by E. Xangell

Created on: November 11, 2007

Vampires are amongst the most favoured themes in the worlds of fiction and folklore. The very word "vampire" immediately conjures up an image of a suave, sophisticated man or a sexy seductress, using their almost hypnotic allure to draw their victims in. Just the thought of giving yourself so completely to someone can seem attractive to some people. However, a lot of people don't realise that the most popular and enduring image of the vampire, or more specifically Count Dracula, comes from a movie made almost a century ago.

Vampires have been part of almost every cultures folklore, dating back all the way to the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians, even to the first creation of man according to the Hebrew legend of Lilith, Adam's first wife. The attributes and characteristics of vampires vary from civilisation to civilisation, but there are a few similarities. Tales of the undead roaming the world of the living, feeding on blood are common place, although the source of the blood, be it from a sleeping adult or new born child is the most common variance. It wasn't until 1897, and one novel which drew on Romanian vampiric folklore that the modern concept of vampirism was born. The novel of course was "Dracula", and with it Bram Stoker created the second most filmed character to date. Only Sherlock Holmes surpasses Dracula for film appearances.

Dracula first appeared on the cinema screen in 1922, in a German impressionist film called "Nosferatu". The film isn't actually a film about Dracula, but is in fact an unlicensed version. The fact that modern audiences have viewed it is down to a few people who cobbled the film together after the estate of Bram Stoker sued the makers and won, resulting in the film being banned from being shown. The first official version came from Universal Studios in Hollywood in 1931. With it, Universal not only created the career of the actor playing Dracula, Bela Lugosi, but also the most enduring vision of the Count. If one is asked to speak in the same manner as Dracula, the most popular impression will be that of Lugosi, a heavily Eastern European accent coupled with a slow speaking rhythm. This is most likely due to fact that Lugosi was Hungarian, and didn't have a very good grasp of English. It was even reported that he learned all his lines for both his stage and film careers phonetically. Lugosi's Dracula was dressed impeccably, with slicked back hair, a posture to suggest both his predatory and erudite nature. Although the green make

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