Dracula (1979) d. John Badham (USA) (109 min)
Fresh from his Broadway triumph in the titular role, a young and handsome Frank Langella smirks and smolders his way into the hearts of heroines Mina Van Helsing (Jan Francis) and Lucy Seward (Kate Nelligan), leaving the former bitten and drained, the latter smitten and stained with his tainted blood. Donald Pleasance provides a busy and eccentric turn as Dr. Seward, head of the local loony bin, while Laurence Olivier lends estimable gravitas as an aging but feisty Van Helsing, wrestling with undead demons and an unplaceable European accent (Dutch? Swiss? German?) with equal fervor.
