Count Dracula/Count Orlok
The most common and infamous charachter of horror lore, The Vampire emerged from the stories of Bram Stoker but was itself derived from a real life 16th Century European count. Vlad Dracula was the leader of Transylvania and was instrumental in leading his armies against invading Turks. His reputation for ruthlessness was well known and feared, he made it a habit to inflict cruel and unusual means of punishment and torture. His most hideous trait was to impale still living prisoners on long poles and place them on the roadsides to scare and intimidate not only his enemies but his own subjects. This trait led to his nickname Vlad the Impaler. The tales of Bram Stoker would lead to many films based on the vampire motif, with the most notable roles played by Bela Lugosi and Max Schreck, both of whom would set their own standard in the look of a vampire. Schreck's vampire was tall and slender, very creepy looking with a rat like appearance. His portrayal of Nosferatu would forever stay in ours minds as his Count Orlok crewed across the screen. Bela Lugosi would take a different route, his vampire was well dressed and of proper upbringing, Lugosi would portray a romantic and suave vampire would used his powers of seduction to intice his prey. This was the most often used vampire archetype and we would continue to see this style of a romantic looking vampire well into the nineties. Besides Lugosi many actors would step into the Dracula costume, Christopher Lee in the 60's, Frank Langela and George Hamilton in the 70's and Gary Oldman in the 90's.
Martin
The only other significant change to the vampire motif was George Romero's Martin which had a young man using syringes and razor blades to gain his bloody feast. With as many as 2-3 films being made each year we have well over 300 films which have used the vampire villain and most notable the figure of Count Dracula.
Martin (1977)
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