Actually, he played the role for the rest of his life.
Quantity doesn't always make quality. He was the first Dracula I ever saw, and nobody else has ever measured up. Of course, not everybody feels the same way, but he was the best Dracula for me.

WELL THATS COOL THAT HE WAS THE FIRST ACTUAL ACTOR THAT PLAYED DRACULA THAT YA SAW BUT HE ONLY PLAYED THE ROLE WHAT TWICE IN dRACULA AND ABBOT AN COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN. HE WAS IN THE MARK OF THE VAMPIRE AND THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE BUT HE WASNT ACTUALLY DRACULA.

HE STILL ROCKED IT.

I agree and disagree with the above. The vampire legend only seems overdone and uninteresting because lately its been done so badly, IMO. These days, if someone was to do a new Dracula, it would most likely stink with the taint...err, influence... of Anne Rice. Dracula would probably be some metrosexual, slightly effeminate ponce playing the misunderstood bad boy. "Oh I'm cursed to drink blood, I can never see the sun again, I simply can't bear to be immortal, boo hoo..."

And IMO, that's bullshit! My vision of the way vampires should be is they should stop being something women sigh about when thinking of...They need to be scary again. Does the wolf stir up lustful feelings in the sheep it stalks? No, just pure, unadultrated FEAR, the way it was meant to be. :mad:

When someone can bring the vampire legend back and show why they should be feared and not to feel pity over, THEN its time for a new Dracula movie...Or better yet, a new Nosferatu movie. :D

/End rant Thanks, guys...:D

BRILLIANTLY PUT.....aS FOR LUGOSI YES HE WAS THE ONE THAT STARTED THE WHOLE THING AND AS PEOPLE SAY HE WAS CURSED
BECAUSE THE ROLE JUMP STARTED HIS CAREER AND ALSO KILLED IT. i THINK THE REASON WHY i PREFER THE HORROR OF DRACULA OVER THE 1930'S VERSION IS BECAUSE ITS WAY MORE REALISTIC AND ITS NOT SO BORING THERES MUCH MORE GOING ON AND OF COURSE THERE IS BECAUSE THERE IS 20 SOME ODD YEAR GAP IN THE MOVIES. pLUS HAMMER FILMS KEPT ASKING LEE TO PORTRAY DRACULA CAUSE HE CARRIED THE ROLE SO WELL, BUT TO BAD HAMMER FILMS COULDNT GET THERE WRITERS OFF ACID TO WRITE A GOOD SCRIPT AT THE END. SO IN MY THOUGHTS THERE WILL NEVER BE A MODERN DRACULA TO COMPARE TO LEE OR LUGOSI, i MEAN SH*T AS CRAZY AS HOLLYWOOD IS THEY WOULD PROPABLY CAST NICHOLAS CAGE OR WILL SMITH AS BLACULA

*hisses* Nick Cage as Dracula??? That's a horrible thought....especially since it's possible....
I haven't even thought of Blackula in years....from what I remember it was a cool movie, but I haven't seen it since I was a kid....has anybody seen it lately?

nay

I think you're the only person I've ever seen that has brought up Langella's version of Dracula. You never cease to amaze me, urge! I saw Langella in the play on Broadway so of course had to see the movie when it came out because he was amazing in the play.

On a different subject, but since I'm talking about Broadway, this past Saturday I saw "Wicked". It was fantastic! I'll never look at The Wizard of Oz the same ever again!

i think i've seen it come up a couple of times .. but he's not one a lot of people remember..

he was my first exposure to Dracula so although he never set the bar for me (i have no problem with a more horrific and less romantic vampire) i still always liked what he did with the role.

I'm suprised you didnt bring up the Hammer vampires ..

although i do like christopher lee a lot (not to mention Peter Cushing) i think the hammer horrors went a long way in making Dracula too recognizable and over exposed ..

I have a documentary somewhere about dracula films, books, etc ..
it starts with the vampire narrator (it may have been Chris Lee) complaining about how commercialized vampires are and cited the Count from sesame st. and count chocula among the examples .. it was done as a joke but there's a big ring of truth to it ... he's too familiar .. he's like frankenstein and the wolfman and the mummy where they have been used is so many other ways other than just horror films .. used in advertising, and kids shows, etc ... it really does distract from the overall impact as a creature of cinematic horror.

not to mention the disservice that has been done to the vampire legend by a lot of god awful films that have been made. (even at least 2 pornos !)

thirdly .. we know the story .. we all know the story. we know what they are - where they came from, how to kill them, what they do ...

I just cant see anything moving forward that will bring something new to the table ... what we need is some new monsters !

Of course the Hammer films are my favorites - I was taken by surprise that someone brought up Langella.

You're definitely right in that the vampire theme has been overdone. I also would like to see something fresh and new.

I'd love to know what the documentary is that you have. Sounds like something I'd like to watch.