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From: Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv
Subject: Re: World Dracula Day
Date: Tue, 28 May 2024 17:52:36 -0700
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
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On 5/28/2024 7:30 AM, shawn wrote:
> On Tue, 28 May 2024 06:54:16 -0700, Arthur Lipscomb
> <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
> 
>> On 5/28/2024 2:13 AM, anim8rfsk wrote:
>>> moviePig <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote:
>>>> On 5/27/2024 3:22 PM, anim8rfsk wrote:
>>>>> moviePig <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote:
>>>>>> On 5/26/2024 6:04 AM, anim8rfsk wrote:
>>>>>>> May 26, in honor of the publication of the original novel.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> What will you watch to celebrate?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I’ve got the Dan Curtis/Jack Palance version going right now with music
>>>>>>> from dark shadows. It’s a pretty good and a pretty faithful adaptation.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Available on the Peacock, it’s a good copy in 16:9 with the ads front
>>>>>>> loaded so it runs uninterrupted.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Next up, I found the excellent 1977 Louis Jourdon version on the gray.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The key scene in any telling of the original story is the first vision
>>>>>> of transformed Lucy.  Notably, Coppola rather blew it (along with the
>>>>>> ending).  My vote for that one scene (and I've seen them all multiple
>>>>>> times) goes to John Badham's 1979 version...
>>>>>
>>>>> One of the (many) problems with the 1979 version is that it’s based on the
>>>>> play where they randomly switch characters names for God knows why. So I
>>>>> assume you’re actually talking about Mina? Kate Nelligan as Lucy makes it
>>>>> all the way through to the end.
>>>>>
>>>>> I have no idea what advancing the storyline to 1913 accomplished except
>>>>> that they got to rent some old cars.
>>>>>
>>>>> I first saw it in the theater in the wrong aspect ratio. The moon comes up
>>>>> and it’s twice as tall as it is wide! I went back and complained to the guy
>>>>> selling popcorn and got an explanation I hadn’t heard before. They were 12
>>>>> screens in the theater and only one projectionist and he would fix it (and
>>>>> eventually did) when he got back to this screen in his rotation.
>>>>>
>>>>> My date bailed early when they clawed the guys throat on the Demeter but
>>>>> insisted her roommate and I stay while she sat in the lobby smoking for the
>>>>> next 90 minutes.
>>>>>
>>>>> Langella was great.  I hate the newer desaturated transfers.
>>>>>
>>>>> In the Louis Jourdan version, both girls start growing fangs from the
>>>>> minute they are first bit. They do very little in the way of makeup on them
>>>>> to turn them into vampires, but Lucy in particular is wonderfully
>>>>> animalistic. And it has some of the best fog effects I’ve ever seen.
>>>>
>>>> (Mina... Lucy...  Moosey?)
>>>>
>>>> Yeah, Langella is always great, though his take on the Dracula character
>>>> (which earned him raves on Broadway) was that "He's just a man..."
>>>> While that has much to recommend it in a drama, I want something a tad
>>>> more feral.  (I pick Christopher Lee in 1958.)
>>>
>>> Palance is pretty feral, as you’d expect.
>>>
>>> I saw Martin Landau on stage in the title role in the roadshow Gorey
>>> production. He was great. :-)
>>>
>>>
>>>> The Louis Jourdan version blew me away at first.  But when I saw it
>>>> again a few years ago, I was put off by the really crappy (today)
>>>> "surreal" electronic dreamy sequences, or do I misremember...
>>>>
> 
> Those sequences are definitely a bit trippy.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY1CFCKrMV4
> 
>>> Unfortunately, you remember correctly. It’s very much a product of its time
>>> with cheesy solarized video insert effects that weren’t needed now or then.
>>>
>>> But there’s a lot of good stuff in it. It’s the only time I’ve ever seen
>>> Dracula climbing down the castle walls, face down, and it was the only
>>> version I watched yesterday, that had most of the memorable quotes like
>>> listen to them the children of the night what music they make.
>>>
>>> It’s long enough to be leisurely when it needs to be. Hey, one of the three
>>> brides is Sarah Douglas from Superman!
>>
>> Now that got my attention!  I checked but Xfinity doesn't have it
>> available to stream anywhere.  It doesn't even acknowledge this movie
>> exists.  :-/
>>
>> Amazon doesn't have it to stream either.
>>
>>
> 
> May I point you to this:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u36VjXirmlY
> 
> It's not the best copy but it is available for free.

Thanks!