Bram Stoker’s Dracula is likely one of the basic early vampire novels, alongside John William Polidori’s The Vampyre and J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla. Initially revealed in 1897, Dracula can nonetheless be present in nearly any bookstore. It has impressed over 80 motion pictures and tv exhibits, from severe dramas to comedic farces.
There are many devoted diversifications on the market, however the enjoyable factor about such a longstanding character is that fandom has blossomed across the authentic supply materials. Filmmakers have begun to make use of Bram Stoker’s novel, now within the public area, as a jumping-off level to discover extra tales wrapped up in Dracula lore.
Listed below are 10 must-watch Dracula motion pictures that take Bram Stoker’s iconic character to completely new locations the creator probably by no means even dreamed about.
10
‘Dracula’s Daughter’ (1936)
Dracula’s Daughter
- Launch Date
-
Could 11, 1936
- Runtime
-
71 minutes
- Director
-
Lambert Hillyer
-
Gloria Holden
Countess Marya Zaleska
-
Otto Kruger
Dr. Jeffrey Garth
-
Marguerite Churchill
Janet
-
Common Photos made Dracula’s Daughter 5 years after the discharge of Dracula, starring Béla Lugosi. Dracula’s Daughter takes place shortly after Dracula’s demise with the arrival of his daughter, Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden) in London. The film was directed by Lambert Hillyer, who additionally directed The Invisible Ray starring Boris Karloff that very same yr. Edward Van Sloan reprises his position as Professor Van Helsing, whereas Otto Kruger (Saboteur) performs Dr. Jeffrey Garth — whom The Countess believes would possibly assist her to curb her vampiric urges.
Based mostly on Stoker’s Quick Story
The movie was presupposed to be based mostly on Stoker’s 1914 brief story known as “Dracula’s Visitor.” Some say the story was a chapter that had been faraway from the unique Dracula manuscript, whereas others imagine it to be a standalone story. Regardless, the movie Dracula’s Daughter would not share a lot in widespread with its official supply materials. Up to date students imagine that the venture was additionally influenced by J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, the story of a younger girl visited by a feminine vampire.
Associated
11 Vampire Films of the 2020s That Have Already Left Their Mark on the Style
Probably the most enchanting, terrifying, and visually interesting vampire motion pictures from the 2020s have left an indelible mark on the style.
9
‘Blacula’ (1972)
Blacula
- Launch Date
-
August 25, 1972
- Runtime
-
93 minutes
- Director
-
William Crain
-
-
Vonetta McGee
Blacula / Prince Mamuwalde
-
-
Thalmus Rasulala
Gordon Thomas
Directed by William Crain (Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde), Blacula is a blaxploitation film starring William Marshall (Twilight’s Final Gleaming) within the title position. Blacula, as soon as an 18th-century African prince named Mamuwalde, was changed into a vampire by Rely Dracula (Charles Macaulay) throughout a 1780 go to to the rely’s citadel in Transylvania. He stays sealed in a coffin till 1972, when the coffin finds its option to Los Angeles. Blacula emerges, wreaking havoc and turning into infatuated with a girl who resembles his deceased spouse.
Blacula’s Legacy
Blacula has change into a cult basic through the years. It stands as the primary vampire film directed by a Black filmmaker. Everybody is aware of the film is over-the-top, nevertheless it’s nonetheless an essential installment within the historical past of vampire motion pictures and Black cinema. “William Marshall gave this character dignity…” Victor Qunnuell Vaughns Jr. emphasizes in Ebony. “Blacula was Black ache immortalized, and by some means, by all of the satire, nonetheless actual as hell.”
8
‘Shadow of the Vampire’ (2000)
This movie was impressed by the making of the 1922 silent expressionist movie Nosferatu — a film that was famously an unauthorized adaptation of Stoker’s novel. Set throughout Nosferatu‘s manufacturing in 1921, Shadow of the Vampire stars John Malkovich (Harmful Liaisons) as director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau and William Dafoe (Poor Issues) as Max Schreck, the actor taking part in Rely Orlok. Although the title is completely different, Rely Orlok is the “Dracula” in Nosferatu. E. Elias Merhige (Suspect Zero) directed Shadow of the Vampire with a script by Steven Katz (The Knick).
When Fiction and Actuality Blur
Shadow of a Vampire goes past Stoker’s novel by deconstructing the very act of adaptation. Life imitates artwork and vice versa as Dafoe’s Max Schreck displays unusual, eerie conduct on set. He appears to take his position too critically, to the purpose the place members of the crew start to marvel if maybe the person is the truth is a vampire.
7
‘Story of My Dying’ (2013)
This movie takes 18th-century Italian adventurer and memoirist Giacomo Casanova and transports the historic determine into the world of Rely Dracula. Written and directed by Albert Serra (The Dying of Louis XIV), Story of My Dying (also referred to as Història de la meva mort) follows an ageing Casanova (Vicenç Altaió) as he encounters Rely Dracula (Eliseu Huertas) in a Transylvanian forest.
Remimagining Two Basic Figures
Story of My Dying takes two figures recognized for his or her seductive and indulgent proclivities and pairs them collectively for candlelit dialog and reflection. Nicolas Rapold writes within the New York Instances that the film is “an alchemical experiment effectively price witnessing” whereas Calum Marsh on the Village Voice calls it “an esoteric masterpiece.”
Associated
9 Bloody Entertaining TV Reveals Starring Rely Dracula
Rely Dracula is probably probably the most recognizable fictional characters in media, and he is starred in fairly a number of TV sequence.
6
‘Dracula Untold’ (2014)
Dracula Untold
- Launch Date
-
October 1, 2014
- Runtime
-
92
- Director
-
Gary Shore
Whereas many Dracula reimaginings flip to the long run, Dracula Untold dips into the notorious vampire’s previous. Gary Shore (Haunting of the Queen Mary) made his characteristic movie debut right here, directing the film with a screenplay by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (co-writers of The Final Witch Hunter). Set within the fifteenth century, Dracula Untold stars Luke Evans (The Alienist) as Vlad, the Prince of Wallachia and Transylvania. The solid consists of Dominic Cooper (Preacher), Sarah Gadon (True Detective), and Charles Dance (Recreation of Thrones).
Recontextualizing Dracula’s Previous
Dracula Untold paints Vlad “the Impaler” in a sympathetic gentle. Whereas this Dracula finally turns into a monster, he begins out attempting to guard his household and his kingdom from the Ottoman Empire. When his son is demanded as tribute to Sultan Mehmed II, Vlad makes an unholy pact with a vampire on Damaged Tooth Mountain. The viewers is aware of Dracula’s destiny, however the movie makes an attempt to discover how and why certainly one of horror’s most well-known villains might have begun with noble intentions. Not everyone seems to be a fan of the extra sympathetic portrayal of Bram Stoker’s basic character, however it’s an attention-grabbing new take.
5
‘The Invitation’ (2022)
The Invitation
- Launch Date
-
August 26, 2022
- Runtime
-
105 minutes
- Director
-
Jessica M. Thompson
-
-
Thomas Doherty
Walter De Ville
-
-
Hugh Skinner
Oliver Alexander
Written by Blair Butler (Till Daybreak) and directed by Jessica M. Thompson (The Gentle of the Moon), The Invitation is a narrative of loss, household, and id. After her mom’s demise, Evie Jackson (Nathalie Emmanuel) takes a DNA check to study extra about her personal historical past. By this check, she discovers that she has a distant cousin named Oliver Alexander (Hugh Skinner). Oliver invitations Evie to a household wedding ceremony in England, the place she discovers a horrible secret about her household’s previous.
Household Ties
Sadly, the one option to clarify this movie’s relationship to Dracula is to spoil the twists. Evie learns that the marriage she thought she can be attending is definitely her personal. For hundreds of years, the Alexander household has sacrificed ladies to vampires in alternate for prosperity. They need her to wed the lord of the manor, Walter De Ville (Thomas Doherty), who is usually recognized by one other title: Dracula.
4
‘The Final Voyage of the Demeter’ (2023)
The Final Voyage of the Demeter is a supernatural slow-burn directed by André Øvredal (The Post-mortem of Jane Doe) with a screenplay by Bragi Schut Jr. (Escape Room) and Zak Olkewicz (Concern Road: Half Two – 1978). Corey Hawkins (The Piano Lesson) stars as a health care provider named Clemens who joins the crew of the Demeter on a voyage from Bulgaria to England. The ship is carrying mysterious cargo and nobody is aware of what’s contained in the crates…till members of the crew start to fade at sea.
The Log of the Demeter
The Final Voyage of the Demeter relies on a chapter in Stoker’s Dracula generally known as “The Log of the Demeter.” This log suggests unusual happenings aboard a ship that ultimately washes ashore within the seaside city of Whitby with nobody on board. The film takes this one chapter, with solely the log to attract from, and constructs a complete narrative about what occurred to the captain and crew on that fateful voyage. Of all of the movies on this record, The Final Voyage of the Demeter is the one which manages to remain most devoted to the supply materials whereas on the similar time charting new narrative territory.
3
‘Renfield’ (2023)
Renfield
- Launch Date
-
April 14, 2023
- Runtime
-
93 minutes
Like Blacula, Renfield is a movie that isn’t afraid to get campy. Nicholas Hoult (The Menu) stars as Robert Montague Renfield, Dracula’s tortured servant, who continues to help the vampire centuries after their first assembly. In Renfield’s seek for new victims to carry to his grasp, he joins a self-group in New Orleans and realizes that his “boss” has been benefiting from him for much too lengthy. Chris McKay directed the film with a screenplay by Ryan Ridley (Group). The solid consists of Awkwafina (Quiz Woman), Ben Schwartz (The Afterparty), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Star Trek Past), and Nicolas Cage (Longlegs) as Dracula.
An Unapologetic Horror Comedy
Renfield would not faux to be something apart from what it’s: , albeit bloody, time. The motion goes onerous, and the comedy goes large. Hoult performs an extremely endearing Renfield who is straightforward to cheer on because the movie progresses. When it comes to increasing upon Dracula lore, Renfield offers a voice and perspective for a long-suffering character who will get a a lot happier finish on this movie than he does in earlier Dracula-inspired motion pictures.
2
‘Abigail’ (2024)
Abigail
3.5
/5
- Launch Date
-
April 19, 2024
- Runtime
-
109 Minutes
Abigail is a horror motion comedy a few kidnapping that goes a lot in another way than anybody might have anticipated. Six criminals take 12-year-old Abigail (Alisha Weir) from her dwelling and are instructed to observe the younger ballerina in a single day whereas ready for the $50 million ransom payout to return in. After all, there is a catch. There’s at all times a catch. Abigail was directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the duo behind Prepared or Not. Stephen Shields (The Entire within the Floor) and Man Busick (Closing Vacation spot Bloodlines) wrote the screenplay. The solid consists of Melissa Barrera (Scream VI), Dan Stevens (Cuckoo), Kathryn Newton (Freaky), Will Catlett (True Story), Kevin Durand (Tragedy Ladies), Angus Cloud (Euphoria), and Giancarlo Esposito (The Boys).
The Vampire Ballerina
Some viewers would have most popular that the early trailers not reveal the twist, however understanding the seemingly harmless Abigail is a vampire would not take away from the movie’s pacing, motion, or humor. Abigail was initially conceived as a remake of Dracula’s Daughter, which solely actually turns into obvious when it’s revealed that Abigail was changed into a vampire by her “father” generally known as the crime boss Kristof Lazaar. The movie alludes to the truth that Lazaar (Matthew Goode makes a shock look within the position) is definitely Dracula, although this isn’t outright acknowledged within the dialogue.
1
‘Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story’ (2025)
Abraham’s Boys
- Launch Date
-
July 11, 2025
- Runtime
-
89 minutes
- Director
-
Natasha Kermani
The most recent movie to take up Dracula’s legacy is Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story, which relies on a brief story by Joe Hill. Natasha Kermani (Fortunate) wrote and directed the film, which is about in the USA within the yr 1915. Titus Welliver (Bosch) stars as Abraham Van Helsing with a solid that features Brady Hepner (The Black Cellphone), Judah Mackey (Perry Mason), and Jocelin Donahue (Physician Sleep).
The Van Helsing Household Tree
Abraham’s Boys reintroduces audiences to Van Helsing practically 20 years after the occasions of Stoker’s novel have taken place. Van Helsing is now married to Mina Harker. They’ve two sons collectively, whom they’re quietly elevating within the hills of Northern California. Van Helsing has resumed his profession as a health care provider and all appears peaceable…till Mina falls ailing. Abraham’s sons know that their mother and father have secrets and techniques, however they’re wholly unprepared for the curse that has adopted their household throughout the ocean.