Dracula is arguably one of the most famous villains in popular culture and by far, and the most well-known and popular vampire in the movies. An amazing number of movies have been filmed over the years depicting the evil count, some of which are ranked among the greatest depictions of vampires on film. Dracula has over 170 film representations making him the most frequently portrayed character in horror films; also he has highest number of movie appearances overall.

Following the publication of In Search of Dracula by Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally in 1972, the supposed connections between the historical Transylvanian-born Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia and Stoker’s fictional Dracula attracted popular attention.

Historically, the name “Dracula” is the given name of Vlad Tepes’ family, a name derived from a secret fraternal order of knights called the Order of the Dragon, founded by Sigismund of Luxembourg (king of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and Holy Roman Emperor) to uphold Christianity and defend the Empire against the Ottoman Turks. Vlad II Dracul, father of Vlad III, was admitted to the order around 1431 because of his bravery in fighting the Turks and was dubbed Dracul (dragon) thus his son became Dracula (son of the dragon). From 1431 onward, Vlad II wore the emblem of the order and later, as ruler of Wallachia, his coinage bore the dragon symbol.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 10:05 pm and is filed under Halloween, Men's Halloween Costumes, Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.