Count Dracula
Jonathan Harker (Bosco Hogan) is on his way to Transylvania with some documents
concerning the purchase of a property in England for Count Dracula to
sign. When his fellow travelers find out where Harker is headed, they beg
him not to go. Count Dracula (Louis Jourdan) turns out to be handsome and cultured,
although he sleeps during the day, has hairy palms and sharp fingernails,
casts no reflection in a mirror, crawls head first down the castle walls,
does not eat, and his eyes and mouth glow red when he sees blood.Dracula requires that Harker remain at the castle for a month, during
which time fiancée Mina Westenra (Judi Bowker) worries about Harker and Harker worries
that he's going mad. Meanwhile, the Westenras -- Mina, sister Lucy (Susan Penhaligon),
and their Mother (Ann Queensberry) move to their summer home in
Whitby. Three weeks pass, and Dracula prepares for his trip to England. He
requests that Harker write a letter saying that he has already left the
castle and is on his way home. Unable to tolerate being imprisoned any
longer in the castle, Harker attempts to escape but stumbles into the
crypt where he finds the three vampiresses and Dracula lying in their
coffin. His attempt to behead the count fails.Back in London, at Dr John Seward (Mark Burns)'s sanitarium, zoophagist patient
Renfield (Jack Shepherd) is busy collecting flies and spiders while awaiting "the
Master's" arrival. In Whitby, a fierce storm is brewing. In the middle of
the lightning, thunder, torrential rain, and raging seas, a ship is
beached in Whitby harbor. The next day Skipper Swales is found dead near
the grave of a suicide. Shortly thereafter, Lucy starts sleepwalking. On
one of Lucy's sojourns into the cemetery, Mina sees her being embraced by
a man who promptly disappears when Mina calls out Lucy's name. When Mina
notices two punctures on Lucy's throat, she blames it on the brooch she
used to fasten Lucy's shawl the night that Lucy was found sleepwalking.Quincey P. Holmwood (Richard Barnes) comes to Whitby to visit Lucy, his fiancee, who is
looking pale and growing long canines. Mina learns that Jonathan is in a
hospital in Budapest and goes to join him. As Lucy is not improving,
Quincey and the Westenras return to London to consult with Dr Seward,
whose sanitarium is next to Carfax Abbey, the property purchased by and
now inhabited by Count Dracula. Unable to make a proper diagnosis, Seward
sends for Abraham Van Helsing (Frank Finlay) to travel from Amsterdam and have a look at
Lucy. Van Helsing immediately recognizes Lucy's symptoms as those of a
vampire in the making. He treats her by making a necklace of garlic and
sealing the doors and windows of her bedroom with garlic. Unfortunately,
they don't tell Mrs Westenra what they are doing, and she removes the
garlic from around Lucy's neck. When a wolf jumps through Lucy's window,
Mrs Westenra dies of shock, and Dracula enters the room.Lucy is dying. Quincey is called. As he holds her hand, Lucy
completes her transformation as a vampire and attempts to bite him.
Moments later, Lucy is dead. Of course, Van Helsing knows that this is
just the beginning.Meanwhile, Jonathan and Mina, now Mr and Mrs Harker, return to London
only to find the Westenra house in mourning and Lucy buried in her tomb.
That night, Van Helsing and Seward visit her tomb but find her coffin
empty. While walking from the cemetery, they encounter a small child who
claims to have seen a "bloofer lady" and who has puncture wounds on his
neck similar to those on Lucy's. Van Helsing and Seward collect Quincey,
and the three of them return to the cemetery where they find a snarling
Lucy with blood on her lips. After Lucy returns to her coffin, Quincey
drives a stake through her heart and Van Helsing fills her mouth with
garlic and cuts off her head.When Jonathan recognizes the new owner of Carfax Abbey as Count
Dracula, they send Mina away and make plans to search the Abbey where 50
boxes of earth were known to be delivered. With a consecrated host, Van
Helsing sterilizes the boxes, but they find only 29 of them and no Dracula
(as he is currently paying a visit to Mina's bedroom). The next day Mina comes to see Renfield, who recognizes Mina's
changed status. Renfield begs to be taken away from the sanitarium, but
Seward refuses. That night, Dracula comes to Renfield and accuses him of
thwarting the gift (Mina) that he sent. Dracula kills Renfield and then
goes to the Harkers' bedroom. While Jonathan lies in a trance, Mina
accepts Dracula's "kiss." Dracula opens a gash in his chest and makes Mina
drink. It is at that moment that Van Helsing and Seward enter the bedroom
and send the Count packing. Mina awakens covered with blood and realizes
that she is "unclean" when a consecrated host burns her forehead.Van Helsing and Harker track down two deliveries of earthboxes to
addresses in Purfleet and Mayfair. While they sterilize the boxes, Dracula
enters. He taunts them, but their crosses and bullets are useless. Dracula
leaves them speechless when he leaps from a window and escapes. After
counting the boxes they have sterilized, they realize there is one box
still missing. Mina tells them that Dracula has taken this box and is
returning to Transylvania. The fearless vampire hunters follow.Jonathan, Dr Seward, and Quincey follow the river route to the
castle, while Mina and Van Helsing camp near the castle awaiting their
arrival. During the night, Mina and Van Helsing are visited by three
vampiresses. Van Helsing draws a circle around Mina and sprinkles it with
consecrated hosts to keep the vampiresses out and Mina in. When morning comes, Van
Helsing goes to the castle and destroys the three vampiresses while Mina
sleeps in the circle.Along the river, four gypsies load Dracula's last earthbox (with him
in it) onto a wagon and race toward the castle, Jonathan, Seward, and
Quincey in hot pursuit. A gunfight breaks out. Quincey is wounded. Three
of the gypsies are shot, but the fourth manages to drive the wagon the
rest of the way to the castle, Jonathan, Seward, and Quincey again in
pursuit. They catch up to the wagon in the castle courtyard and are joined
by Van Helsing and Mina. As the sun sets, Dracula awakens. But before he
can rise, Van Helsing stakes him through the heart. A great cloud of dust
is released, leaving nothing more of Dracula than his clothes. At that
moment, the burn on Mina's forehead disappears. Dracula is destroyed.
[Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.]
good versus evil, insanity, psychedelic, gothic