Drac Watch: Dan Curtis' Dracula (1973)

Watched:  10/17/2026

Format:  Amazon

Viewing:  First

Director:  Dan Curtis

I'd heard this particular version of Dracula was pretty good, and I think that's not wrong.  I suspect it means more to British people who are familiar with the largely English cast.   It's a TV movie from the BBC, I assume, from 1973 and feels like a theatrical release, which is a reminder that TV didn't always put effort in back in the day, but when they did, it could be impressive.  

Dan Curtis's Dracula (1973) is essentially yet another version of Bram Stoker's Dracula that mixes and matches elements from the novel and other movies.  Parts of it are a wee bit more violent or gory than I expected for the primetime viewing hour, but very Dracula on-brand.  But I don't know the context of when and how it aired.

It basically bumps off Harker, which I've seen a few places and makes sense for narrative expediency depending on what you think the end should look like.

I won't get into it too much, but in this one Drac sees a picture of Lucy and she's the reincarnated ex.  When Van Helsing stakes her, everything that happens after is revenge for them taking his lady-love away.  Lucy also has only Arthur as a suitor - there is a tragic lack of a cowboy in the movie, which is bullshit.

I vaguely remember Simon Ward from something including Supergirl.  But mostly I was shocked someone cast Jack Palance as our Transylvanian Tepes.  Aside from that, none of these people meant a whole lot to me.   

Oddly, Palance is really, really good as Dracula.  It's the best I've seen him outside of Shane, and I've seen a handful of his movies (he's okay in The Big Knife).  

The thing eschews German Expressionism or even the punchy colors of early Hammer and sometimes looks like Dracula just running around someone's house, which is more or less what the book actually did.  That's not to say it looks bad - it's just not using light for mood a lot of the time. 

If I'm struggling to say much, it's because there's not much to say - but I think you can draw an interesting line from this version of the story to Coppola's version.  Both really want to mythologize Drac's origins and love for a woman across an ocean of time, etc...