Battle of the bloodsuckers - Britmovie

DB7 · 31-10-2007, 10:57 AM

Battle of the bloodsuckers

Who's the best Dracula? Christopher Lee in the Hammer horror or Max Schreck in the classic Nosferatu? For Halloween, The League of Gentlemen's Jeremy Dyson decides

Wednesday October 31, 2007
The Guardian

Christopher Lee as Dracula
Christopher Lee's count is piercingly rapt, a fierce carnal evil burning behind his flashing eyes.

I have met Count Dracula. The real one. Some years ago, while researching an article about Transylvania, I was introduced to the charming and erudite man who was heir to the region spoken of in Bram Stoker's book. Having been exiled to Germany with his family throughout the Ceausescu years, the authentic count had returned to reclaim his legacy, and was in the process of restoring his baronial castle, which nestled in the shadow of the Carpathian mountains.

Article continues
He recounted how, in 1992, while still fighting to reclaim his birthright, he'd wandered into a cinema showing Francis Ford Coppola's awkwardly titled Bram Stoker's Dracula. He watched the perverted version of his heritage on screen with a growing sense of frustration. When Gary Oldman, playing Dracula, introduced himself with the line, "I am Vlad, prince of Szekely", the real count could contain himself no longer. He stood up and shouted across the auditorium: "No, you are not! I am!"

Now what is arguably the most famous of the screen versions - Terence Fisher's 1958 Hammer film Dracula, starring Christopher Lee - has been re-released, while Nosferatu, the 1922 silent movie that was Dracula's very first appearance in the cinema, has been reissued on DVD. It's a rare opportunity for two Draculas to go head to head. It's also an excellent excuse for me to bunk off work and watch two old favourites that I haven't seen properly for at least 15 years.

Terence Fisher's version is presented in a newly restored print, complete with a title sequence unseen since its original issue, and several cuts reinstated by the British Film Institute, which has scoured the earth, Van Helsing-like, hunting down fragments from Hammer scholars, ex-employees of the Hammer studio and the National Film Centre in Japan. The Japanese were massive Hammer film fans - their passion fuelled by the extra-gory versions the studio produced specifically for the Oriental market. Christopher Lee's performance was, on the film's release, deemed so shocking that it led the Daily Worker's critic to exclaim: "It disgusts the mind and repels the senses ... I came away revolted and outraged." In this age of women having their eyes burnt out with blowtorches on screen for kicks, as happened in the recent movie Hostel, can Lee's characterisation conjure even the barest frisson?

Perhaps surprisingly, the answer is yes. The film is taut, lean and earnest. It is satisfyingly unadorned, performed with a level of conviction and gravitas that we are no longer accustomed to in horror movies. It has an unexpected cumulative power. It's easy to dismiss the limited sets and static staging, but Peter Cushing's vampire-hunter Van Helsing is urgent and focused, and Lee's count is piercingly rapt, a fierce carnal evil burning behind his flashing eyes. It's hard not to get drawn in. Lee has much less screen time than I remembered, considering he is playing the title character, but he makes what there is (forgiving the pun) count. His dialogue is entirely limited to the first act - a scant two scenes' worth. In the rest of his appearances, he is like a prototype Terminator burning his way relentlessly through the Transylvanian night.

The finale alone is worth the price of admission. I'd forgotten how exciting it was - a chase that ends in a one-on-one Cushing v Lee battle to the death. Best of all, thanks to the indefatigable BFI restoration team, there is an extra four seconds showing Dracula's foot disintegrating in a shaft of sunlight, which was deemed "too disturbing" by the British Board of Film Censors in 1958 to be seen in the UK.

So if a 50-year-old Dracula still manages to hold interest and conjure fear, how will the old silent version fare? Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie des Grauens ("a symphony of horror" ), directed by the great German film-maker FW Murnau, was the first screen adaptation of Stoker's novel, but it was completely unofficial; the film's producers did not trouble themselves to pay Stoker for the rights. We are lucky to be able to see it at all: Stoker's widow Florence, quite understandably given this shameless act of piracy, sought to have every existing copy burned. Fortunately for the history of cinema, she did not succeed - because Murnau's vision is extraordinary.

Even before I put on the DVD, I was predisposed towards Max Schreck as the scariest Dracula. He plays the vampire, named Count Orloff in the film (Murnau paid lip service to concealing their crime by changing the characters' names). My earliest horror-movie memory stems from one October half-term, round at Eddy Leviten's house-watching a show called Afternoon Plus on ITV. Presumably they were running a Halloween piece about horror films, because there followed a clip so terrifying that it burned itself into my consciousness. On crackly old black-and-white silent film, this thing appeared, rising out of a coffin. It wasn't a man, though it was man-shaped. It had pointed ears, huge, black-ringed eyes and two pointed teeth - not like those of a joke-vampire, but like those of some nameless rodent jutting down in the centre of its mouth.

But the worst thing, oh, the worst thing was the fingers. Long, twisted, otherworldly talons. Not just a bit long. Too long. Far too long. Nails twice as long as the fingers. A hideous vision. It seemed as if someone, in some long-forgotten time, had got inside someone else's nightmare and filmed it. Eddy and I watched, transfixed, unable to turn it off or run. Eventually, we pelted upstairs. That night, I feared bedtime. And the night after. This was the power of Nosferatu (the word means "undead").

But surely this was just the response of a sensitive schoolboy with a vivid imagination. Viewed in adulthood, Orloff's visage must seem merely quaint and amusing. Would that this were the case. Beautifully restored on DVD with its original colour tinting, Nosferatu is more haunting than ever.

I assure you this is not hyperbole. You have never seen anything like this performance. Just look at how Schreck moves. The expression in his eyes. The wicked smile. And this is incontrovertibly the scariest character makeup there has ever been. There is something primal about it; it has tapped into an image system that bypasses the rational in us.

It is true that it is more of a stretch to watch Nosferatu as a piece of screen narrative than it is Dracula. We have mostly forgotten how to view silent films. But when it comes to Count Orloff's scenes and Schreck's extraordinary performance, the dark genius has not, I am happy to report, faded. These monsters disturb us as much today as they did when the films were first released - even if we are, in the eyes of the BBFC, at least, much less troubled by disintegrating feet. There are some nightmares that will never lose their impact.

batman · 31-10-2007, 08:44 PM

''Dracula'' is a very special character, both in literature and in film, as he featured strongly in artistic/creative movements within each of those mediums.

Each of the three ''classic'' interpretations holds a fascination for me.

Schreck's incredible Nosferatu. with it's dreamy images counter balanced by the stench of plague and pestilence was startlingly realised by Murnau.

Lee's sensual, handsome yet disgusting interpretation ranks as one of the great performances in a truly great film, not just a ''horror film''.

My favourite, though, has always been Lugosi. Browning's uneven and, at times, quite tedious film comes alive only when Lugosi is on screen. His screen presence and magnetism almost reaches out to touch you and drag you into the Count's depraved world. It is a remarkable performance. Lugosi only got to repeat the role once on film (not counting his 'other' vampires) in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein which is a shame, because none of the other actors Universal tried in the role during the 40s came close to recreating Bela's magic.

For the character to survive in films it took Lee's radical re-interpreation to breathe new death into the role.

Bats.

smudge · 31-10-2007, 10:21 PM

The restored print of the 58 DRACULA is well worth a view. Just this second got back from the flicks - enjoyed it immensely. Found myself being amazed at how young Messrs. Cushing and Lee looked though.

Great stuff still !

Smudge

sippog · 01-11-2007, 12:55 AM

I love vampire films! It's one of those genres that can be endlessly reinvented and lends itself to all sorts of interpretations. As well as the classic "gothic" versions mentioned here, there are psychological thrillers like MARTIN, black comedies like VAMPIRE'S KISS and analogies like THE ADDICTION - to name only a few.

LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH, which has no pointy teeth and mainly happens in daylight, is still one of the best vampire films I've seen. It's 70s low budget feel only adds to its "bad dream" quality.

I'd also like to recommend a home-grown interpretation I saw recently that was part of the Brit tv series URBAN GOTHIC (out on DVD). Called VAMPIROLOGY, it's a mockumentary in the style of "Man Bites Dog" about a modern London based vampire whose a bit of clubber and lad about town. Like "Man Bites Dog", it manages to mix post-modern humour with some quite disturbing scenes.

boilerboy · 01-11-2007, 08:32 AM

I remember a movie in the '70's called "Blackular. What a scream!

batman · 01-11-2007, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sippog

I'd also like to recommend a home-grown interpretation I saw recently that was part of the Brit tv series URBAN GOTHIC (out on DVD). Called VAMPIROLOGY, it's a mockumentary in the style of "Man Bites Dog" about a modern London based vampire whose a bit of clubber and lad about town. Like "Man Bites Dog", it manages to mix post-modern humour with some quite disturbing scenes.

What did you think of the 90s series Ultraviolet with Jack Davenport. I thought it was very good.

Bats.

sippog · 01-11-2007, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by batman

What did you think of the 90s series Ultraviolet with Jack Davenport. I thought it was very good.

Bats.

Yes, I've got that one too - a sort of SPOOKS fore-runner. A little patchy but it had its moment. I thought Corin Redgrave was well cast - always thought him a bit bloodless as an actor.

Interesting what you say about NOSFERATU. I teach a class occasionally to a bunch of 16 year old South London students whose "extensive" knowledge of film revolves around action thrillers and gangsta movies (a bit like teaching haute cuisine to dedicated fans of Big Macs). But even they were silent and rapt for at least a few moments when I played them a clip from it. It does work well even with the ipod generation.

VAMPIROLOGY contains one nice bit of dialogue which I misquote from memory: "Christopher Lee is the Sean Connery of Draculas. Bela Lugosi? Roger Moore - all that eyebrow acting. . ." You probably disagree I'm sure

(BTW I meant to say KISS OF THE VAMPIRE before - the one with Nicholas Cage)

Moor Larkin · 02-11-2007, 02:47 PM

I delighted in Christopher Lee's response to an earnest journalist, reported in last saturday's Daily Mail.

Christopher Lee...... Now 85, he is reluctant to talk about his most famous role. "This is a film that is so much in the past that I can barely remember it", he said. He added that he had no particular views on the new certificates and admitted he did not know what a 12A certificate was.

Asked if he thought that today's children are tougher than those in the late 1950's, he replied:
"I don't know. I never meet any."

batman · 02-11-2007, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sippog

VAMPIROLOGY contains one nice bit of dialogue which I misquote from memory: "Christopher Lee is the Sean Connery of Draculas. Bela Lugosi? Roger Moore - all that eyebrow acting. . ." You probably disagree I'm sure

That's a good quote.

I don't disagree, well maybe with the eyebrow thing, Bela's eyes are so powerful I have never noticed his eyebrows!

I appreciate that Bela's acting is an acquired taste and that many people regard him as an 'old ham', but as I'm a Roger Moore fan as well I can handle it.

Bats.

twoshedsmcginty · 04-11-2007, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by batman

What did you think of the 90s series Ultraviolet with Jack Davenport. I thought it was very good.

Bats.

I'm sorry they abandoned Ultraviolet - it had a lot of promise but was hampered bya poor British application of a poor (but popular)American idea - zoo-casting to keep absolutely every demographic group happy. I sometimes wish they would make more shows about Just One Person, but courage is wanting.

31-10-2007, 10:57 AM	#1
DB7 is scavenging through life's very constant lulls Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Shrops Posts: 6,186 My Mood: Country: iTrader: (10)	Battle of the bloodsuckers Battle of the bloodsuckers Who's the best Dracula? Christopher Lee in the Hammer horror or Max Schreck in the classic Nosferatu? For Halloween, The League of Gentlemen's Jeremy Dyson decides Wednesday October 31, 2007 The Guardian Christopher Lee as Dracula Christopher Lee's count is piercingly rapt, a fierce carnal evil burning behind his flashing eyes. I have met Count Dracula. The real one. Some years ago, while researching an article about Transylvania, I was introduced to the charming and erudite man who was heir to the region spoken of in Bram Stoker's book. Having been exiled to Germany with his family throughout the Ceausescu years, the authentic count had returned to reclaim his legacy, and was in the process of restoring his baronial castle, which nestled in the shadow of the Carpathian mountains. Article continues He recounted how, in 1992, while still fighting to reclaim his birthright, he'd wandered into a cinema showing Francis Ford Coppola's awkwardly titled Bram Stoker's Dracula. He watched the perverted version of his heritage on screen with a growing sense of frustration. When Gary Oldman, playing Dracula, introduced himself with the line, "I am Vlad, prince of Szekely", the real count could contain himself no longer. He stood up and shouted across the auditorium: "No, you are not! I am!" Now what is arguably the most famous of the screen versions - Terence Fisher's 1958 Hammer film Dracula, starring Christopher Lee - has been re-released, while Nosferatu, the 1922 silent movie that was Dracula's very first appearance in the cinema, has been reissued on DVD. It's a rare opportunity for two Draculas to go head to head. It's also an excellent excuse for me to bunk off work and watch two old favourites that I haven't seen properly for at least 15 years. Terence Fisher's version is presented in a newly restored print, complete with a title sequence unseen since its original issue, and several cuts reinstated by the British Film Institute, which has scoured the earth, Van Helsing-like, hunting down fragments from Hammer scholars, ex-employees of the Hammer studio and the National Film Centre in Japan. The Japanese were massive Hammer film fans - their passion fuelled by the extra-gory versions the studio produced specifically for the Oriental market. Christopher Lee's performance was, on the film's release, deemed so shocking that it led the Daily Worker's critic to exclaim: "It disgusts the mind and repels the senses ... I came away revolted and outraged." In this age of women having their eyes burnt out with blowtorches on screen for kicks, as happened in the recent movie Hostel, can Lee's characterisation conjure even the barest frisson? Perhaps surprisingly, the answer is yes. The film is taut, lean and earnest. It is satisfyingly unadorned, performed with a level of conviction and gravitas that we are no longer accustomed to in horror movies. It has an unexpected cumulative power. It's easy to dismiss the limited sets and static staging, but Peter Cushing's vampire-hunter Van Helsing is urgent and focused, and Lee's count is piercingly rapt, a fierce carnal evil burning behind his flashing eyes. It's hard not to get drawn in. Lee has much less screen time than I remembered, considering he is playing the title character, but he makes what there is (forgiving the pun) count. His dialogue is entirely limited to the first act - a scant two scenes' worth. In the rest of his appearances, he is like a prototype Terminator burning his way relentlessly through the Transylvanian night. The finale alone is worth the price of admission. I'd forgotten how exciting it was - a chase that ends in a one-on-one Cushing v Lee battle to the death. Best of all, thanks to the indefatigable BFI restoration team, there is an extra four seconds showing Dracula's foot disintegrating in a shaft of sunlight, which was deemed "too disturbing" by the British Board of Film Censors in 1958 to be seen in the UK. So if a 50-year-old Dracula still manages to hold interest and conjure fear, how will the old silent version fare? Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie des Grauens ("a symphony of horror" ), directed by the great German film-maker FW Murnau, was the first screen adaptation of Stoker's novel, but it was completely unofficial; the film's producers did not trouble themselves to pay Stoker for the rights. We are lucky to be able to see it at all: Stoker's widow Florence, quite understandably given this shameless act of piracy, sought to have every existing copy burned. Fortunately for the history of cinema, she did not succeed - because Murnau's vision is extraordinary. Even before I put on the DVD, I was predisposed towards Max Schreck as the scariest Dracula. He plays the vampire, named Count Orloff in the film (Murnau paid lip service to concealing their crime by changing the characters' names). My earliest horror-movie memory stems from one October half-term, round at Eddy Leviten's house-watching a show called Afternoon Plus on ITV. Presumably they were running a Halloween piece about horror films, because there followed a clip so terrifying that it burned itself into my consciousness. On crackly old black-and-white silent film, this thing appeared, rising out of a coffin. It wasn't a man, though it was man-shaped. It had pointed ears, huge, black-ringed eyes and two pointed teeth - not like those of a joke-vampire, but like those of some nameless rodent jutting down in the centre of its mouth. But the worst thing, oh, the worst thing was the fingers. Long, twisted, otherworldly talons. Not just a bit long. Too long. Far too long. Nails twice as long as the fingers. A hideous vision. It seemed as if someone, in some long-forgotten time, had got inside someone else's nightmare and filmed it. Eddy and I watched, transfixed, unable to turn it off or run. Eventually, we pelted upstairs. That night, I feared bedtime. And the night after. This was the power of Nosferatu (the word means "undead"). But surely this was just the response of a sensitive schoolboy with a vivid imagination. Viewed in adulthood, Orloff's visage must seem merely quaint and amusing. Would that this were the case. Beautifully restored on DVD with its original colour tinting, Nosferatu is more haunting than ever. I assure you this is not hyperbole. You have never seen anything like this performance. Just look at how Schreck moves. The expression in his eyes. The wicked smile. And this is incontrovertibly the scariest character makeup there has ever been. There is something primal about it; it has tapped into an image system that bypasses the rational in us. It is true that it is more of a stretch to watch Nosferatu as a piece of screen narrative than it is Dracula. We have mostly forgotten how to view silent films. But when it comes to Count Orloff's scenes and Schreck's extraordinary performance, the dark genius has not, I am happy to report, faded. These monsters disturb us as much today as they did when the films were first released - even if we are, in the eyes of the BBFC, at least, much less troubled by disintegrating feet. There are some nightmares that will never lose their impact.

31-10-2007, 08:44 PM	#2
batman is happy Chief Member OBME Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Norwich Posts: 15,800 My Mood: Country: iTrader: (10)	''Dracula'' is a very special character, both in literature and in film, as he featured strongly in artistic/creative movements within each of those mediums. Each of the three ''classic'' interpretations holds a fascination for me. Schreck's incredible Nosferatu. with it's dreamy images counter balanced by the stench of plague and pestilence was startlingly realised by Murnau. Lee's sensual, handsome yet disgusting interpretation ranks as one of the great performances in a truly great film, not just a ''horror film''. My favourite, though, has always been Lugosi. Browning's uneven and, at times, quite tedious film comes alive only when Lugosi is on screen. His screen presence and magnetism almost reaches out to touch you and drag you into the Count's depraved world. It is a remarkable performance. Lugosi only got to repeat the role once on film (not counting his 'other' vampires) in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein which is a shame, because none of the other actors Universal tried in the role during the 40s came close to recreating Bela's magic. For the character to survive in films it took Lee's radical re-interpreation to breathe new death into the role. Bats. __________________ Oh look Daddy, it's raining again, look at the river that's in our road, I think they should report this as news in other countries! *Bat-Quiz 9 is under way in the 'Competition' thread, Saturday 19th July, 2008.*

31-10-2007, 10:21 PM	#3
smudge has no status. Moderator Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wolverhampton Posts: 3,271 My Mood: Country: iTrader: (11)	The restored print of the 58 DRACULA is well worth a view. Just this second got back from the flicks - enjoyed it immensely. Found myself being amazed at how young Messrs. Cushing and Lee looked though. Great stuff still ! Smudge __________________ Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

01-11-2007, 12:55 AM	#4
sippog is . .no, REALLY does have no status Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: England Posts: 363 My Mood: Country: iTrader: (7)	I love vampire films! It's one of those genres that can be endlessly reinvented and lends itself to all sorts of interpretations. As well as the classic "gothic" versions mentioned here, there are psychological thrillers like MARTIN, black comedies like VAMPIRE'S KISS and analogies like THE ADDICTION - to name only a few. LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH, which has no pointy teeth and mainly happens in daylight, is still one of the best vampire films I've seen. It's 70s low budget feel only adds to its "bad dream" quality. I'd also like to recommend a home-grown interpretation I saw recently that was part of the Brit tv series URBAN GOTHIC (out on DVD). Called VAMPIROLOGY, it's a mockumentary in the style of "Man Bites Dog" about a modern London based vampire whose a bit of clubber and lad about town. Like "Man Bites Dog", it manages to mix post-modern humour with some quite disturbing scenes. Last edited by sippog; 01-11-2007 at 01:00 AM.

01-11-2007, 08:32 AM	#5
boilerboy has no status. Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: australia Posts: 63 Country: iTrader: (0)	I remember a movie in the '70's called "Blackular. What a scream! __________________ we thought you was a toad!

02-11-2007, 02:47 PM	#8
Moor Larkin has no status. Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North West Frontier Posts: 1,609 Country: iTrader: (0)	I delighted in Christopher Lee's response to an earnest journalist, reported in last saturday's Daily Mail. Christopher Lee...... Now 85, he is reluctant to talk about his most famous role. "This is a film that is so much in the past that I can barely remember it", he said. He added that he had no particular views on the new certificates and admitted he did not know what a 12A certificate was. Asked if he thought that today's children are tougher than those in the late 1950's, he replied: "I don't know. I never meet any."

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