<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Jack Palance As Dracula? YES!
Review: I remember waiting for "Dracula" to air on network television. The creator of the Dark Shadows soap opera was bringing the novel of Bram Stoker's "undead stalker" to the small screen. Jack Palance was announced to play the lead. To tell you the truth, this would not be the first name that would come to mind to cast the role that has been played over and over, but Palance makes one of the greatest "Counts" of all! There is just enough sympathy created for the character to make you almost care, but they don't overdo this element. He's still a bloodthirsty vampire stalking victims. This is a great DVD to add to your horror collection. The companion "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" was equally good for atmospheric sets, acting, and great direction. I was glad this became available.
Rating: 
Summary: Jack Palance into Horror Palace
Review: Jack Palance make two brilliant performances in this two tv movies. In the first, the teleplay of Richard Matheson conects Bram Stoker's charachter with a lost love before Coppola's movie. The second is a very reliable version of Stevenson's classic. Filmed in videotape, the look is, perhaps, a little ugly, but it's very interesting by the vision of the two classics and the great casting (not only Palance).
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding version of "Dracula".
Review: The seventies were the decade when Dracula on screen came to a full and complete apotheosis, and then faded away for good. In the seventies we had Frank Langella, Klaus Kinki and Louis Jourdan adding to the list of actors who played the undead count in important versions. Christopher Lee also gave two last interpretations for Hammer, the worst of his seven draculas, and another with Jess Franco, purporting to be faithful to the Bram Stoker novel. Lee succeeded in approaching the legend from another angle. And among the seveties draculas, we have Jack Palance's. After that, no more draculas were available but for derision or parody -notably hateful is the Coppola version-.I had read about this Jack Palance/Dan Curtis version, the official line being that it is rather disappointing. So I balked for a time, and decided to purchase it only when it has come with Doctor Jekyll, to make good the money I spent on it. And I must tell to every Dracula fan, that this one is an extraordinary screen version, really worth seeing. And this is for the following reasons: *This is a TV production but it was theatrically released, and it has beautiful and cratfy prohography, both for interior and exterior settings. Many close-ups and zooms show nevertheless its TV biases. Its art style makes you think of the early Hammer
Dracula pictures, with Gothic arches and cleverly deviced color patterns. *It includes a particular interpretation of the myth, penned by the remarkable writer Richard Matheson -a very skilled and imaginative author, very good at fantasy and terror-. Love moves the count, a love that transcends death itself. This is the gist of the script. *Jack Palace comes out as one of the best draculas ever, barely second to Chris Lee. His Dracula is strong, temperamental and passionate. He looks like a force of the nature, providing a sense of real menace, and a redoutable presence. Nigel Davenport is a good Van Helsing. *This is a real HORROR MOVIE, that's to say, it tries to evoke and play with feelings of fear and of the uncanny, not like John Badham's Dracula, who gave a romantic interpretation and a semi-parodic one. After the seventies, Dracula became unfortunately a joke, audiences preferred slasher and chainsaw massacres, an enterely different -though legitimate- approach to the genre. As bonus material we have an interview with Dan Curtis and another with Jack Palance. Curtis was a great adapter of the late Victorian classics for the TV. Very interesting his idea of Dracula as being fascinating because for all his unreality, he is "conceivable", unlike werewolves or assorted other monsters. A human being, not quite dead, who plays between life and death, who leads an evil and peculiar sort of "life" feeding on other people's blood... departs only slightly from our experience as to be, as he says "conceivable". So it has the same uncanny quality that makes a wax museum frightening: the figures could come to life at any moment, or at least, this is the trick that our imagination plays on us. Interesting, too, what Jack Palance says. He felt disturbed and even frightened by his character, and wanted to finish shooting as soon as possible. He has seen many draculas, but he has never wanted to see his own... He felt as if the "real guy" were somewhere and and impending showdown were at hand! Cool! Palance is and excellent actor and was offered the part again several times, but turned it down. If ever a character existed that can make you typecast for ever, this is Dracula (witness Chris Lee). Two serious flaws, however: some of the costumes look as belonging rather to the Romantic age, and not to the late Victorian age, in which the action is set (1897). And the scenes with Dracula's brides attacking Harker are not very convincing. As to "Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde in this presentation", it is a worthy version of Stevenson's book. Palance is good both as the shy doctor -a remarkable achievement considering the compelling presence of the actor- and the reckless Hyde. This one is clearly an all-out TV production with its ensuing reduced
visual interest, but still, one of the best for this work. This DVD, then is highly recommendable to every Dracula fan. You won't be disappointed, this could be one of the best on all accounts. Don't let it be lost on you.
Rating: 
Summary: Good films, lousy DVD
Review: These two Dan Curtis productions are well worth watching, particularly Dracula which features a great performance by the underrated Jack Palance as the Count. However.... The reason I have given this such a low rating is because of the appalling quality of the transfers. Dracula starts out so dark that you can't see anything. My VHS copy (not from MPI but a UK tape) clearly shows a lake, Castle Dracula, and a pack of dogs running to the castle. Here, we hear the dogs but the screen is almost pitch black. Things don't get any better later on as brighter colours bleed (no pun intended) into each other, particularly reds. There's barely a moment in the film where I wasn't distracted by the lousy transfer. Jekyll and Hyde's problems lie with the source material and is marginally more watchable. It was filmed on videotape and looks like a second or third generation copy. This is more forgiveable considering that the original print may have been in poor condition, but no restoration work has been performed which is a shame. Hopefully Dracula will get another DVD release sourced from the same print used for my VHS copy. It's not perfect, but at least it's more watchable than MPIs terrible DVD version. I have no idea what the later single MPI DVD release of Dracula is like, but I'm assuming it's of exactly the same appalling quality as this one.
Rating:
Summary: Double the Palance, Double the Fun
Review: This 2fer disc is definietly worth it's weight in gold. Produced by Dan Curtis (the man behind Dark Shadows) these 2 movies originally aired on television in 1968 and 1972. The Dracula was improvised making the woman Dracula goes after as the reincarnation of a lost love (ala Barnabas Collins and Josette Dupres). I would love to know Jonathan Frid and Kathryn Leigh Scott's opinions of this movie. The Jekyll/Hyde was shot live on tape in the same way Dark Shadows was. In fact several of the sets and music can be recognized from Dark Shadows. Definitely an improvement over the VHS releases of both which were included with commentary by Elvira, which if you ask me was a waste of time and energy. Important note: to anyone who buys 2 sided discs by MPI Homevideo. The feature usually listed as being on side A is usually on side B and vice versa. In other words, the side labeled as Dracula is the side with Jekyll and vice versa. I've had this experience with 2 sided MPI discs before and have already emailed them about this. Although they replied with gratitude of pointing this out, I don't know if they rectified newer copies. Buy this disc by all means, but watch out for this.
Rating:
Summary: Double the Palance, Double the Fun
Review: This 2fer disc is definietly worth it's weight in gold. Produced by Dan Curtis (the man behind Dark Shadows) these 2 movies originally aired on television in 1968 and 1972. The Dracula was improvised making the woman Dracula goes after as the reincarnation of a lost love (ala Barnabas Collins and Josette Dupres). I would love to know Jonathan Frid and Kathryn Leigh Scott's opinions of this movie. The Jekyll/Hyde was shot live on tape in the same way Dark Shadows was. In fact several of the sets and music can be recognized from Dark Shadows. Definitely an improvement over the VHS releases of both which were included with commentary by Elvira, which if you ask me was a waste of time and energy. Important note: to anyone who buys 2 sided discs by MPI Homevideo. The feature usually listed as being on side A is usually on side B and vice versa. In other words, the side labeled as Dracula is the side with Jekyll and vice versa. I've had this experience with 2 sided MPI discs before and have already emailed them about this. Although they replied with gratitude of pointing this out, I don't know if they rectified newer copies. Buy this disc by all means, but watch out for this.
Rating:
Summary: Very good adaptations of two horror classics
Review: This two sided dvd contains two films from producer Dan Curtis (who was responsible for the famous gothic soap opera "Dark Shadows"). The first is a very good adaptation of Bram Stoker's "Dracula". This novel seems to be an awkward one to film because almost every version you see changes the plot somewhat or takes liberties with the characters, especially Lucy and Mina. This version is actually the closest I've seen to the original novel. Like the novel, Dracula falls in love with Lucy and later uses Mina as a pawn for revenge (various versions, like the recent Coppola film, have Dracula falling in love with Mina instead of Lucy). The only plot change from the original novel (that I recall) in this version is the way Dracula is killed. In addition to the faitfulness to the novel, this is a handsome production. It was made for television (in the U.S.), so you do have the awkward editing (for commercial breaks) and zoom shots. It has an excellent gothic feel to it and was filmed in beautiful houses and castles in Europe. Jack Palance plays a great Dracula - he is hulking and menacing and brings a sympathetic edge to the character. Also included is the original European theatrical trailer and brief interviews with Dan Curtis and Jack Palance. The opposite side of the dvd is "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde" which also stars Palance. This production also has handsome production values but was filmed on videotape, so you feel like you are watching a PBS drama. Also, Palance's transformation to Mr. Hyde is somewhat humorous - his makeup job makes him look like the Joker from "Batman". Acting is good all around, especially Denholm Elliot and Billie Whitelaw, who was introduced in this film. On the technical side, these films apparently have not been restored and there is some nicks and scratches (especially on "Dracula") but not enough to distract. Many of the outdoor scenes in "Dracula" are very dark. Some enhancement on these scenes would have been welcome. A recommended purchase, especially for "Dracula".
<< 1 >>
| 
