Dracula and Van Helsing in Films Quiz

Answer: Edward Van Sloan

Count Dracula had left his Carpathian Mountain stronghold for the full-bloodied preying grounds of Victorian England. His new home was the desecrated Carfax Abbey, with its grounds that adjoined Seward's Asylum. Bela Lugosi was Dracula, and Herbert Bunston played Dracula's neighbor, Dr. Jack Seward. Dwight Frye was Renfield, Dracula's lunatic slave, who was an inmate of Seward's. David Manners played Jonathan Harker, and Helen Chandler played Mina, the victim of the evil Count's nocturnal visitations. Edward Van Sloan was Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, a man wise in both medicine and vampire lore. "Dracula" was based on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, and was directed by Tod Browning. Character actor Edward Van Sloan (1881-1964) had a successful film career playing mainly doctors and professors. Perhaps fans of the old Universal monster films will remember Van Sloan as Dr. Waldman in "Frankenstein" (1931), and as Dr. Muller in "The Mummy" (1932).

He also appeared as Prof. Von Helsing in "Dracula's Daughter" (1936).

Answer: No

Edward Van Sloan was the only cast member of "Dracula" to return in "Dracula's Daughter". The sequel picked up where "Dracula" left off with Van Helsing (mistakenly credited as Von Helsing) being arrested for the murder of Count Dracula. Beautiful Countess Marya Zaleska wanted to figure out if she was Dracula's daughter and had inherited her craving for human blood from him, or was her blood lust psychological.

In the meanwhile, vampire victims were turning up, and Van Helsing was once again on the hunt. Gloria Holden was Countess Zaleska, Otto Kruger was Dr. Jeffrey Garth, Marguerite Churchill was Janet Blake, Hedda Hopper was Lady Esme Hammond, and Irving Pichel was Sandor.

Unfortunately, Bela Lugosi was not featured in the many Universal films which featured Dracula until the Bud Abbott and Lou Costello spoof "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" in 1948.

Answer: John Carradine

Boris Karloff refused to don the Frankenstein's Monster makeup on this Universal film, but played the wonderfully mad asylum escapee, Dr. Gustav Niemann, in "House of Frankenstein". The plot was simple enough, and not too far-fetched for fans of the Universal monsters to enjoy. Dr. Niemann rounded up Larry Talbot, victim of the werewolf's curse in "The Wolf Man" (1941), Count Dracula, (played by John Carradine), and the Frankenstein Monster (played by Glenn Strange) to help him get revenge on his enemies. John Carradine, Lon Chaney, Jr., and Glenn Strange all returned to play Count Dracula, Larry Talbot/the wolf man, and the Frankenstein's Monster respectively, the following year in "House of Dracula", without Boris Karloff.

Answer: Son of Dracula

American heiress Kay Caldwell met the Count in Budapest and invited him to her old family home in the Deep South. So Alucard, along with boxes of his native soil, left the Old World and headed off for the promise of romance and new blood in the United States, in "Son of Dracula". Lon Chaney, Jr. played Alucard, Robert Paige was Frank Stanley, Louise Albutton was Kay Caldwell, Evelyn Ankers was Claire Caldwell, and Frank Craven was Prof. Harry Brewster. J. Edward Bromberg played Prof. Laszio, the movie's vampire expert.

The debate still goes on today amongst fans of the film: Was Alucard actually Dracula, or was Alucard one of Dracula's descendants?

Answer: Peter Cushing

Dracula was back, younger and even more bloodthirsty, in "Dracula" (1958), which starred Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing. Dracula left his castle in pursuit of Jonathan Harker's fiancee, Ludy Holmwood, after Harker staked Dracula's bride. Only Harker's friend, Dr. Van Helsing, could help stop Dracula's reign of terror. "Dracula" was such a smash for Hammer, that Lee played the Count in six sequels. "Dracula, Prince of Darkness" (1966), "Dracula Has Risen From The Grave" (1968), "Taste the Blood of Dracula" (1969) and "Scars of Dracula" (1976) starred Lee as Dracula, and "Dracula AD 1972" and "Satanic Rites of Dracula" (1973) paired Lee with Cushing, as Van Helsing. Cushing also played Dr. Van Helsing in "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" (1974) without Christopher Lee.

Answer: True

Frank Langella, like Bela Lugosi before him, had perfected his Dracula on stage before playing the Count on the big screen. Dracula moved into Carfax Abbey, next door to Dr. Seward's Asylum, where he met Lucy Seward and Mina Van Helsing. Although Langella's Dracula cut a romantic, handsome figure in search of true love with Lucy, he heartlessly destroyed Mina, daughter of Prof. Abraham Van Helsing (Laurence Olivier). Prof. Van Helsing was an old man, but he had to rally all his strength to avenge his daughter and rid the world of Dracula once and for all.

The cast of "Dracula" also included Donald Pleasence as Lucy's father, Dr. Jack Seward, Kate Nelligan as Lucy, Jan Francis as Mina Van Helsing, and Trevor Eve as Jonathan Harker. Laurence Olivier (1907-1989) played Nazi hunter, Ezra Liberman, who was on the trail of a human monster, Dr. Josef Mengele, in "The Boys From Brazil" (1978).

Answer: Love At First Bite

Dracula got no respect in modern Transylvania. The villagers were not in the slightest in awe of him anymore, and the Romanian gymnastic team had taken over Castle Dracula. What better solution for a homeless, love-sick Dracula than to head to New York City in search of his true love, supermodel Cindy Sondheim? In this truly funny spoof (a sort of "Dracula-lite"), George Hamilton did a wonderful take on Bela Lugosi's Count, proved that Dracula could disco with the best of them, and set about winning the heart of his lady fair, in "Love At First Bite". One of the film's best scenes was when Dracula was trading quips with Dr. Jeffrey Rosenberg (a descendant of Van Helsing) played by Richard Benjamin. Susan Saint James was Cindy Sondheim, and Arte Johnson just about stole the show as a wonderfully mad Renfield.

Answer: Winona Ryder

A victorious Vlad the Impaler returned from battling the Turks, only to find his beloved Elisabeta dead. He called down the curse of the Undead upon his head with his ravings against heaven. Four hundred years later, and with the help of Jonathan Harker, Dracula was leaving Transylvania for England. Dracula spied a photograph of Harker's fiancee, Mina Murray, the living image of his long-dead love. Dracula left Harker with his three Undead brides, and set off in search of Mina. All four of the ladies given had played Mina in film retellings of the Dracula story. Winona Ryder played Mina in this 1992 version.

Helen Chandler played Mina in "Dracula" (1931), Melissa Stribing played Mina in Hammer's "Dracula" (1958), and Jan Francis played Mina in "Dracula" (1979).

The cast of "Bram Stoker's Dracula" also included Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker, Richard E. Grant as Dr. Jack Seward, Sadie Frost as Lucy, and Tom Waits as Renfield.

Answer: New Orleans

Thieves broke into Van Helsing's vault believing it was full of rare paintings, but they let loose Dracula, King of the Undead, instead. Dracula set off for New Orleans to avenge himself on his old enemy by turning Van Helsing's daughter, Mary, into a vampire, in "Dracula 2000". Dracula was played by Gerard Butler, Christopher Plummer was Van Helsing, Justine Waddell was Mary, and Colleen Fitzpatrick (pop singer Vitamin C) was Lucy Westerman.

Answer: Richard Roxburgh

Gabriel Van Helsing set off for Transylvania with Carl, his monk sidekick, to help the last of the Valerious family battle Dracula. They found that Dracula had hatched a plot, with the help of Igor, Dr. Frankenstein's lab assistant, to use electricity, and the Frankenstein Monster, to give life to thousands of his dead offsping. Stakes would not kill the king of the Undead, but could Van Helsing discover what would kill him, and prevent the world from turning into a preying ground in "Van Helsing"? Hugh Jackman was Van Helsing, David Wenham was Carl, Kate Beckinsale was Anna Valerious, Kevin J. O'Connor was Igor, Shuler Hensey was Frankenstein's Monster, and Richard Roxburgh was Dracula. Fans of Roxburgh will remember him from "Mission Impossible II" (2000), "Moulin Rouge!" (2001), and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" (2003). Thank you for taking my quiz on Dracula, greatest of all vampires, and Van Helsing, greatest of all vampire slayers.