. Weston
Tony Lane	...	Coachman
Marie Legrand	...	Vampire
James Maxwell	...	Dr. Seward
Helena McCarthy	...	Mrs. Hoskins
Phyllis Morris	...	Mrs. Perkins
Valerie Muller	...	Vampire
Suzanne Neve	...	Mina Harker
James Pope	...	Rowse
Corin Redgrave	...	Jonathan Harker

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Independent Television (ITV)

Movie Connections:

Version of Dracula (2002) (TV)

A Unique and eerie take of Stoker's novel

I have just received a copy of this VERY rare film and was Very pleased with it. This film, while not sticking entirely to the book was the first Dracula movie that actually gave me chills. Perhaps it was the primitive picture which gives one the slight feeling of claustrophobia or the vampires themselves who all sport Nosferatu like fangs, but this movie is actually scary.

SPOILERS! The film begins in an asylum in England; by now Dracula has already arrived in England and has attacked Lucy at least once. Rather than the character of Reinfield, Jonathan Harker is the deranged madman who eats flies. He recounts to Dr. Seward (now our hero in this version) some of what he has seen in Transilvania, including a disturbing attack by Dracula's brides. Like the Bela Lugosi film, Dracula befriends all of the characters just so he can get closer to their jugulars, so to speak. He turns Lucy (played wonderfully by Susan George)into a vampire and she is, in turn, attacks Mina (Harker's wife. Dracula's attack on Lucy is EXTREMELY erotic and it shocked me that it was actually shown on TV; also shocking was the not very discreet lesbianistic (if that's a word) scene when Lucy attacks Mina. Van Helsing quickly dispatches of Lucy and uses Mina as bate to lure Dracula into a trap. Dracula is destroyed in a cemetery, but Mina, unbeknown-st to her friends remains under Dracula's spell and the ending is left ambiguous.

This film returns many scenes from the novel left out by other film: Mina and Lucy's discussion with Mr. Swales about the young man who committed suicide, whose grave is beside their favorite retreat; and the character of Mrs. Weston is also returned. I quite enjoyed this film and it is actually tied with the 1977 version starring Louis Jordan as my favorite take on Stoker's tale.