Since it was brought to cinema for the first time in Nosferatu (1922), Dracula has become one of the most adapted characters.


Van Helsing. Poster of the 2004 movie and cover of the 1897 book, Dracula
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Dracula
Bram Stoker, 1897
movie vs book
Stephen Sommers, 2004

In 1887, Transylvania, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, with help from his assistant Igor and Count Dracula, successfully creates a monster. Van Helsing suffers from amnesia, slaying evil on behalf of the Vatican City, hoping that he will earn redemption for forgotten sins.


Bram Stoker's Dracula. Poster of the 1992 movie and cover of the 1897 book, Dracula
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Dracula
Bram Stoker, 1897
movie vs book
Francis Ford Coppola, 1992

In 1462, Vlad Dracula returns from a victory against the Turks to find his wife Elisabeta committed suicide after his enemies reported his death. Enraged, Dracula desecrates the chapel and renounces God, declaring he will rise from the grave to avenge Elisabeta with all the powers of darkness. In 1897, solicitor Jonathan Harker takes the Transylvanian Count Dracula as a client from his colleague Renfield who has gone insane.


Dracula Untold. Poster of the 2014 movie and cover of the 1897 book, Dracula
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Dracula
Bram Stoker, 1897
movie vs book
Gary Shore, 2014

In the 15th century, Vlad Drăculea is the Prince of Wallachia and Transylvania. As a child, he was a royal ward in the palace of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and was trained to be a soldier in the Sultan’s elite Janissaries corps, where he became their most feared warrior. Now ruling his domains in peace, Vlad and his soldiers discover a helmet in a stream and fear that an Ottoman scouting party is preparing the way for invasion.


Nosferatu. Poster of the 1922 movie and cover of the 1897 book, Dracula
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Dracula
Bram Stoker, 1897
movie vs book
F.W. Murnau, 1922

In 1838, Thomas Hutter lives in the fictional German town of Wisborg. His employer, estate agent Herr Knock, sends Hutter to Transylvania to visit a new client named Count Orlok who plans to buy a house in Wisborg. Hutter entrusts his wife Ellen to his good friend Harding and Harding’s sister Annie before embarking on his journey.


Dracula. Poster of the 1931 movie and cover of the 1897 book
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Dracula
Bram Stoker, 1897
movie vs book
Tod Browning, Karl Freund, 1931

Renfield is a solicitor traveling to Count Dracula’s castle in Transylvania on a business matter. Renfield refuses to stay at the inn and asks his carriage driver to take him to the Borgo Pass. Renfield is driven to the castle by Dracula’s coach, with Dracula disguised as the driver. Dracula waves them away, then attacks Renfield himself.


Dracula. Poster of the 2020 TV series and cover of the 1897 book
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Dracula
Bram Stoker, 1897
TV series vs book
Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat, 2020-

This series follows Dracula from his origins in Eastern Europe to his battles with Van Helsing’s descendants and beyond. The Count Dracula legend transforms with new tales that flesh out the vampire’s gory crimes—and bring his vulnerability into the light.


Nosferatu the Vampyre. Poster of the 1979 movie and cover of the 1897 book, Dracula
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Dracula
Bram Stoker, 1897
movie vs book
Werner Herzog, 1979

Jonathan Harker is an estate agent in Wismar, Germany. His employer, Renfield, informs him that a nobleman named Count Dracula wishes to buy a property in Wismar, and assigns Harker to visit the Count and complete the lucrative deal. On his journey, Harker stops at a village inn, where the locals plead for him to stay away from the accursed castle.


Dracula. Poster of the 2013 TV series and cover of the 1897 book
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Dracula
Bram Stoker, 1897
TV series vs book
Cole Haddon, 2013

After being revived by a mysterious figure through the blood of a graveyard thief, Dracula arrives in London posing as Alexander Grayson, an American entrepreneur who claims to bring modern science to Victorian society. In reality, he seeks revenge on the Order of the Dragon, a power-hungry organization who ruined his life centuries earlier


Horror of Dracula. Poster of the 1958 movie and cover of the 1897 book, Dracula
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Dracula
Bram Stoker, 1897
movie vs book
Terence Fisher, 1958

In 1885, Jonathan Harker arrives at the castle of Count Dracula near Klausenburg to take up his post as librarian. Inside, he is startled by a young woman who claims that she is a prisoner and begs for his help. Dracula arrives, greets Harker and guides him to his room. Alone, Jonathan writes in his diary, and his true intentions are revealed: he is a vampire hunter and has come to kill Dracula.


Bram Stoker's Van Helsing. Poster of the 2021 movie and cover of the 1897 book, Dracula
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Dracula
Bram Stoker, 1897
movie vs book
Steve Lawson, 2021

When his fiancée Lucy falls victim to a mysterious illness, Arthur Holmwood turns to a former rival in her affections – Dr John Seward – for help. Seward calls in his mentor, Professor Van Helsing, who quickly uncovers the terrifying truth; the “illness” that afflicts Lucy is in fact a vampire’s curse, and the only cure is a fresh supply of human blood.


Dracula: The Original Living Vampire. Poster of the 2022 movie and cover of the 1897 book, Dracula
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Dracula
Bram Stoker, 1897
movie vs book
Maximilian Elfeldt, 2022

Detective Amelia Van Helsing is on the desperate hunt for the killer responsible for a string of grisly murders targeting young women. Matters only worsen when all evidence leads to the seemingly untouchable Count Dracula. And when Van Helsing’s girlfriend vanishes, she is forced to question the very existence of monsters in a final showdown with the enigmatic count.

“The job of the screenplay is to extract the essence of the story from the novel and reconfigure it for the screen maintaining its essence.”

BARRY EISLER (Writer)