Every Generation Gets The Dracula It Deserves: A Very Important Dracula Timeline

Dracula: the very name evokes visions of dark, foreboding castles, mysterious men, and scary sexuality. The name also evokes cartoon bats, cheesy Eastern European accents, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers holding a lightbulb for no good reason.

Ever since Irish author Bram Stoker spun the tale of an undead count with a taste for sex and sadism, weve been hooked on the Dracula legend. Bela Lugosis 1931 take on the eponymous villain scared Americans with blatant sexuality. Then there was the fact that his thick Eastern accent and menacing good looks played into our countrys fear of Eastern Europe. As time went on, new Dracula adaptations reflectedwhatever was ricocheting around in the zeitgeist. Christopher Lees Hammer horror films were quirky and cool in short, everything that British culture was in the 1960s. Gary Oldmans dark and weird interpretation, meanwhile, reflected a tone that permeated 90s filmmaking.

You could say that every generation gets the Dracula it deserves

Case in point: anew, revisionist take on the Dracula myth is due in theaters this week. Dracula Untold promises to tell the true story of a fictional character by connecting him once more with 15th century prince Vlad the Impaler and by suggesting that he was a handsome dude who liked to wear dragon armor. What did we do to deserve this new take on Dracula? Well, I guess were a little toointo Game of Thrones.

Photo Illustration: Jaclyn Kessel; Photos: Getty Images, Everett Collection & NBC

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Getty Images

Everett Collection

Everett Collection

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Every Generation Gets The Dracula It Deserves: A Very Important Dracula Timeline

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero