Dracula (aka Horror Of Dracula) (1958) ****

After the success of The Curse Of Frankenstein (my review here) in 1957, Hammer mainstay Terence Fisher returned to direct another update of a 1931 Universal Monster film with 1958's Dracula (aka Horror Of Dracula). 

Christopher Lee's first outing as the titular character cemented the image of the Count as we know it, taking what was established by Bela Lugosi in Tod Browning's film and upping the blood and eroticism. As with TCOF, there's lots of gothic goodness here, and even more sumptuous lighting and cinematography. Peter Cushing is magnetic as Van Helsing and the finale where the two leads duke it out is fantastic and action-packed.

It's probably blasphemy to some but my favorite screen adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel remains Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula (1992) (my review here). Nosferatu (1922) (review) and Nosferatu The Vampyre (1979) tie for second, but D58 is a strong contender for third best.