“I want to suck your blood blah-blah-blah!” I am sure you know who I’m talking about, but not once in the 1897 novel “Dracula” was that line said, The Count is lost in adaptation and has become a shell of himself in the novel, allow me to explain.
First, Dracula is an old man, not a fine dapper fellow of high society, he only gets younger if he obtains fresh blood, and, Dracula isn’t just a vampire, he’s a hybrid, the town’s people refer to him as Vlkolak which means vampire or werewolf; this is back in the book with his ability to turn into werewolf like creature at midday and midnight and his control over wolves any time of day, so he is a hybrid, vamp-wolf or a were-pire whatever you prefer.
A good example of a movie based on the book is the classic Dracula from 1931 starring Bela Lugosi as the Count, this movie is near perfect except for the fact that in the book it is Jonathan that goes to Transylvania and in the movie it was Renfield, the book is set as diary entries mostly from Jonathan at the start as he travels to make the deal with the count for a property at Carfax Abbey in London, most of the adaptations do make it the count going to London to obtain fresh blood but some change it up such as the nearly lost Turkish version called Drakula Istanbul ‘Da, it claims to be based on a 1928 novel but draws clear parallels to Dracula but instead of London its Azmi [Turkish versions Jonathan] selling kiosks to Drakula. The most known version is probably the 1992 movie Bram Stokers Dracula starring Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder as the Count, Jonathan and Mina respectfully, this adaptation stays very close to the book despite a few changes and over exaggerations but that’s a given, especially because if there was a page for page adaptation it would be more likely to be a tv show as it would be at least 20 hours long.
The novel is a Gothic Horror story narrated through letters and diary entries, following Jonathan Harker’s journey to Transylvania to meet Count Dracula [not Renfield like in the 1931 movie], who is revealed to be a vampire. Dracula moves to London to spread his curse, turning Lucy Westenra into a vampire and attacking Mina Murray. A group, led by Abraham Van Helsing hunts Dracula, eventually traveling to Transylvania to find and destroy him and free Mina from his influence, most movies stick close to this but the more that get made the further away we will get from perfection, anyway, I’m of to make a deal in Transylvania, wish me luck.
By Louis Collins
