Dracula in popular culture Melford was the director, and it starred Carlos Villarías as the Count, Eduardo Arozamena as Van Helsing and Lupita Tovar as Eva. Because of America's movie industry censorship policies, Melford's "Dracula" contains scenes that could not be included in the final cut of the more familiar English version. It is also included on the Universal Legacy DVD. The Universal Studios horror films made Dracula a household name by starring him as a villain in a number of movies, including several where he met other monsters (the most famous being the comedy "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein", in which Lugosi played
Son of Dracula (1974 film) one, he had just finished work on his directorial debut, the T. Rex documentary "Born to Boogie". As well as producing "Son of Dracula", Starr would appear as Merlin the Magician, who follows the birth and rise of young Count Downe, played by Nilsson. Starr and he were longtime friends, and the ex-Beatle had recently played drums on Nilsson's 1972 album "Son of Schmilsson", which had spoofed horror movie motifs. A few months after those sessions, in August 1972, Starr decided to make a rock and roll Dracula movie (originally titled "Count Downe"), and invited Nilsson to come on board.