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
Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula (alternately titled Dracula: The Dark Prince and Dark Prince: Legend of Dracula) is a horror-war television film, which premiered in the United States on the USA Network on Halloween, October 31, 2000. It is about Vlad III Dracula, "the Impaler", the historical figure who gave Bram Stoker's Dracula his name. "Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula" tells the story of Vlad Dracula, the historical figure who gave Bram Stoker's Dracula his name. Vlad is a dispossessed noble and a patriot who fights the occupation forces