Welcome to the Scream Factory Crypt! In this binge series I will be watching all my Scream Factory titles I own alphabetically or sometimes randomly! Scream Factory is my favorite imprint of Blu-Ray’s because they take movies that studios and the public might not adore but have fans and deserve to be given respect. This will take a long time as I have over 163(!) titles and counting, I know I will have more before I finish, so stay tuned! Not only will I talk about them on the podcast but I will review them here as well so you can see how I feel about aspects of each release.
Part 25: Dracula (1979)
In the early 20th Century a ghostship wrecks along the shores of England. The ship is carrying the personal belongings of Count Dracula. The crew is all dead, with the Count being the only survivor. Dracula enchants the locals, but is he hiding a sinister secret?
Dracula’s story has been told many times. From his early days of Nosferatu to present time, I couldn’t even tell you how many Dracula movies I have seen (with more to come!). To make a unique Dracula film is almost impossible, but what you can do is make a Dracula film with an amazing cast and with some eerie style to spare. Which is what we get with director John Badham’s 1979 version.
Badham is best known for directing the disco film, Saturday Night Fever, but as he says in the bonus features, he is more loved for bringing Dracula to the screen. I have never seen this version of Dracula and I must say it’s a very solid picture. Helped by an incredible cast, Dracula is played by Frank Langella, who played the Count on Broadway. Rounding out the cast is Donald Pleasence as Dr. Seward and Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing.
The 1979 Dracula is a mostly bloodless affair, instead focusing on the romantic side of Drac and mood. There is an occasional bite and one extremely gruesome neck break, but for the most part Dracula doesn’t bare his fangs. You might scoff at the lack of violence in the picture, but Dracula makes up for it in wonderful performances, tight direction and glorious costumes and set design.
That’s not to say Dracula does not have any chilling moments. Dracula scales down the side of home at one point which is well done and scary. His seduction of Mina and Lucy is fraught with sexual tension and Langella’s hypnotic stare will also leave you in a trance.
Perhaps the strongest element of the film is the haunting score by the legendary John Williams. As I was watching the movie, I kept thinking “Wow, this music is great.” I missed his credit the first time I watched the movie, so it was a pleasant surprise as I watched the credits at the end.
Dracula comes with two different versions of the film. Which is interesting because you would thin the director’s cut would have more scenes/gore. That’s not the case with Dracula. The films’ runtime is the same, the difference here is Badham, was given the film after its release and de-saturated the color from the picture. By doing this, Badham as essentially created a black and white version of his film with color. That might sound confusing, but when you watch the movie in its de-saturated form the colors are much more subdued. Giving Dracula a much more Gothic feel to the production.
The Theatrical release is brighter and allows the film to be much more elegant. Here the colors absolutely pop as Scream Factory has a fresh new 4K scan of the film. It really feels like you’re watching two different films.
The video on both versions is outstanding and since I have never seen any version of the film until I watched Scream Factory’s release, I can only go off my personal experience with these discs.
I am not sure which version I prefer more, but I did watch the film back to back and it was fun starting with the director’s desaturated version and then watching the film absolutely pop with the new 4K scan of the theatrical release.
Dracula swoops onto your TV with an impressive sound design. The film sports a DTS-HD Master audio and it sounds great. Dracula’s strongest element is the incredible mood and score. The disc doesn’t disappoint as thunder and lightning assault your sound system with pop. Dialogue is as easily heard as the sound of horses running. This is a very healthy mix.
Dracula has been given Collector’s Edition status from Scream Factory and boy does it deliver. On this two disc set you will find the following features;
Disc 1-Director Desaturated Version, plus bonus features
Introduction by Director John Badham: This is cool because the director doesn’t say his de-saturated version is better, he tells you to watch both and make up your mind on which version you prefer.
Commentary with Director John Badham: Previously recorded for an earlier release.
King of my Kind-An Interview with Director John Badham; A fun and informative interview with the director.
What Sad Music-An Interview with Writer W.D. Richter; Fascinating interview with the writer, a must watch.
Interview with Editor John Bloom; Interesting interview, especially since he seems to be in the minority in not liking John Williams score.
Dracula’s Guest-An Interview with Camera Assistant Jim Alloway; Hats off to Scream for getting maybe not the most conventional interviewee, but a very technical chat.
Interview with Make-Up Artist Peter Robb-King: Interesting interview as Robb-King discusses not only his work here but other Draculas on film.
Interview with Hair Stylist Colin Jamison: Short and sweet look back on Drac’s hair.
Interview with Assistant Director Anthony Wayne: Discuss stunts and reshoots done on the picture.
Interview with Production Manager Hugh Harlow: Another interesting interview, Harlow details the shooting process.
The Revamping Dracula: An older 30 minute documentary about the making of Dracula.
Disc 2-Original Theatrical Release
Audio Commentary by Film Historian Constantine Nasr-A really solid track. Nasr knows Dracula 1979 inside and out.
Also included is a trailer, radio spots and a still gallery.
Dracula 1979 might not have the goriest bite in Dracula movie lore, but its scrumptious production design, stellar cast and haunting score make it a standout picture. The two versions of the film are so different due to only the color timing make this a must buy and fascinating watch.
Film: B
Video: Desaturated-A Theatrical-A+
Audio: A
Extras: A+
Overall: A