USA. Direction: John Badham. Production: Walter Mirisch / Universal Pictures, The Mirish Corporation. Screenplay: W. D. Richter. Photography: Gilbert Taylor. Music: John Williams. Edition: John Bloom. Cast: Frank Langella, Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasence, Kate Nelligan, Trevor Eve, Jan Francis. Running time: 109 min
LANGUAGE: English / SUBTITLES: Spanish
In 1979 John Badham, one of the directors of the moment after the unexpected and blistering success of Saturday Night Fever (1977) –who went on to continue his career with such enormously popular films as War Games (1983) and Blue Thunder (1983)– directed this new version of Stoker’s Dracula, and above all the theatre version by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston already adapted by Browning. The action starts almost immediately in England, when the Count moves into Carfax Abbey, makes acquaintances with his neighbour, Doctor Seward, and his friends. With a stupendous Frank Langella playing the part he had embodied on Broadway and Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing, the appreciation of this film among its fans has grown with the passing of time.
