Before director Francis Coppola purchased the title for his 1992 feature, creator Dan Curtis of “The Night Stalker” and “Dark Shadows” fame, directed the 1974 TV movie, “Bram Stoker’s Dracula’, written by Richard Matheson, starring Jack Palance as both ‘Vlad the Impaler’ and ‘Count Dracula’, now restored and streaming for free on Tubi:
In addition to the title of Curtis' movie, Coppola also utilized two key elements distinguishing it from the novel and previous adaptations: the depiction of ‘Count Dracula’ and ‘Vlad the Impaler’– the historical Dracula – as being the same person…
…and the relationship between ‘Count Dracula’ (played by Jack Palance and Gary Oldman respectively) and his reincarnated wife: ‘Lucy Westenra’ (Fiona Lewis) in the 1974 movie, and ‘Mina Murray’ (Winona Ryder) in the 1992 film.
The Marvel Comics series “The Tomb of Dracula’ features a Dracula whose appearance was based on Jack Palance, as confirmed by illustrator Gene Colan.
