Bram Stoker's Dracula (1974 film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bram Stoker's Dracula
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Genre	Gothic horror Vampire
Written by	Richard Matheson
Directed by	Dan Curtis
Starring	Jack Palance Simon Ward Nigel Davenport Pamela Brown Fiona Lewis Penelope Horner Murray Brown
Music by	Robert Cobert
Country of origin	United States United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Dan Curtis
Production location(s)	Yugoslavia England
Cinematography	Oswald Morris
Editor(s)	Richard A. Harris
Running time	100 minutes
Production company(s)	Latglen Ltd. Dan Curtis Productions
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	8 February 1974 (1974-02-08)

Dracula is a scary TV movie from 1974. It is based on the famous book Dracula by Bram Stoker, written way back in 1897. The movie was created by Richard Matheson and directed by Dan Curtis. The famous actor Jack Palance plays the main character, Count Dracula. Other stars include Simon Ward, Nigel Davenport, Pamela Brown, Fiona Lewis, and Penelope Horner. This film was the second time director Dan Curtis and actor Jack Palance worked together, after their 1968 TV movie The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The movie first showed on TV in the United States on CBS on February 8, 1974. In other countries, like the United Kingdom, it was shown in movie theaters.

Meet the Cast

Here are the main actors and the characters they play in the movie:

Making the Movie: Filming Locations

Director Dan Curtis chose two main places to film Dracula. He picked Yugoslavia for its old castles and peaceful landscapes, which were perfect for Dracula's home. The rest of the story was filmed in England. The outside shots of Dracula's castle were taken at Trakošćan Castle in Varaždin County, a place that is now in Croatia. The building called "Carfax Abbey" in the movie was actually Oakley Court in Bray, Berkshire, England.

When and Where it Premiered

The movie was first planned to air on CBS in October 1973. However, it was delayed because then-President Richard Nixon gave a speech about Spiro Agnew leaving his job. So, Dracula was finally shown on TV in February 1974. In other countries, the movie was released in cinemas. These cinema versions sometimes had extra scary scenes that were not in the TV broadcast. In the United Kingdom, EMI Distribution helped share the film.

Watching at Home: Old and New Formats

Over the years, people could watch Dracula at home on different formats. It was available on VHS tapes and Laserdiscs, which were popular ways to watch movies before DVDs. More recently, in May 2014, the movie was released on Blu-Ray by MPI Media, allowing fans to watch it in high quality.

How This Movie Influenced Others

This 1974 Dracula movie had a lasting impact on other stories about the famous vampire.

Influence on Francis Ford Coppola's Film

In the 1990s, filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola made his own movie called Bram Stoker's Dracula. He wanted to show that his film was very true to the original book. Coppola even bought the rights to use the title Bram Stoker's Dracula. His movie used two important ideas from the 1974 film. First, it showed Count Dracula and Vlad the Impaler (a real historical figure) as the same person. Second, it explored the idea of Dracula having a connection with a woman who looked like his lost love. In the 1974 film, this was Lucy Westenra (played by Fiona Lewis). In Coppola's 1992 film, it was Mina Murray (played by Winona Ryder).

Influence on Marvel Comics

The Marvel Comics series The Tomb of Dracula also took inspiration from Jack Palance. The Dracula character in these comics, which started in 1972, looked like Jack Palance. This was even before Palance played Dracula in the 1974 movie! The artist, Gene Colan, was inspired by Palance's acting in an earlier TV movie called The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968).

See also

• Vampire film