Happy Birthday Bram!

If Stoker were still alive he'd be 165 years young today but we can only imagine how old his beloved blood suckin boyo Dracula would be. Long before RPatz and the Cullen clan made cold and sparkling chic, a bunch of fine fellas were draining blood on the big screen. This creature of the night has been channelled so many times that it's almost impossible to keep count.

So in celebration of Bram's birthday here are just ten of those on screen Draculas to sink your teeth into!

10. Klaus Kinski aka Dreary Dracula
Dracula goes dark and indie in Nosferatu the Vampyre. Klaus Kinski plays one of the most disturbing and terrifying Counts of all time. Dracula is sad, pathetic and desperately seeking blood. You wouldn't want to come across this fella on a dark November night.


9. Max Schreck aka Dodgy Dracula
The original Nosferatu is one of the most notorious retellings of Stoker's tale and definitely one of the most terrifying. Max Shreck scared the bejaysus out of the 1920s audience and still tempts us to scream to this day. Looking more demonic than delicious, Schrek's Count Orlok is tearin it (and most likely a lot of humans) up in Transylvania. Not one for the faint hearted, Schreck's Dracula will certainly get your blood pumping.

8. George Hamilton aka Transylvania's Got Talent
Now, he may be better known for being a sun worshipper but that didn't stop George Hamilton from channelling a creatuure of the night in the 1979 spoof, Love at First Bite. This Charming Count works his way into many a girl's affections and graws away at our funnybone.


7. Richard Roxburgh aka Dracula Down Under
This blonde Aussie bombshell is known for playing villians so perhaps it's only fitting that he played Transylvania's most terrifying opposite Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing. Apologies if we missed you Richard, this time around it was Hugh who had us all hypnotised!

6. Carlos Villarias aka D'Unbelievable Dracula
Now here's a Count that's good for a chuckle. Carlos Villarias starred in the Italian version of the film, released at the same time as the 1931 film. Sadly for him he became better known for his amusing expressions than his frightening fangs. Think sparkly vampires are bad? They ain't got nothin on this lad!

5. Jack Palance aka Count Curly
Palance won an Oscar for his portrayal of Curly in the 1990s box office hit City Slickers but it turns out the gold wasn't the only secret this screen legend was hiding. Back in 1973 he played Bram's boy in, yes, you guessed it, a film called Dracula.


4. Frank Langella aka The Charismatic Count
Fearless Frost/Nixon star Frank has played his fair share of iconic characters and his 1979 portrayal of Dracula is still considered one of the most memorable. Langella was lucky because the ladies seemed to love the curious Count who oozed sex appeal and his seductive accent made him ten times more disturbing. Throw in Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing and it's easy to see why this one was a winner.

3. Gary Oldman aka I Can't Believe it's not Dracula
You may know him best as Inspector Gordon from Christopher Nolan's Batman reboot but 20 years ago Gary Oldman was playing a very different caped crusader in Bram Stoker's Dracula. He took on the role in Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 Gothic horror and his transformation into the terrifying Transylvanian was rather convincing. Scary, disturbing, and sexually seductive, Oldman's unpredictable undead deviant terrorised Keanu Reeves, whose attempts at an English accent quite frankly terrified us.


2. Christopher Lee aka The Typecast Transylvanian
Screen legend Christopher Lee has played particularly wicked wizard and a sinister Sith Lord but his protrayals of Dracula (he's channelled the Count more than five times) propelled him to superstardom. 1958's Horror of Dracula and 1970's Count Dracula are among the most impressive. The Cullens may be crazy HAWT but Chris makes this Count seem seriously sexy.


1. Ben Lugosi aka Dracula 1.0
This Hungarian hunk played Dracula in the 1931 film of, funnily enough, the same name. It was the first time the Count had legally appeared on the big screen and the movie is still one of, if not THE most popular and critically acclaimed adaptations of Stoker's story. Lugosi shines on the screen. Edward eat your heart out, this is one vamp who definitely has us hypnotized.