Porn Does Dracula

Bram Stoker, most commentators and biographers agree, saw nothing erotic in his now-classic novel.  At least he’d admit to nothing like that.  Some have agreed in the interim, but they make up a minority.  Popular imagination casts Count Dracula as the world’s ultimate seducer, a demonic Cassanova irresistible to women.

No surprise then, when the adult entertainment industry looked to exploit that idea.

Only genuine attempts to adapt Stoker’s novel into an adult format not only got off the ground but finished production.  The Count or some virtual clone of his made appearances, but for now let us look at those actual adaptations.  For our purposes, I’m referring to efforts at recreating the story of Dracula, not just the character.  Given the nature of the industry, is this number high or low?  Matter of opinion.

Less subjective is that the first such attempt sports the semi-topical title Lust At First Bite.  Initially titled Dracula Sucks but then changed after the wild popularity of the George Harrison/Susan St. James comedy, this film followed the Balderston-Deanne play for the most part.  It begins with Renfield’s sister bringing him to Dr. Seward’s private sanitorium.  Soon a mysterious nobleman from Transylvania shows up.  Strange events follow, including the death by exsanguination of Lucy, best friend of Dr. Seward’s ward, Mina.  Not surprisingly, virtually no opportunity for coupling goes by unused, even to the point of adding several extra characters–Dr. Seward’s sister, a maid, a nurse, and a pretty young mental patient who wanders around with a teddy bear until ravished by one of Dracula’s brides.  By porn standards in the 1970s this made for a lavish production.  Period costumes, an antique car, filming on location in Death Valley–many a t.v. series has spent less!  The biggest stars of the industry had roles–Annette Haven, Seka, John Holmes, Paul Thomas (who played Peter in the film Jesus Christ Superstar), Serena and Kay Parker all had roles.  So too did a non-adult performer, Reggie Nalder who later starred in the first version of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot.

More recently Hustler made one of a series of adult flicks, this one titled This Ain’t Dracula, intended as an outright parody of the film Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  The DVD cover made that crystal clear, as did details of costuming especially (Evan Stone as the perennial Count even dons a hairpiece recreating the weirdly oriental look of Gary Oldman).   The first porn version followed the famous stage play.  This one, in following the Coppola film, remains somewhat more faithful to the plot.  Scenes with Harker arriving at Castle Dracula begin the story, and leads to an explicit (no surprise) version in which the Brides ravish him.  As might be expected, Lucy back in England seduces Mina (in this version, the more demure, reluctant of the two).  Later of course the erstwhile vampire hunters track Lucy down, distracting her with intercourse before destroying her.  Yeah, like that makes sense.

In the end (literally) Mina succumbs to Dracula and joins him into the night, actress Jessi Palmer looking quite lovely in fangs.  She actually gives a not-bad performance.  Which parallels Annette Haven’s take on what is essentially the same part a generation earlier.

Here’s what’s interesting.  At one time or another nearly anything that can be considered even vaguely erotic ends up exploited by the adult film industry.  One can see why.  Vampires are certainly no exception, ranging from utterly ridiculous to somewhat enticing.

So I’m told.  Yeah, right.

But the pattern that repeats in both these films parallels that of many legitimate adaptations of Dracula.  At film’s climax, the sexuality of the vampire focuses clearly on Mina–his last, most virginal and upright victim.  In the Langella film she has fallen completely in love with her almost-destroyer.  Such makes for the central plot element in both Bram Stoker’s Dracula as well as the musical version.  In fact it seems the basis for most versions of this story, from the original Fright Night to Spanish Dracula and Dracula Has Risen From the Grave as well as Buffy The Vampire Slayer (the series), the t.v. show Blood Ties and even True Blood.  Sexual awakening.

The novel had the same trope, but notice where Stoker put it.  Not towards the end, as part of some ambiguity involving the vampire, but in the middle.  When Lucy gains fangs, she also gets a sex drive.  Hence Van Helsing and the men who loved her must destroy the poor girl.  Much of the rest of the novel consists of race against time to keep this from happening again!

What’s fascinating is that our current versions of vampire stories–in this respect–often resemble our porn versions of Bram Stoker’s novel than the original.  Take that as you will.

By david

David MacDowell Blue blogs at Night Tinted Glasses.  He graduated from the National Shakespeare Conservatory and is the author of The Annotated Carmilla. and Your Vampire Story (And How to Write It) as well as a theatrical adaptation of Carmilla.

20 comments

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  7. Let us not forget that “Fifty Shades Of Grey” started out as the erotic Twilight-based fan fiction story “Master Of The Universe”…>;^]

    And when E.L. James can craft an S&M tale out of a chaste saga such as Twilight, every aspiring author on the planet is now wondering what kind of fan fiction could be derived from their stories.

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  11. i do not understand why you stick in dracula when vampirism was synonymous to sexualism and the degradation of morality itself. He always belonged in the decadent part of the society. He was always the representative of the sexuality, even from the begining with the myth of lilith. and finally why not.

    excuse my poor english

  12. For me this combination of porn and Dracula represent the best of both worlds. I long for the movie that does it right though. Getting that perfect combination of suspense, beauty, and sex is elusive to most. The directors will either be too gory, too much or too little suspense, and usually no erotic bite scene. Some come close though, like Dracula’s Daughter, Emmanual vs. Dracula, Daughter of Darkness, and even a few scenes from the remake of Dark Shadows series. But of the many films made, too few come close and worse, fewer try. It is because of this lack of effort that I began to write my own story that tries to capture what I feel is missing. Three books later, I’m still writing, LOL.

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  14. I really like the storys on here. I seem to be the only one on this feed. To be honest l have a bad heart. As l sit here listening to it beat out it’s last few songs, and hoping it will go on till tomorrow. I like to thank l could be saved from mortality. Do l think that a vampire would help me, save me Not really. Why would someone lmmortal want to take on a human to guide. Do l still want to be a vampire yes. I love life and who l am. This life is to short .

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