Count Dracula (1970 film)

Count Dracula (German: Nachts, wenn Dracula erwacht, lit. 'At night, when Dracula awakens'; also known as El Conde Dracula, Bram Stoker's Count Dracula, Il Conte Dracula) is a 1970 horror film directed and co-written by Jesús Franco, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. It stars Christopher Lee as Dracula, Herbert Lom as Van Helsing, and Klaus Kinski as Renfield, along with Fred Williams, Maria Rohm, Soledad Miranda, Paul Muller, and Jack Taylor.

The film was an international co-production between West Germany, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Although Count Dracula stars Lee in the title role, it is not a Hammer production like his other Dracula films, being produced instead by Harry Alan Towers.

On initial release, Count Dracula was advertised as the most faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel to date. Among other details, it was the first film version of the novel in which Dracula begins as an old man and becomes younger as he feeds upon fresh blood.