Christopher Lee

Klaus Kinski

Herbert Lom

Maria Rohm

Soledad Miranda

Fred Williams

Paul Müller

Jack Taylor

Jesús Puente

José Martínez Blanco

Emma Cohen

Jeannine Mestre

Teresa Gimpera

Colette Giacobine

Jesús Franco

Franco Castellani

Moisés Augusto Rocha

Bram Stoker

Harry Alan Towers

Arturo Marcos

Manuel Merino

Luciano Trasatti

Bruno Mattei

Karl Schneider

Bruno Nicolai

Augusto Finocchi

Erich Kröhnke

Dietmar Behnke

Derek Parsons

Alexander Hacohen

María Luisa Soriano

Emilio Zago

Adela del Pino

Gerry Fletcher

Stuart Freeborn

José Luis Vázquez

Ricardo Vázquez

José Climent

Rino Gadducci

Alexander Grüter

Frank Rintestein

Giacomo Gramegna

John Thompson

Francisco Gutiérrez

Fernando Quejido

Joyce Oxley

Elio Pacella

Joachim Flamme

Sergio Pagoni

Enrico Fontana

Idelmo Simonelli

Máximo López

Maria Luisa Panaro

Horror

Nachts, wenn Dracula erwacht

Corona Filmproduktion

Filmar Compagnia Cinematografica

Towers of London Productions

C. Fénix Films

Germany

Italy

Spain

United Kingdom

_**Not as good as the Hammer Dracula films**_

Jonathan Harker (Fred Williams) travels to Transylvania to meet his client, Count Dracula (Christopher Lee), at his ominous castle. The horrific situation switches to London after Dracula acquires property there. The cast also includes Herbert Lom (Van Helsing), Klaus Kinski (Renfield), Maria Rohm (Mina) and Soledad Miranda (Lucy). 

“Count Dracula” (1970) is yet another retelling of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, this time with quickie Euro-filmmaker Jesús Franco at the helm. It starts as an interesting new take on the done-to-death story, but it lacks the lush colors of the Hammer series and the film starts to drag with dubious direction & camera work with too many zooms. A curious scene where taxidermied animals threaten the protagonists doesn’t help. Then there’s the sequence in the final act where Van Helsing & Harker push Styrofoam boulders over a castle wall to murder Drac’s helpers. Meanwhile Kinski is wasted in one-dimensional role.

Yet the cast is great, as well as the authentic Euro locations with real-life castles and such. Plus the score by Bruno Nicolai is effective.    
 
Lee played Dracula ten times all-together. Seven times in the Hammer series, as follows: “Horror of Dracula” (1958); “Dracula: Prince of Darkness” (1966); “Dracula Has Risen from the Grave” (1968); “Taste the Blood of Dracula” (1969); “Scars of Dracula” (1970); “Dracula AD 1972” (1972) and “The Satanic Rites of Dracula” (1973). This movie is the only other time he seriously played the role while he also appeared as the Count in two comedies: uncredited in “One More Time” (1970) and in the title role of “Dracula and Son” (1976).  

The film runs 1 hour, 38 minutes and was shot in Spain, Italy and Germany.

GRADE: C/C-

English

Deutsch

Count Dracula