These Fury of Dracula pieces are about half the size of the 28 to 32 mm figures I usually paint, so the details aren't terribly fine. Still, I think these look okay for what they are, and better than plain grey plastic.
I read an interesting origin story about Dracula's costume and especially his cape. The original adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula was two films in the early 1920's: Nosferatau and Dracula's Death. The former is famous, the latter is lost to time, although that lost movie was itself adapted as a stage play. English actor Raymond Huntley supplied his own costume, which was a tuxedo. Eventually, Bela Lugosi performed the play and allegedly added his own sinister medallion. Lugosi went on to star in his unequalled motion picture version of Dracula.
In the book, Dracula had no cape, just dark clothes. There was a point in the stage play where Dracula had to instantly disappear to get away from his pursuers. Top accomplish this, Huntley created for himself a unique double-sided cape. The lining of the cape was bright crimson, so that Dracula could easily be seen from any seat in the theatre. But the outside of his cape was the same matte black material as the curtains that surrounded the stage. When Dracula covered himself with his cape, he blended in with the curtains and was impossible to be seen from the audience. The actor could do this in a flash and be gone in an instant.
From his stage performance as Dracula, Bela Lugosi brought this mannerism to the filmed version of Dracula. While the movie used clever optical effects to help Dracula transform, Lugosi used this primitive but effective use of his cape as a visual boost to his vampiric essence.
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I read an interesting origin story about Dracula's costume and especially his cape. The original adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula was two films in the early 1920's: Nosferatau and Dracula's Death. The former is famous, the latter is lost to time, although that lost movie was itself adapted as a stage play. English actor Raymond Huntley supplied his own costume, which was a tuxedo. Eventually, Bela Lugosi performed the play and allegedly added his own sinister medallion. Lugosi went on to star in his unequalled motion picture version of Dracula.
In the book, Dracula had no cape, just dark clothes. There was a point in the stage play where Dracula had to instantly disappear to get away from his pursuers. Top accomplish this, Huntley created for himself a unique double-sided cape. The lining of the cape was bright crimson, so that Dracula could easily be seen from any seat in the theatre. But the outside of his cape was the same matte black material as the curtains that surrounded the stage. When Dracula covered himself with his cape, he blended in with the curtains and was impossible to be seen from the audience. The actor could do this in a flash and be gone in an instant.
From his stage performance as Dracula, Bela Lugosi brought this mannerism to the filmed version of Dracula. While the movie used clever optical effects to help Dracula transform, Lugosi used this primitive but effective use of his cape as a visual boost to his vampiric essence.
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