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Topic: Dracula (1979) 2X400FT.

Andrew Wilson
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From: dundonald,belfast,co.antrim,northern ireland.
Registered: Jan 2006

posted September 03, 2006 04:50 PM

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Hello fellow members.The story of Dracula has been filmed many many
times;from his days in silent German movies,to Lugosi doing the cape in Universal's 1931 version..to the best Dracula in the movies
Chris Lee doing the fangs and cape in seven Hammer films,the list is endless.
I however what to go back Universal's remake from 1979.Here's my view on it.
Frank Langella brings a totally new look to this role.With his romantically deep voice,and shirt open to the waist,it was certainly diffent.
After a good title sequence, we cut to the bedroom of a young woman Mina van helsing (JAN FRANICS).This young woman is the Count's first target as he eerily flaps down the castle wall to her bedroom window.His calling card is, of course,two small punctures over the jugular vein.Mina dies from this attack,and
so Doctor Seward(DONALD PLEASANCE) calls on the services of Mina's father Dr.van Helsing(LAURENCE OLIVIER),for advice.
Meanwhile,the Count switches his attention to the beauiful Lucy
(Kate Nelligan),and their marvellously sensual encounter is included compelte.
Entering her room,he carries her gently to the bed and so begins a deftly handled sequence,which is far more erotic than most soft porn cavortings!.Now his slave,Lucy,is determinded to protect her
handsome lover and will stop at nothing.The chase leads us from Whitby to Scarborough where a Rumaian ship is ready to return home.In the hold of the ship there's a large crate wherein lie
both Lucy and Dracula-in each others arms.
The climax is just as oringinal:Dracula is hauled up to the top of the mast into the full glare of the sun.Lucy cries uncontrollaby as her lover disintergrates-but suddenly,the black cloak floats away in the wind and a knowing smile appears on Lucy's face...
This digest is worth seeking out and a must for the horror collector.My digest still has good print and excellent sound,doing full justice to John Williams score.I give this movie my highest recommendation.By the way if you should come across the promotional reel as well,go for it to.That contains serveral
minutes not on this double album.The result is a 800ft spool.
By the way if any members have the R1 dvd,released by Universal
back in 2002;you will see the diffence between the two.The dvd
has had it's colour drained;it looks almost b/w.Andy.

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Paul Spinks
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From: Barking, Essex, UK
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posted September 03, 2006 05:40 PM

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Hi Andy,
I love this film. I think it is a much better version than the latest one with Gary Oldman. The cast was perfect, John Williams provided a beautiful music score (as always) and Albert Whitlock's splendid visuals made the whole production look classy. Universal 8 did a great job in editing this feature. I have added the footage from the 400ft promo reel to my print and it does make it more satisfying with the ship scenes and Renfield's death.
Thanks for this great review and like yourself, I would heartilly recommend this film to all collectors.
Best wishes,
Paul.

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Douglas Meltzer
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posted September 03, 2006 07:26 PM

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Andy,

Thanks for the review. I've always liked this film (I wish it had a better ending, though. Too many wolf snarls.). I remember seeing Frank Langella in the title role on Broadway, and how amazing he was. I have the promo (very well edited) and one of many projects to be done is making the 2x400' a bit longer. Laurence Olivier looks like he's having the time of his life hamming it up. "Ve haf vild vork to do!"

Doug

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I think there's room for just one more film.....

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Graham Ritchie
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posted September 04, 2006 03:43 AM

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Andy
Great review, although not a horror fan I did buy this film when it first came out and regard it as an excellent 2/400footer, my biggest regret was selling it [Frown]

[Frown]

glad the colour is fine, your review brought back memories.
Thanks Graham. [Smile]

[Smile]

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Paul Spinks
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posted September 04, 2006 08:00 AM

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The erotic love scene between Dracula and Lucy was designed by Maurice Binder who created the opening title sequences to all the classic Bond films. Sadly he is no longer with us. It is scenes like this, beautifully atmospheric and coupled with John Williams' wonderful music, that makes this film so classy. It is a credit to the Universal 8 editors that they kept this scene in the digest as they could so easily have removed it without ruining the narrative. I wonder if this was the only time Maurice Binder's talents were used in a film as part of the action rather than just for the title credits?

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Andrew Wilson
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From: dundonald,belfast,co.antrim,northern ireland.
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posted September 04, 2006 10:22 AM

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The love scence between Lucy and Dracula was one of the highlights
of the feature.Great work from Maurice Binder too.Andy.

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Douglas Meltzer
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posted September 04, 2006 10:48 AM

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Paul,

Maurice Binder also created the storm effects that sent the U.S.S. Nimitz back in time in "The Final Countdown".

Doug

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Mal Brake
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posted September 04, 2006 02:12 PM

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This is one of my favourite cutdowns, in fact I prefer it to the full length version.
Like others I added a few scenes from the promo but those inserts have started to fade whilst the colour remains fine on the original 2x400.
Mal

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I'm gonna live forever or die trying

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Brian Hendel
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posted September 05, 2006 08:16 PM

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I love this Universal 8 release, too! My print has held up great and I love the fact that it is adapted scope. I prefer that to real scope prints because it fills my 96" x 54" screen up perfectly. As for the drained color on the DVD release -- don't blame Universal. I understand that the color drainage was requested by director John Badham (Sat Night Fever) who thought a more sepia tone would give the film a more authentic feel (I disagree, however).

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Gary Crawford
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posted September 06, 2006 08:32 AM

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Universal did do a very nice job editing the two reel version...when I first ran it, I was amazed at how it seemed I had seen the whole feature in only about 35 minutes. I took out the closing credits on reel one and spliced the two reels together and it was really nice. I wish it had been just a bit sharper print, but not too bad. Haven't screened it in probably ten years. It will be fun to pull it out and see how the color has held up.

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Robert Aragon
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posted September 09, 2006 10:57 AM

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The ONLY thing i can ADD to this discussion is, yup, you guessed it, STEREO SOUND! A film isn't complete for me, unless it has the original or best sound possible. The 6 track dolby stereo is utilized at it's fullest in this film. So many scenes to point out, the sweeping score during the silhouetted love scene, or the pounding heartbeat BASS when Dracula appears on horseback. Overall, REALLY worth re-recording into stereo. I also edited the promo as well, but felt the renfield scenes did not make sense in the larger film, they were cut too quickly and made no sense when replaced in the film. No character development. Not even an explanation of who renfield was. I left his character out of the film. I'll look back and see if i was wrong. Perhaps. GREAT FILM though, good review!

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Douglas Meltzer
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posted September 09, 2006 01:31 PM

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Robert,

When I first viewed the promo, I had the exact same thought about Renfield. His death scene is good, but if cut into the two parter the audience would wonder "who is (was) that guy?".

Doug

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I think there's room for just one more film.....

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Brad Kimball
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posted September 10, 2006 12:51 AM

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Doug....Just what is it you're pointing to in your picture? I must be getting old because I swear it looks like books and not film or is it that I don't recognize the cartons. I have the three parts to DRACULA and I have always felt that it is, indeed, a well-edited digest (save for the promo reel which really was un-necessary being that the film had already gone through its theatrical run). The crappy eastman color is a bit faded on mine, but overall ok.

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Douglas Meltzer
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posted September 10, 2006 04:36 PM

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Brad,

The original photo has many more recognizable film boxes but in this cropped version I'm pointing to 1200' boxes with homemade labels. The boxes (available from Derann) contain the features (from top to bottom) Poltergeist, Chinatown, Jurassic Park, First Men In The Moon, Terminator 2 & Alien. On the other side are digest versions of Taxi Driver (Piccolo), Taxi Driver (Columbia), The Exorcist, The Towering Inferno and Where Eagles Dare.

I posted the larger photo here.

Doug

[ September 12, 2006, 09:51 AM: Message edited by: Douglas Meltzer ]

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Gary Crawford
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posted September 11, 2006 07:40 AM

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Just pulled out Dracula last night after maybe 20 years.....and it has held its color very well. When new I remember thinking it leaned toward sepia ...but the opening Universal 8 logo is still strong with the red and blue ...just wish they had printed the film with more care. It's still not very sharp...and it's obvious they used some print to make this edition..the cue marks from the print are printed into the scene with Van Helsing and Mina in the cemetary.. Still a good editing job overall. I wonder how much you charge, Robert, to re-record this one for me? Stereo sound might take my mind off the soft image. Although the mono sound on this print is quite strong with great bass.

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Gary Crawford
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posted September 11, 2006 07:40 AM

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Just pulled out Dracula last night after maybe 20 years.....and it has held its color very well. When new I remember thinking it leaned toward sepia ...but the opening Universal 8 logo is still strong with the red and blue ...just wish they had printed the film with more care. It's still not very sharp...and it's obvious they used some print to make this edition..the cue marks from the print are printed into the scene with Van Helsing and Mina in the cemetary.. Still a good editing job overall. I wonder how much you charge, Robert, to re-record this one for me? Stereo sound might take my mind off the soft image. Although the mono sound on this print is quite strong with great bass.

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Robert Aragon
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posted September 30, 2006 06:43 PM

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Hi, I just read your post and Stereo re-recording question. I may be offering this is the near future. YES, you would NOT even see the DRACULA soft picture with booming stereo sound!

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Brad Kimball
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posted January 24, 2013 09:35 AM

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I, too, belive that Universal did a nice job with this one. I'm usually bashing the contemporary U/8 digests for being sloppy rush jobs, but not in this case. My prints of each part are still not too badly faded and the sound on each reel is just fine. BTW...Christopher Lee's stunt double (Eddie Powell) doubled for Langella in the finale and actually suffered a concussion when he was hoisted up through the trap doors. Powell also doubled for Jack Palance in the '73 made-for-television production and has a brief part (out of costume) in the scene when Drac is confronted on some stairs after penetrating a hotel in London. The two men shared a laugh together about how it was funny that Dracula was attacking Dracula.

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Hugh Thompson Scott
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posted January 24, 2013 10:26 AM

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Eddie Powell was also the "Alien", they tried to use some 7' tall
Jamaican Basketball player, but he just wasn't strong enough
to perform with the heavy suit so Eddie had to don the suit himself.

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Hugh Thompson Scott
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posted January 24, 2013 02:34 PM

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I thought this release to be one of the best.The 400' cuts in nicely
as well. It has great atmosphere, Langella was superb, the only
jarring fault was the appearance of Mina and her reflection in
the stagnant pool underground.I certainly rate this Dracula very
highly.

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Kevin Hassall
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posted January 26, 2013 04:59 AM

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i love this version i had this from derann they had the 2 400ft plus the promo for £10 i couldnt beleive it and the quality i really good it still had the wrapping on all three

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Gary Crawford
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posted January 28, 2013 11:12 AM

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I agree that they did a really nice job on editing the 800 footer, but ..alas....it is losing color very fast.

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Adrian Winchester
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posted January 29, 2013 06:50 PM

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I envy the folks here with prints that still have good colour - mine was already showing serious fade when I last screened it about 8 years ago!

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Adrian Winchester

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