TheBoost said:
"Count Dracula" with Christopher Lee directed by Jess Franco is probably the best in both regards. Dracula is genuinly frightening, but with a depth that isn't romantic but more historical. Lots of great language from the novel, and a tour de force performance from Lee.
The only thing stopping it from being the clear and undisputed best Dracula was the ridiculous overuse of the zoom lens. It's like a home movie in some spots.
That's just my opinion, and to be fair, there are two Dracula adaptaions I havent seen yet (Dernhelm Elliot and Jack Palance as the Count).
I've just seen both the Elliott and Palance Versions and in my opinion both are utterly awful (I was particularly surprised by the Palance one because I've wanted to see it since I was very small after hearing how well regarded it was).
Palance's Dracula is a very gelded Count, no magic powers but still vulnerable to light (it doesn't kill him but just makes him stand still and look worried) he spent most of his time either going down stairs in an undramatic fashion or throwing men and furniture around while hissing.
The film doesn't seem to know which half of the 19th Century it's in either which is a bit bizarre.
It's clearly the template for much of the nonsense in the Crapolla Dracula.
The DVD transfer was hideous too, the credits are almost unreadable, the colour saturation is beyond belief and everything is shifted to magenta.
The Denholm Elliott one is like the first rehearsal of a very amateur stage production. Harker/Renfield (the two characters are merged) is so over the top he is borderline interesting but everyone else seems to be struggling to remember their lines. There are a few interesting shots scattered in there but only worth seeing if watching every version of Dracula is your quest.
The Mystery and Imagination box set however is well worth the money just to see the incredibly Peakeian Uncle Silas adaptation.
However I wasn't that impressed with the Jess Franco one either, the nearest Dracula to the look in the book but in most other respects it's as silly as Blood For Dracula but nowhere near as much fun.
So far the nearest to the book I've seen is the Louis Jordan one but even that takes great liberties with the source material but it does have much of the flavour of the novel.
The real surprise however was the first half of the much derided Patrick Bergin modern version (the second half goes right of the rails). I dreaded putting the disc into my player after hearing how awful it was and the second half is pretty awful but the first part wasn't that bad.
Even though it's updated to the present it keeps reasonably close to the source material though the acting isn't very top drawer.
Don't know why he bothers to travel to Romania when he seems to already be there (perhaps that was an eleventh hour insert because it makes no sense at all).
The ballet Dracula Pages From A Virgin's Diary is a great laugh (even if it does go down hill once Lucy get's dusted).