Dracula in popular culture Balderston (see below); it starred Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing, both of whom had originated their respective roles on the stage in the aforementioned play, along with Helen Chandler as Mina and Dwight Frye as Renfield. Directed by Tod Browning, it is one of the most famous versions of the story and is widely credited with initiating the Universal horror film series of the 1930s and ‘40s. The 1931 Dracula film was an inductee of the 2000 National Film Registry list. The films had music only during the opening (the famous main theme from
Dracula in popular culture with Zandor Vorkov as the Count terrorizing a California boardwalk community with Frankenstein's monster in tow. Screen legends J. Carrol Naish and Lon Chaney, Jr. appeared and Famous Monsters of Filmland editor Forrest J. Ackerman cameoed as an unlucky victim. 1972 saw the release of "Blacula", a low-budget blaxploitation horror film about an African prince vampirized by Count Dracula himself (who is portrayed by Charles Macaulay) in a brief opening prologue. The 1973 sequel, "Scream Blacula Scream" briefly replays this scene as a flashback. In 1974, Paul Naschy starred in "Count Dracula's Great Love", directed by Javier Aguirre for the