Originally published in 1897, Bram Stoker’s Dracula became one of the most important horror novels ever conceived, introducing arguably one of the most prolific villains of all time, and he then moved on to the best Dracula movies for over a century. Dracula remains iconic thanks to cinema, and the debate over which interpretation did the greatest justice to the Lord of all Vampires will likely last forever. Over a century since the novel was first published, Dracula remains one of the most enduring monsters of all time — and the contenders for best Dracula movie exemplify why.

The best Dracula movies have a strong mixture of charisma, potent sex appeal, and a timeless Machiavellian stereotype that continues to entertain — and frighten — fans of vampire flicks related to Stoker's Dracula novel. Dracula continues to get the silver screen treatment over 100 years after Bram Stoker immortalized the character in his 1897 novel. As far as movie villains go, he's one of the most fascinating, frightening, and charismatic. The best Dracula movies find new and inventive ways of bringing him to the forefront, tapping in on centuries of superstition and historical culture to scare audiences.

25 Love At First Bite (1979)

George Hamilton As Dracula

For anyone craving a comedy version of Dracula, look no further than Love at First Bite. The movie sees the regime of Romania evict Count Dracula from his ancestral home. Dracula and Renfield leave his home and search for the reincarnated Mina Harker, who turns out to be a fashion model in New York City. However, her current boyfriend is the grandson of Van Helsing. They become enemies, but nothing Van Helsing does seems to work, as Dracula seems to have all the luck on his side.

With George Hamilton and Susan Saint James in the lead roles, the movie remains a funny comedy, and it even earned Hamilton a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. As a comedy, this is one of the better Dracula spoof movies, but it also tries to keep some of the horror intact throughout as the vampire tries to adjust to life in the big city, and fails at most of his attempts. It is also a movie that has a "happy ending" for Dracula, as he isn't really that bad of a guy in this story.

24 Son Of Dracula (1943)

Lon Chaney Jr. As Count Alucard

Released in the days of some of the best Dracula movies, Son of Dracula is the third of the original Universal Monsters Dracula franchise. While the title is similar to the second movie, Dracula's Daughter, this movie is not about Dracula's son — it is about Dracula himself, who has been living under the name Count Alucard (which is Dracula spelled backwards). He is invited to the United States by a woman named Katherine, and soon he turns her into a vampire and marries her, but her longtime boyfriend learns the truth and seeks to save her life.

The movie had Lon Chaney Jr. take on the Dracula role after previously playing The Wolf Man. Chaney Jr., the son of Lon Chaney, the Man of a Thousand Faces, is one of the few actors who have played Dracula, The Wolf-Man (he was the first actor to play Larry Talbott), Frankenstein's Monster, and The Mummy. While it never reached the level of success of Dracula, Son of Dracula was still a great late addition to the Universal Horror catalog.

23 Dracula: Untold (2014)

Luke Evans As Dracula

While purists discount Dracula: Untold as one of the best Dracula movies, the truth is that it brings an interesting outlook to the bloodsucking fiend. For years, Dracula was displayed as a semi-tragic figure, a man who wanted to regain his youth and find his lost love, but through despicable means. In this movie, the legend went one step further and made Dracula a hero before his turn to evil.

Told as an origin story, Luke Evans stars as Dracula in 1462, a ruler who is forced to become a vampire to save his people — but then sees them turn on him when they realize what he has done. This was supposed to be part of a new franchise, but bad reviews doomed it. The movie made a decent box office dent, but it wasn't enough to continue investing in the character, although Universal tried one more time after this with a Mummy movie that finally put a stake in the heart of the new franchise.

22 Dracula 2000 (2000)

Gerard Butler As Dracula

In 2000, Patrick Lussier set his sights on Dracula, and he brought the vampire to the modern day. What resulted was a movie that wasn't received well by Dracula fans, but it was one that brought a truly fascinating twist to his origin story. This twist was that Dracula is Judas Iscariot from the Bible, forced to live forever after betraying Jesus Christ. This explains his weakness for crosses and silver (Judas was paid in silver for his betrayal).

The movie also features a young Gerard Butler as Dracula, while Christopher Plummer as Van Helsing was a standout. Dracula 2000 received lackluster reviews, but the cast was incredible, with Jonny Lee Miller as Simon Sheppard, Van Helsing's apprentice battling Dracula, Jennifer Esposito and Jeri Ryan as two of Dracula's Brides, and familiar faces like Omar Epps, Shane West, and Nathan Fillion to round out the cast. While it seemed Dracula died here, there were two sequels in 2003 and 2005.

21 Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

Christopher Lee As Dracula

Dracula A.D. 1972 brought back Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing as Dracula and Van Helsing, respectively, for another addition to the Hammer series. However, this movie took a very different approach as it took the action to the modern day, which at the time was 1972. The movie opens in 1872 when Lawrence Van Helsing kills Dracula and dies himself. However, 100 years later, Dracula rises and starts to kill again.

Cushing here plays Lorrimer Van Helsing, making the character a descendent of the Van Helsing line, while keeping a familiar face in the role. The seventh in the series, this wasn't one of the best Dracula movies, but it did bring something new with the time jump and bringing the Hammer Horror series into the present day. It was also nice to see Lee and Cushing back together again in a Dracula movie for the first time since 1958's Dracula. While the ending title card said "Rest in Final Peace," there was still one more Hammer Dracula movie after this.

20 Brides of Dracula (1960)

Dracula's Brides Take Over

In 1960, Hammer Films released a sequel to its rebooted Horror of Dracula, which brought Dracula movies back after two decades on the shelf. Instead of bringing back Dracula in the first sequel, Hammer chose to make this movie about the vampire brides of Dracula. With that said, Peter Cushing did return as Van Helsing, as he set out to stop the vampires sired by a Baroness in Transylvania.

The entire idea was to have acolytes of Dracula rather than bringing the big baddie back for every movie, but his absence really kept this from reaching the same level as other Hammer Films releases. The reviews were mostly positive, but this caused the franchise to stall out and it took six years for Hammer to return with Dracula: Prince of Darkness, putting Christopher Lee's Dracula back at the forefront, where he remained for the rest of Hammer's Dracula movies.

19 Dracula’s Daughter (1936)

Gloria Holden As Dracula's Daughter

After the major success of Frankenstein, Universal Horror released Bride of Frankenstein, which ended up as a better movie than the original. The company tried a similar tactic with Dracula's Daughter, but this wasn't nearly as successful as the Frankenstein sequel. In this movie, Countess Marya Zaleska is Dracula's daughter, and she hopes that his death will free her from his influence. However, as expected from a horror movie, she did not find her freedom and began to slowly change and follow in her father's footsteps.

The movie received favorable reviews and has been reappraised in later years. Dracula's Daughter has been influential throughout the years thanks to its homoerotic vampire themes. Anne Rice had a bar in The Vampire Lestat called Dracula's Daughter and author Ramsey Campbell wrote a novelization of it in 1977. The fantastic independent horror vampire movie Nadja shares the same basic storyline, as well.

18 House of Frankenstein (1944)

John Carradine As Dracula

While the movie has Frankenstein's name in the title, this is one of the best Dracula movies as well. Released in 1944, this was the first time that Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man ever appeared in the same movie together. The film opens with the evil Gustav Niemann escaping from prison and then reviving the recovered corpse of Dracula to use him to gain revenge against his enemies.

Released in 1944, this was the first time that Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man ever appeared in the same movie together.

The cast here was unique. Boris Karloff, the original Frankenstein, played Niemann, while Glenn Strange continued to play the Monster. As for Dracula, John Carradine took on the role, and only Lon Chaney Jr. returned to his original role as Wolf Man/Larry Talbot. The story sees Niemann and Dracula find the frozen-on-ice bodies of the Monster and Wolf-Man, and when Niemann thaws them, he convinces Talbot to help him in exchange for a cure. Things do not work out for the human villain.

17 Jess Franco’s Count Dracula (1970)

Christopher Lee As Dracula

This version of Count Dracula was a unique take, as it was from Spanish horror director Jess Franco in the middle of Hammer Horror releasing their franchise. Franco's version of Dracula was easily the most loyal to Bram Stoker's novel, retelling the story without many of the changes made to previous movie versions of the vampire. Dracula here starts off as an older man who starts to regain his youth as he kills and feeds on his victims, which was done later in Bram Stoker's Dracula, but this was the first time it happened.

Interestingly, even though this was not part of the Hammer slate of movies, Christopher Lee played Dracula for Franco as well, delivering a different take on a character he had previously mastered. Another connection is that Klaus Kinski plays Renfield in the movie. Less than a decade later, Kinski would play Nosferatu, a character based on Dracula, in the remake of that classic German horror masterpiece.

16 Count Dracula (1977)

Louis Jourdan As Dracula

A BBC adaptation, this version of Dracula follows the book quite closely. In fact, other than Dracula not being portrayed as an old man, the entire arrival of John Harker at Dracula's castle is verbatim to the novel, which was a rare display of strict adherence to the source material. It is truly one of the most faithful adaptations when it comes to retelling Soker's original tale. First shown on British television in its full 155-minute glory, it was eventually split up into a miniseries for repeat broadcasts.

French actor Louis Jourdan, known for his dashing and charming parts, played Dracula in one of the best Dracula movies, with a subtle yet ominous glare that sells the character well in this often-overlooked BBC adaptation. The movie received mostly positive reviews when it was released, but it is one that is difficult for Dracula fans to enjoy as it was only released on home video in the UK through BBC Video.