The Secret Life of Abraham Van Helsing

Last year I was discussing possible casting choices in “Dracula” with a friend. My choice for Professor Van Helsing caused her to do a take. Michael Gambon, she said, was too old. Then I did a take. Van Helsing of course is indeed an elderly man. She didn’t realize that, and was shocked at the…

The Very Many Faces of Mina Murray

Adaptations of Bram Stoker’s most famous novel often reveal more about the adapters — and about their times — than they do about Stoker or his work. Case in point: Mina Harker, nee Murray. Looking at the novel itself, we find a character who seems very much a yin to her best friend Lucy Westenra‘s…

The Second Most Famous Dracula

No other actor has played the part of Count Dracula in so many films. As a consequence, none other has gazed into so many initially hesitant sets of eyes belonging to beautiful women–Caroline Munro, Barbara Hershey, Linda Hayden, Veronica Carlson to name just a few. So many plunging necklines! So many throats to ravish! Yet–curiously–so…

Vampires.Com Salutes Vincent Price and Christopher Lee Part Two

Welcome back to our special Vincent Price, Christopher Lee double feature. In part one we focused on the life and career of Vincent Price. We now salute Count Dracula himself, Christopher Lee. Christopher Lee was born in Belgravia, Westminster, England and made his movie debut in 1947 in the film Corridor of Mirrors. He began…

The Best Known Dracula Movies

Bram Stoker’s influential novel, Dracula, has inspired a ton of movies… seriously, there are SO many Dracula movies. I mean, if you type “Dracula” into the IMDB search bar you get well over a hundred results. While I’m sure there are a bunch of real gems in those results, I’m going to stick with a…

The Best Rated Vampire Movies

Rottentomatoes.com recently came out with their list of Top 25 Best Reviewed Vampire Movies. Instead of going through the entire list, here is their top ten best rated movies (click the link above to see the entire list). Check out the list and let us know what you think of it. 10. Thirst (2009) Sang-hyun,…