The Prince of Darkness has been terrorizing people on page and screen since his debut in 1897. Originally written to be a gaunt, decrepit old man, it didn’t take long for Dracula to become the pinnacle of sexiness, mostly due to his appearances on film.
While hundreds of actors have played Dracula over the years, two men stand tall above the rest, Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee. Which one is the best, it depends on who you ask, but there are different things both bring to the table that make them unique.
Lugosi: Iconic Voice
Whenever someone does an impression of Dracula, odds are high that they’re doing an impersonation of Bela Lugosi. While Lugosi’s voice wasn’t exactly threatening, it was certainly intoxicating. His voice also had a natural evil sound to it. While that may sound a bit stereotypical; Bela Lugosi’s voice was just too well suited for villainy.
Christopher Lee had one of the most well-known voices of all time, but his vocal interpretation of The Count was a wee bit too English for someone of Transylvanian descent. Lugosi’s, however, fits right in with the character he played.
Lee: Was Naturally Threatening
Christopher Lee might not have had the iconic voice, but when you’re as physically imposing as he was, why would you worry about that? Lee’s Dracula didn’t have too many lines across the seven films that he played The Count, but Lee’s sheer physical presence spoke for him. Lee played Dracula with a subtle menace other characters quake in his presence and even made up for his limited amount of dialogue.
A particular example is when Lee’s Dracula got into a fight with Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing at the end of Horror of Dracula. Lee sold that Van Helsing didn’t have a prayer in a one-on-one fight with The Count.
Lugosi: Unexplainable Mystique
There was just something bizarrely alien about Bela Lugosi’s Dracula. Whenever he was on screen, Lugosi had an air of not quite being from the world that we live in. You couldn’t take your eyes off of him no matter what he was doing, but there was never a sense that you could figure him out.
Lugosi’s Dracula had a hypnotizing quality to his overall presence that’s difficult to top. No matter how many noteworthy performances other actors delivered as Dracula, Bela Lugosi made you believe that he really was really a vampire.
Lee: He Has More Movies
There is an argument to be made for the fact that Christopher Lee has played Dracula in more films than anyone on record. Christopher Lee played Dracula in a total of seven movies for Hammer Film Productions, not to mention that he also played a more book-accurate Dracula in Jesús Franco’s film Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula, as well as the French comedy Dracula and Son.
While none of these movies will be winning any Oscars any time soon, Lee never gave a bad performance in any of them, and they are all part of his legacy as the single most prolific Dracula.
Lugosi: His Appearances Mattered
Christopher Lee himself said that his Dracula sequels always felt like they had already been written, The Count himself was a last-minute inclusion. While Bela Lugosi might not have been happy about how Dracula affected his career, he certainly couldn’t think he wasn’t important to the plot.
Though he is mainly identified for the role, Lugosi only played Dracula twice, in Dracula, and then in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. In both films, Dracula is the key to the entire plot, and whatever you think of the quality of the movies, Lugosi’s Dracula is still the highlight.
Lee: His Movies Didn’t Mess Around
Not only was Christopher Lee’s first film in the role, Horror of Dracula, famous for being the first Dracula movie in color, it also is the first one to not shy away from showing blood. While it was referenced that Dracula was a blood guzzler in the past, it was Lee’s era that first showed it on screen. Not only that, but Lee’s tenure as Dracula featured gore, nudity, and daring depictions of religious imagery.
You could say that featuring such content came at the cost of taste or subtlety, but it is a worthy thing to mention in comparison to Lugosi’s relatively tame run as The Count.
Lugosi: Sex Appeal
It is undeniable that before Bela Lugosi took up the cape, Dracula was mainly known for being a terrifying figure more than anything else. Lugosi’s performance made Dracula a sex symbol for many and it’s something that has since been capitalized on by many actors, including Christopher Lee.
However, while some have made Dracula’s sex appeal their own, you can’t deny that Lugosi did it first. Not only that, but Lugosi’s natural mystique and charisma helped in making him irresistible to audiences regardless of whether they were male or female.
Lee: Respect
The main reason that Christopher Lee’s lines were so limited in his appearances as Dracula was that he hated the dialogue so much that he told the producers that he simply wouldn’t say any of it. According to Lee himself, he desperately wanted the films to feature Bram Stoker’s dialogue but was shot down.
Along with his respect for the writing of Bram Stoker, Lee also showed respect for Bela Lugosi. Not only did he mention Lugosi during a discussion about his career, even going as far as to correctly pronounce his name, but he also wore Lugosi’s ring in some of his Dracula films.
Lugosi: Pop Culture Familiarity
Ever since Dracula was first released in 1931, Bela Lugosi’s incarnation of the infamous count has become the most iconic. The voice, the clothes, the mannerisms, it’s all become part of pop culture. Lugosi’s Dracula has been homaged and parodied for years, but above all else, his Dracula has done what his character does best, survive.
There are so many depictions of Dracula that, regardless of quality, are either half-remembered or outright forgotten. However, if one were to close their eyes and say “think of Count Dracula,” it will usually be Bela Lugosi’s face that they think of. While Christopher Lee might be a better actor, Lugosi simply has the advantage of being the most iconic Dracula in film, as well as overall pop culture.
Lee: He Was Genuinely Scary
Regardless of Bela Lugosi’s hold over the pop culture mindset of Dracula, when most people saw Christopher Lee’s Dracula for the first time, they were terrified of him. To put it simply, Lee was the scariest Dracula put to cellulose. While Lugosi certainly had a strange creep factor to him, Lee’s imposing frame, booming voice, and unpredictable swings between classy stalker to raving monster has been causing audiences to cover their eyes in fear for years.
Christopher Lee had a lengthy resume of playing some of the most iconic villains in cinema. Lord of The Rings, Star Wars, James Bond, and Gremlins are all franchises that Lee brought his A-game to, but his work as Dracula remains his most iconic, and part of that is down to just how scary he was.
