_**Not as good as the Hammer Dracula films**_

Jonathan Harker (Fred Williams) travels to Transylvania to meet his client, Count Dracula (Christopher Lee), at his ominous castle. The horrific situation switches to London after Dracula acquires property there. The cast also includes Herbert Lom (Van Helsing), Klaus Kinski (Renfield), Maria Rohm (Mina) and Soledad Miranda (Lucy).

“Count Dracula” (1970) is yet another retelling of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, this time with quickie Euro-filmmaker Jesús Franco at the helm. It starts as an interesting new take on the done-to-death story, but it lacks the lush colors of the Hammer series and the film starts to drag with dubious direction & camera work with too many zooms. A curious scene where taxidermied animals threaten the protagonists doesn’t help. Then there’s the sequence in the final act where Van Helsing & Harker push Styrofoam boulders over a castle wall to murder Drac’s helpers. Meanwhile Kinski is wasted in one-dimensional role.

Yet the cast is great, as well as the authentic Euro locations with real-life castles and such. Plus the score by Bruno Nicolai is effective. Lee played Dracula ten times all-together. Seven times in the Hammer series, as follows: “Horror of Dracula” (1958); “Dracula: Prince of Darkness” (1966); “Dracula Has Risen from the Grave” (1968); “Taste the Blood of Dracula” (1969); “Scars of Dracula” (1970); “Dracula AD 1972” (1972) and “The Satanic Rites of Dracula” (1973). This movie is the only other time he seriously played the role while he also appeared as the Count in two comedies: uncredited in “One More Time” (1970) and in the title role of “Dracula and Son” (1976).

The film runs 1 hour, 38 minutes and was shot in Spain, Italy and Germany.

GRADE: C/C-