thisbluespirit: (dracula - mina)
[personal profile] thisbluespirit
So, I've been meaning to share some of this here for ages, and here goes. I've been giffing my way through the Dracula adaptations I've seen so far (6 currently) and have completed five, with Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) still to go. (I got stopped by people spoiling my fun by suddenly making a new Dracula in the middle of all this, which meant people were taking notice of my posts and it was too much. Also now I'm not up to date! Damn them. Couldn't they have waited? ;-p)

Anyway, I'm not a visual person, or not without prompting, which is one of the things I really enjoy about screencapping, iconing and giffing, because it makes me look at visual media in ways I never do otherwise. So this isn't anything profound, but in the process, I noticed some interesting visual nods from one production to one or more of the others, so here is a post about that.


Out of the six I've seen, the 1968 TV Dracula is the one that most obviously references its predecessors, both in the script and visually (to the point that even I noticed it pre-giffage).

It references the Universal 1931 Dracula a lot, with Westenra becoming Weston, Lucy and Dracula both getting their counterparts' lines from the 1931 version and in conflating Renfield and Jonathan (but in reverse), and both counts are the type who will turn up to your house as a dinner guest, even if you wish they wouldn't.

Visually, in particular, Dracula's first biting of Lucy is deliberately shot to echo the 1931 version. (Because the 1968 is longer and I was trying to make concise gif-sets I can't show exactly how much so, because it would take 3 gifs to the 1 from the 1931 to make the parallel as clear as it is watching it). However:



FAKE BATS.





Male fainting duties.

While making the gifs, I also noticed that Suzanne Neve (as Mina reacting to Dracula's influence) mirrors Helen Chandler's performance (as Mina reacting to Dracula's influence):



There are probably more, but those are the ones that jumped out at me. (original tumblr post here.)

The 1968 also makes references to Hammer, and, with Hammer being the more recent, and the version that would, to UK 60s viewers be the current definite version, while it salutes the 1931, it mostly challenges Hammer (although there are also some nods, like Dracula having long wanted to cross swords with Van Helsing (wink wink)), trying to push further where it echoes the 1958:



It's fair to say that James Maxwell's Dr Seward is more an echo of Michael Gough's Arthur Holmwood than either of them are like any of the book characters. (Only, of course, Dr Seward breaks down a lot more as the supernatural challenges his rational world. And cries. And faints. Bless him. *coughs*)

I'm less sure about this one but 1968's Mina/Lucy scene echoes the Gina-Danielle scene in Brides of Dracula, only, of course, the 1968 has an actual kiss.



“Put your arms around me… I want you to kiss me, Danielle.” // "Kiss me, my dearest."

The most obvious bit is the ending:



(Which, again, gets taken further by Mina picking up the ring and her end credits transformation). Original tumblr post here.


The 1977 BBC version is interesting, because I thought that it basically went for a classic lit adaptation without much reference to any of its predecessors. Which I think is mostly true - I'm not sure I agree about the influence of the 1968 over it, save in the characterisation of Lucy, which I think must owe something to Susan George in the previous version - but I did catch one little visual Hammer salute. (As with before, I actually didn't quite gif the best match, because like pretty much all of these, I didn't have a clue it was going to be a thing until I spotted it).



Louis Jourdan says hi Christopher Lee. :-D (tumblr post.)


The one that took me by surprise, though, was that while the 2006 script-wise is its own batshit thing (or riffing on a version I don't know), visually it so constantly references the 1977 BBC version that I don't even think I've begun to scratch at the surface with this selection. (And once I started thinking of them together, I could see that, yeah, there's also a weird echo in the Dracula/Mina interactions, even if they come from a different place.)













original tumblr post here.


It's going to be interesting doing BSD in this light, because, though this blows my mind, the previous version it seems to be most obviously referencing is... my much-loved shaky old 1968 TV version. How very dare. 0_o

Date: 3 Mar 2020 10:14 pm (UTC)
theseatheseatheopensea: Lyrics from the song Stolen property, by The Triffids, handwritten by David McComb. (Éowyn (The lord of the rings).)
From: [personal profile] theseatheseatheopensea
Ohh, this post is extremely relevant to my interests, thank you for sharing!

Date: 3 Mar 2020 10:42 pm (UTC)
strange_complex: (Dracula 1958 cloak)
From: [personal profile] strange_complex
As per my comment above, just basically *love* for this post. You're definitely 100% right that these adaptations are all very aware of each other. On the bit which you were slightly unsure about, in the 1968 Mina/Lucy scene, it's possible there are other missing links in between, like Helen approaching Diana while telling her she doesn't need Charles in Dracula Prince of Darkness. But the basic relationship is clear.

Date: 4 Mar 2020 12:45 am (UTC)
moon_custafer: neon cat mask (book asylum)
From: [personal profile] moon_custafer
I’m keen to see your take on the newest version, as I watched it last month and quite liked it, but it’s different enough from all previous versions that I can’t really discuss it without spoilers. Let’s just say that the first two episodes take sections of the story that are usually skimmed over or entirely left out, and has great fun developing them.

Date: 4 Mar 2020 12:07 pm (UTC)
liadt: Close up of Oichi drawing her sword close to her face with a sword blade meeting hers (Richard III Innocent)
From: [personal profile] liadt
Coo, I wonder how much is deliberate and isn't. There's only so many ways to play a scene but then is there cultural osmosis like Olivier's R3? I could bore you further on this and H6.

Date: 4 Mar 2020 12:31 pm (UTC)
shannonsequitur: (Muppets - Costume Drama)
From: [personal profile] shannonsequitur
Speaking of vampires, have you seen What We Do in the Shadows? Usually I don’t rec stuff unless I’m really sure that the person will like it, but since I don’t know your threshold for comedic gore, I don’t know how much it would be your thing. Anyhow, I ADORE this movie.

Date: 4 Mar 2020 04:22 pm (UTC)
singe: The word Singe with a backdrop of flames. (Graveyard)
From: [personal profile] singe
What? No Dracula, Dead and Loving It?

Profile

thisbluespirit: (Default)
thisbluespirit

June 2025

S M T W T F S
1 234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930     

Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated 25 Jul 2025 06:27 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios