Villain(s)  Vampire

Actor(s):  Christopher Lee, Herbert Lom, Klaus Kinski, Frederick Williams

Brief Description  Count Dracula (1970)—originally released in German as Nachts, wenn Dracula erwacht—is a Gothic horror film directed by cult filmmaker Jesús Franco and produced by Harry Alan Towers. An international co-production between West Germany, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom, it was specifically marketed as the first attempt to put a completely book-accurate adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic 1897 novel on screen. Despite starring Christopher Lee in his signature role, this film was made completely outside of Hammer Film Productions to allow for a unique, loyal interpretation of the literature.

Plot:
The story takes place in 1893. English solicitor Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to finalize a London real estate purchase for the mysterious Count Dracula. Upon arriving at the decaying castle, Harker notices bizarre and terrifying behaviors from his host, discovering that the Count is a vampire who feeds on the living. Harker escapes by throwing himself from a castle window and ends up recovering in a psychiatric clinic run by Dr. Van Helsing. Meanwhile, Dracula relocates to England to target Harker’s fiancé, Mina, and her fragile friend, Lucy Westenra. As Lucy falls ill and succumbs to the vampire's bite, Van Helsing recognizes the signs of vampirism.

He rallies Harker and Quincey Morris to track Dracula down and destroy him once and for all. This is the first movie adaptation where Dracula begins as an old, gray-haired man with a large, book-accurate mustache. As he drinks more human blood throughout the story, he grows progressively younger. The script incorporates numerous quotes taken word-for-word from Bram Stoker’s novel, including the iconic line: "Listen to them, the children of the night, what music they make." The adaptation restores Quincey Morris (frequently cut from other film adaptations) as Lucy's fiancé, though it simplifies the narrative by entirely cutting out Arthur Holmwood.