Villain(s)  Vampire

Actor(s):  Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling, Christopher Lee

Brief Description  Directed by Terence Fisher, Dracula (released in the US as Horror of Dracula) is a landmark 1958 British Gothic horror film by Hammer Film Productions. Starring Christopher Lee as Count Dracula and Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing, the film boldly reinvented Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel with vibrant Technicolor, explicit gore, and visceral sensuality.

Plot:
Unlike the Bram Stoker novel or the 1931 Universal Pictures adaptation, the film streamlines the narrative into a tight, 82-minute battle between good and evil, entirely removing the voyage to England and keeping the action restricted to Central Europe. Jonathan Harker arrives at Dracula's castle under the guise of being a librarian. In reality, he is a trained vampire hunter executing a secret mission to assassinate the Count. After being attacked by Dracula's trapped vampire bride, Harker is bitten, transformed into an undead thrall, and subsequently killed by his arriving partner, Dr. Van Helsing. Infuriated by Harker's actions, Dracula seeks vengeance against Harker’s family.

He travels to a nearby city and successfully targets Harker's fiancée, Lucy Holmwood, draining her until she passes away and rises as a vampire. Van Helsing convinces Lucy's brother, Arthur Holmwood, of the vampire threat. Together, they stake the undead Lucy to free her soul. Dracula then shifts his predatory focus to Arthur's wife, Mina, secretly hiding his coffin inside the Holmwood family home's cellar to feed on her by night. : Dracula kidnaps a weakening Mina and flees back to his fortress. Van Helsing pursues him into the castle, culminating in a dynamic physical struggle. Van Helsing leaps onto a table, tears open the heavy curtains to flood the room with morning sunlight, and uses two brass candlesticks to form a makeshift crucifix. Trapped in the light, Dracula rapidly disintegrates into a pile of ash.