Oh, but my cup, it do runneth over; another unforeseen DVD release: the 1977 BBC miniseries, Count Dracula, starring Louis Jourdan. This is quite the prize for horror fans--for this is a movie we've been (technically) unable to see since no official US video or DVD has ever been released. Even eBay searches often turned up nothing, which is what I was doing today during a slow day at work. Then while on the movie's IMDB page, I idly clicked their DVD link, never imagining in a million years to see that, yes, it will be released this September, just in time for What is it about this BBC version? Apparently, in the moonlit world of people who care about this sort of thing, it seems that no other adaptation of the Mr. Stoker's venerable novel has ever come so close to capturing the vision of said Mr. Stoker. After the BBC tried again last year, with a very bloodless, odd and ultimately pointless version, I finally got ahold of Jess Franco's supposed "literary" adaptation from 1970, also titled Count Dracula. Sigh.
Not even the presence of the mighty Christopher Lee, the quite literally insane Klaus Kinski, or the eternally beautiful Soledad Miranda could rescue it from near-complete ineptitude. How do you make an undead Soledad Miranda unwatchable? What a special talent. At least we'll always have Vampyros Lesbos and She Killed in Ecstasy.
All these draculean failures piqued my interest more in this miniseries, and finally, my desire becomes sated. Or something to that effect. Something tells me I’ll get at least a few minutes of, um, frisson from this version…
"There was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an animal, till I could see in the moonlight the moisture shining on the scarlet lips and on the red tongue as it lapped the white sharp teeth. Lower and lower went her head as the lips went below the range of my mouth and chin and seemed to fasten on my throat."
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3 comments:
I am THRILLED to learn this BBC production will be released. I just jumped over to Amazon to pre-order my copy. I read the sole review and I also remember that image of Louis Jourdan/Dracula clinging to the castle walls. Lovely. It was 1978, I believe, and I was living in Richmond, in school at VCU, that Halloween when the local PBS station broadcast this series. Wonderful! I can't wait to see it again.
What's a nice girl like me doing watching "Dark Shadows"? Alas, the campy TV Dracula spoof was what I "cut my teeth on." This BBC production must rule by comparison. Since I already give Amazon my paycheck, might as well as this to my cart. Dracula--it is all so, well, seductive. And why aren't you writing for a living, Mr. Will? You have the teeth and gums for it. Keep blogging; I'll keep reading.
Is it just me or is it titillating in here?
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