_**Not as good as the Hammer Dracula films**_ Jonathan Harker (Fred Williams) journeys to Transylvania to meet his client, Count Dracula (Christopher Lee), at his foreboding castle. The frightening events then shift to London after Dracula purchases a property there. The film also features Herbert Lom (Van Helsing), Klaus Kinski (Renfield), Maria Rohm (Mina) and Soledad Miranda (Lucy). “Count Dracula” (1970) is another adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, directed by Jesús Franco. It initially seems like a fresh approach to this familiar story, but it doesn't have the vibrant colors found in the Hammer films and the movie begins to feel slow due to questionable directing choices and camera work—there are too many zooms. A strange scene involving stuffed animals attacking the main characters doesn’t improve things. Later on, there’s a sequence near the end where Van Helsing & Harker roll Styrofoam rocks over a castle wall in an attempt to kill Dracula's assistants. Meanwhile, Kinski feels underused in his underdeveloped part. Despite these shortcomings, the cast is strong, and the European locations with actual castles are quite authentic. The score by Bruno Nicolai also works well. Lee portrayed Dracula ten times in total. He appeared as Dracula seven times in the Hammer series: “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 is the only other time he seriously took on the role, aside from brief appearances in two comedies: an uncredited part in “One More Time” (1970) and the lead role in “Dracula and Son” (1976). The film has a running time of 1 hour, 38 minutes and was filmed in Spain, Italy and Germany. GRADE: C/C-

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