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02:00Ah, but my manners. Apologies, dear friend.
02:04Something to relieve a parched throat, perhaps? White?
02:09Red? Good.
02:12Like the tightly locked door at the top of the darkened stairway in the classic horror movies, Dracula's legend stands before us, daring us to investigate.
02:37I, like you, have always been fascinated with Dracula. The curiosity that brings you here tonight led me to ask the same questions.
02:46Why has the Dracula legend intrigued us so many generations?
02:51Could it be his triumph over mortality? His hypnotic power over victims?
02:58The elegance of this gentleman killer? Or the sheer thrill of being scared to death?
03:03Well, perhaps all of these elements combined have made Dracula the most popular character in the history of horror, inspiring hundreds of writers and filmmakers.
03:13But I caution you to approach this evening with more respect than one would have for an ordinary fictional character.
03:23For there is more truth and fiction in the story of Vlad Dracula.
03:29Though a legend surrounds him, I assure you that such a man actually lived over 400 years ago in the mountains of Transylvania, a very real country in the heart of Europe.
03:42Here, in fact, in this town of Shigeshawara, the real Dracula, Vlad Dracula, began a legend that would endure the centuries.
03:53A brass plaque still announces the fact to passers-by, in this house Vlad Dracula was born.
04:02And now the truth, my friend. Travel back with me to 15th century Transylvania.
04:09Those were turbulent times for Transylvania and for its neighboring region Wallachia, which was ruled by Dracul, the father of Dracula.
04:18It was the height of the bloody and brutal holy wars, and the Islamic Turks had sworn to wipe out Christianity.
04:25This made the Turks mortal enemies of Vlad's people.
04:29For many of his teenage years, Vlad was held captive by the Turks.
04:34When his father was murdered by dissenters in his own country, young Vlad, less than 20 years old, escaped and came to Transylvania.
04:42Within a few years, he had led several successful missions, and was rewarded by his people,
04:48with the highest honor in the history of Transylvania.
04:52He was awarded the title of Grand Duke of Transylvania.
04:57He was also awarded the title of Grand Prince of Transylvania.
05:02He was also awarded the title of Grand Prince of Transylvania.
05:06Within a few years, he had led several successful missions, and was rewarded by his people,
05:12with the same title his father had held, Crown Prince of Wallachia.
05:17Thus began a rise to power unlike any other in history.
05:21Vlad first decided to assert his newfound power within his own country.
05:27He issued proclamations from his long table with a clear message for the boyars, submit or die.
05:36Innocence was a question decided by only one man, Vlad Dracula.
05:42In one day, some 500 nobles were impaled on stakes in the hills surrounding the city.
05:49Few dared to stand up against him again.
05:52From then on, Dracula was known as Vlad Tepes, Vlad the Impaler.
05:59And within a very short time, Dracula was undeniably the leader of his people.
06:06Secure in his own region, Dracula now turned towards Transylvania with an army 20,000 strong.
06:19The warning sounds were sent out, Vlad Tepes is coming, Vlad the Impaler is on the attack.
06:26No one knew where or when he would strike, but the tales of his tortures preceded it.
06:32In a papal letter sent to the Vatican, his atrocities were described.
06:38He killed some by breaking them under the wheels of carts.
06:43Others stripped of their clothes were skinned alive.
06:47Others placed upon stakes or roasted on red hot coals.
06:52Others punctured with stakes, piercing their heads, their breasts, their buttocks and the middle of their entrails.
06:59Others with a stake emerging from their mouths.
07:04The Transylvanians tried to take refuge behind the secure walls of monasteries, but nothing could stop the bloodthirsty Vlad Dracula.
07:29It was during this time that this famous scene occurred, with Vlad dining at a table amongst the impaled bodies.
07:59By late 1461, Dracula, unquestionably in command of Transylvania, had been defeated.
08:09By late 1461, Dracula, unquestionably in command of his homeland, decided to do battle with his old enemies, the Turks.
08:33In a series of surprise raids and with the advance stories of his treacherous ways, spreading panic throughout the Turkish forces, Vlad secured victory after victory.
09:03In a series of surprise raids and with the advance stories of his treacherous ways, spreading panic throughout the Turkish forces, Vlad secured victory after victory.
09:34Within an amazingly short period of time, he had achieved the impossible.
09:41Leaving a bloody trail of conquered Turkish villages behind them, Vlad and his troops reached the Black Sea.
09:49This was a highly symbolic accomplishment, and those who choose to remember only those victories still call Vlad Dracula a hero.
09:58But Dracula's success was short-lived.
10:06Taking the matter somewhat more seriously, the Turkish sultan sent 200,000 troops into Transylvania.
10:17Against these odds, Dracula was forced to retreat towards Wallachia.
10:29He had no choice but to return to his castle, but Vlad wasn't alone.
10:37The sultan sent a battery of troops after him, and Dracula's mighty castle was destroyed.
10:44Dracula, however, escaped through a secret tunnel with a few friends and fled to Hungary.
11:00Twelve years later, Vlad Dracula was finally killed by the Turks at this spot, Snagov.
11:07The sultan ordered that Vlad's head be returned to him as proof of his demise.
11:13The monks at Snagov buried Dracula's headless body in their monastery.
11:19Some say he lives on.
11:25Truthfully, I am appalled at the treatment dealt him at the hands of today's Western culture.
11:30It must sadden him to be reduced to a mathematical puppet for preschoolers, a gaudy waxen caricature in cheap chambers of horrors,
11:40while his name is even being associated with a sugar-saturated breakfast cereal.
11:47This is an insult to Vlad the Impaler, hero to his people, and the very image of Satan to his enemies.
11:54The true terrifying history of Dracula is found in no less a shrine than the British Museum.
12:01This in itself stands as a tribute to this master politician, statesman, warrior, and all-round benevolent dictator.
12:10Of course, every head of state has been prone to excess, and every head of state has its own peculiar tastes,
12:18whether for jelly beans, peanuts, or blood.
12:26Four hundred years after his death, Dracula found new life.
12:32It was Bram Stoker, an Irish novelist, who first introduced the Dracula legend to English literature.
12:40His research into the historical Vlad Dracula was painstaking, if you'll permit the pun.
12:52It was Stoker who changed Vlad from a bloodthirsty prince to a bloodthirsty vampire.
13:00Listen to Stoker's vivid description of a first meeting with the Count in his 1897 novel Dracula.
13:09The driver suddenly turned down a narrow road, which turned sharply to the right.
13:15Soon we were hemmed in with trees, which in places arched right over the roadway, till we passed as though through a tunnel.
13:23Just then the moon, sailing through the black clouds, appeared behind the jagged crest of a beetling, pine-clad rock.
13:32And by its light I saw around us a ring of wolves, with white teeth and lolling red tongues, with long sinewy limbs and shaggy hair.
13:45All at once the wolves began to howl, the horses jumped about and reared, and we kept on ascending.
13:53Suddenly I was conscious of the fact that the driver was in the act of pulling up the horses in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle.
14:02From whose tall black windows came no ray of light.
14:09The kind of a place had I come to, and among what kind of people?
14:16I heard a heavy step approaching behind the great door, and saw through the chinks the gleam of a coming light.
14:24Then there was the sound of rattling chains and the clanking of massive bolts drawn back.
14:30A key was turned, but the loud grating noise of long disuse, and the great door swung back.
14:41Within stood a tall old man, clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck of color about him anywhere.
14:51The old man motioned me in with his right hand, with a courtly gesture, saying in excellent English, but with a strange intonation,
15:01Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will.
15:07He made no motion of stepping to meet me, but stood like a statue, as though his gesture of welcome had fixed him into stone.
15:14The instant, however, that I had stepped over the threshold, he moved impulsively forward.
15:21I said interrogatively, Count Dracula?
15:25He bowed in a courtly gesture as he replied, I am Dracula.
15:31I bid you welcome. It is late, and my people are not available.
15:36Let me see to your comfort myself.
15:44Well, from your expression, I can see that Dracula still isn't real to you.
15:50Well, can you begin to believe? Can you imagine, for instance, that Bram Stoker's Castle Dracula might have existed?
15:57Well, it did.
15:58To ensure the strength of his reign, once and for all, Dracula used Easter, the most sacred of Orthodox holidays, as a trap.
16:07He encouraged a festive gathering of nobles and peasants on Easter morning, and then surrounded and captured them all.
16:15The old and sick were impaled and placed like fence posts around the city,
16:20while the young, healthy citizens were taken, still in their Easter costumes, and forced to work on the construction of Castle Dracula.
16:29They were fed as little as possible, and worked until the clothes fell off their backs.
16:36No one knows how many years the construction took. No one knows how many died.
16:42He had built a perfect retreat, closer to Transylvania, in a difficult spot to attack.
16:49Deep in the Carpathian Mountains, perched securely on a lofty crag, lies Castle Dracula.
16:57Today it stands in ruin, silent save for the moaning wind that echoes through its silhouetted majesty.
17:04One can only imagine the height of its battlements, and the depth of its secrets.
17:11Oh yes, Castle Dracula was real, and to the Transylvanians, so were vampires.
17:17The ornate frescoes on these old Transylvanian church walls tell the story of vampirism.
17:23According to tradition, should a man change his religion from Eastern Orthodox to Roman Catholicism, as Vlad Dracula did,
17:31he was excommunicated, and upon death became a vampire.
17:35These drawings are vivid in detail, depicting the restless souls of the undead, rising out of their graves.
17:45So, the legend has some basis, in fact.
17:51The potential of such rich drama was quickly discovered by a young, booming film industry.
17:58Both in Europe and Hollywood.
18:01The Dracula legend found new life in 1922, with the release of a German film entitled Nosferatu.
18:10Now, director Friedrich Murnau unfortunately could not secure the necessary copyrights for Mr. Stoker,
18:17so he changed things slightly.
18:20Transylvania became the Baltic States, Count Dracula became Count Orlok,
18:24but essentially, Nosferatu was the first of over 200 movies to contribute to Dracula lore.
18:34I have a copy of the film ready in the viewing room.
18:39Would you care to have a look at Dracula's first starring role?
18:44Oh, good.
18:46They just don't make them like this anymore.
18:49And it's a good thing, too.
19:16The actor is Max Schreck.
19:19Max Schreck.
19:21Max Schreck.
19:23Max Schreck.
19:25Max Schreck.
19:27Max Schreck.
19:29Max Schreck.
19:31Max Schreck.
19:33Max Schreck.
19:35Max Schreck.
19:37Max Schreck.
19:39Max Schreck.
19:41Max Schreck.
19:43Max Schreck.
19:44The actor is Max Schreck.
19:47His Count Orlok bears little resemblance to the elegant devils of later Hollywood and London versions.
19:55Though vampire stories had been translated to the screen as early as 1909,
20:00this film was an adaptation of Stoker's novel and is considered the first Dracula vampire movie.
20:07Even today, Nosferatu remains a masterpiece of horror.
20:14I just love a good romance.
20:33Kind of brings a lump to the throat, doesn't it?
20:36But the story gets better with every telling,
20:39as each element is added to the tale.
20:41The fangs, the black silk cape, the hypnotic eyes,
20:46even the myth that a vampire casts no reflection in a mirror.
20:55The vampire Dracula is a development of the ancient legends,
21:00and it's surprising how many similarities exist between the blood-sucking undead of Dracula's time
21:06and the modern fictionalized vampire of today.
21:08There are the common well-known myths, of course.
21:11Should one wish to remain totally prepared in case of vampire attack,
21:16I have assembled a small vampire emergency kit.
21:20Oh, yes.
21:22Here is the first item, garlic.
21:25And pungent it is.
21:27The mere presence of this deliciously smelly herb will keep away the vampire,
21:33and for that matter, anyone else except a very dedicated apprentice chef.
21:37Now, the Transylvanians used to smear the fresh-cut cloves of garlic
21:42about their doorways and window sashes.
21:45The cross, of course, has always been the absolute power over vampires.
21:52Its shape has defended many a film star from the fangs of Dracula.
21:57And here is the traditional wooden stake.
22:02Though it may seem to be a movie cliche,
22:04the wooden stake has more than a literary association with vampires,
22:09as I will later explain.
22:12Now, here are two tiny little bandages,
22:18just the right size.
22:20I guess you know what they're for.
22:22Now, this is something you may not have seen.
22:27It is a small replica of a toaca.
22:31The real thing is much bigger, of course,
22:32and when struck, the very sound of it scares off every vampire within hearing distance.
22:39Now, I'm no expert, of course,
22:42so perhaps a proper demonstration would be in order.
22:49In Romania, the sounding of a toaca
22:52is a ritual performed by the priests several times each day.
22:57Now, should you not succeed in scaring off the vampire,
23:00you must certainly destroy it at the earliest opportunity.
23:07There are specific instructions as how to accomplish this.
23:12They are given in Romanian, so please allow me to translate.
23:18We bury the vampires away outside the village,
23:22up in the mountains, by themselves,
23:25or at a crossroads far away.
23:27Nobody is safe from the vampire,
23:30so whenever strange things happen,
23:33you suspect right away that it's a vampire.
23:37The first thing to do is to go out and look at the graves in the cemetery.
23:43You look for freshly turned dirt
23:47or some other sign that a grave has been disturbed.
23:51You have to do this during the day,
23:53Vampires aren't dangerous during the day, only at night.
23:57That's when they come out to suck people's blood
24:01and make them sick and put a curse on people.
24:06So you go out to the cemetery in the daytime.
24:10If you see signs, you have to open up the grave and kill them.
24:15In some places, they kill a vampire by cutting off their head.
24:19The surest way to kill a vampire is by driving a stake through his heart.
24:25The stake has to be driven
24:28right through the vampire's body into the ground.
24:33But if you don't find him and kill him,
24:37he remains undead.
24:40Vampires are no quaint legend.
24:43No one has ever told a vampire
24:46Vampires are no quaint legend.
24:49Nor is Dracula a theatrical character created through actors and special effects.
24:55No, he is terribly real.
24:58Certainly Hollywood has contributed much to the Western image of the Count.
25:02Many great men have played Dracula on the stage and screen.
25:06Most of them were my friends,
25:09though I somehow never had the opportunity to play the king of evil.
25:14Maybe it's just as well.
25:17There are many classic film portrayals
25:20which have mixed fact with fantasy
25:24to create the popular image of Count Dracula.
25:43Over the years, many vampire movies have featured female vampires,
25:48but none compares with the nightmarish Vampyr,
25:51directed by Carl Dreyer in 1932.
26:03In this artistically acclaimed film,
26:06Dreyer presents his vampire as an ugly, old, witch-like woman.
26:10The horror is further enhanced by Dreyer's imaginative use of the camera.
26:15Such techniques as shooting through gauze to create a dreamlike haze
26:21are still used by filmmakers to this day.
26:40The Vampyr
27:00This 1936 Dracula sequel, Mark of the Vampyr,
27:05incorporated all the classic elements.
27:09The spooky castle, the cobwebs, the dim candlelight,
27:14the eerie music, the pretty young girl,
27:18and of course, the most famous of all the Hollywood Draculas,
27:22Bela Lugosi.
27:26By day, the vampires must return to the ground in which they were buried,
27:31or else find shelter in some accursed retreat.
27:36It is then they are powerless.
27:39Then we must leave at daybreak. It's our chance to get away from here.
27:42What? And leave these monsters here to continue their work of destruction?
27:47They would be cowards.
27:49What else is there to do?
27:51Search for them. Find their corpse-like bodies.
27:55It is in that state, and that state only, they can be destroyed.
27:59Their heads must be severed with one clean stroke
28:04and a sprig of bat thorn placed within the gaping wound.
28:09They would be crazy to attempt what you are planning.
28:12I'll never do it. Never.
28:14In the morning, they're leaving.
28:16I agree with you.
28:18Mark of the Vampyr starred some very famous actors.
28:21Yes, that is Lionel Barrymore.
28:24In three hours, it will be daylight.
28:26Thank God, the house is well protected for the night.
28:44Ah, the classic Dracula pose.
28:47But not the classic ending.
28:50This vampire business has given me a great idea for a new act.
28:54Luna, this new act, I will be the vampire.
28:59Did you watch me?
29:01I gave all of me.
29:03I was greater than any real vampire.
29:06Sure, sure. But get off your makeup.
29:09Yes, and help me with some of this packing.
29:12They have to shove this bricky job onto me.
29:15As the film industry progressed, so did the vampire story.
29:19In this 1943 production, Return of the Vampire,
29:22Bela Lugosi played a vampire who had been buried in London
29:26and was brought back to life by a World War II air raid.
29:32There's a blasted spike sticking out of his chest.
29:36You know, it ain't right for a man to be buried decent and proper like
29:40and then go and get hurt by a booming bomb splinter.
29:43That spike's got to come out before we bury him again.
29:53Horace, pull it out yourself.
29:56Chicken order, is what you are.
30:06No!
30:08What's that?
30:10Come on, Horace. Let's bury him and get it over with.
30:16With his lifelong servant, a werewolf named Andreas,
30:19Lugosi plotted his steps towards immortality.
30:23Lady Jane Ainslie and Professor Walter Saunders imprisoned me.
30:27Deprived me of life for the past 23 years.
30:30It was my curse.
30:33Posing as an escaped German doctor,
30:36the vampire chose his victim carefully.
30:40Lady Jane, how will you do it, master?
30:44Through those she loves the most.
30:46Come, Andreas.
30:48I must find a new resting place.
30:51There you will bring the coffin with my native soil.
30:56And then, Andreas, I have other plans.
31:03Oh, well, you can guess the rest.
31:09I've seen sick men before.
31:12I've seen sick men before.
31:15I know about men.
31:17Perhaps the most unwilling vampire in film history was John Beale,
31:22as Dr. Beecher in the 1957 movie simply entitled, The Vampire.
31:28You told me yourself these pills were from vampire bats.
31:31Exactly, but Paul, that doesn't make you another Dracula.
31:34You found a strong suggestive influence there, that's all.
31:37You think so?
31:38In my opinion, you need a complete rest.
31:41Well, you're wrong, Will.
31:44Look, Paul, people depend on you here.
31:47I don't want to see you destroy your life.
31:49It's a useful life, Paul.
31:51I don't want to see you destroy it over an hallucination like this.
31:53No hallucination.
31:55But suppose it is.
31:57Look, suppose you confessed to that killing last night.
31:59Paul, you'll never be able to pick up your work here again.
32:01It's a small town, Paul.
32:03It's a small town.
32:05Delving into the world of science fiction
32:06rather than straight horror,
32:08the vampire tells the story of a doctor
32:11who unintentionally takes vampire pills.
32:1511?
32:17Yeah, that seems to be the hour.
32:19That's as long as I can go without the pills.
32:21Now, nonsense.
32:23All right, Paul, I'll keep you from taking the pills.
32:25Now, you can trust me.
32:27I'll stay with you until 11 o'clock.
32:29Sir, I'm right, there is a killer.
32:31How'd he do it?
32:33Well, it seems that this maniac
32:34extracts a small amount of blood from his victim's throats.
32:37And then, because he carries the disease virus in his saliva,
32:41he transmits it to them.
32:43But for some reason, he remains immune himself.
32:49Oh, come on, Will.
32:51Help me, I gotta...
32:53I can't do it, I can't wait like this.
32:55Can't you see what's happening to me?
32:57I can't see any different except your state of mind.
32:59Now, try to bear it just a little longer.
33:01No, I can't, you gotta help me.
33:02Look, I'm gonna give you the sanity, Paul,
33:04in just a few minutes.
33:06I need it now, please.
33:08Please.
33:10Help, please.
33:14Doomed to taking lives by night
33:17and saving them by day.
33:19Ah, the dramatic irony.
33:22Having accidentally attained immortality,
33:25this pathetic character wants more than anything
33:28to die and to end his nightmare.
33:30Oh.
33:32Oh, no.
33:34Oh, no.
33:48Paul, please!
33:50Paul, please!
34:01In 1961, actor Francis Lederer
34:05had his chance to portray the Prince of Darkness
34:09in Curse of Dracula, also called Return of Dracula.
34:13This time, the vampire comes to America
34:16for his evil pursuits.
34:18Using the name of Balak Gordal,
34:21he presents himself to the unsuspecting family
34:24of Cora Mabry,
34:26claiming that he is her long-lost cousin
34:28from Eastern Europe.
34:30The cross is my enemy, Rachel.
34:33Take it off.
34:35Take off the cross, Rachel, then we can speak.
34:39I must speak with you.
34:43What?
34:45The cross.
34:51You will do as I say.
34:56Yes.
34:58Yes.
35:07Obviously influenced by Bela Lugosi,
35:10Lederer is careful not to carry the resemblance too far,
35:14choosing a simple, dark business suit
35:17for his vampire attire.
35:22Are you afraid?
35:24No.
35:25I bring you the darkness of centuries past
35:28and centuries to come.
35:30Eternal life
35:32and eternal death.
35:34Now do you fear?
35:37No.
35:46Mickey!
35:48Don't you ever do that again!
35:50Get up, will you, Rachel?
35:52We've got to help Mom finish making the costume.
35:53Get out of the way.
35:55No.
35:57No, you must listen to me.
35:59You must listen to what I say.
36:01You shall not leave.
36:03You are bound to me.
36:05You shall die as you are beaten to death.
36:07Get out of the way!
36:08No!
36:22It's all right. We're all right.
36:36Don't look, honey. He's gone.
36:38He's gone.
36:48Ah, the imagination of the filmmaker.
36:51And who better in this age of cinematic miracles
36:54to perpetuate the evils of Vlad Dracula?
36:58But in this, as in all things,
37:02truth is stranger than fiction.
37:04From Bram Stoker down to today's characterizations of the prince,
37:08none has ever succeeded in even approaching
37:11the horrible truth of Vlad the Impaler.
37:19Even our most famous portrayals of Dracula
37:22fall short of the terror expressed in a 15th century portrait
37:26of the real Vlad Dracula.
37:29The artist is unknown,
37:31and so is his fate.
37:42Now you know what captured Bram Stoker's imagination.
37:46You understand the significance of Dracula and the wooden stake,
37:51why little children in Romania are warned to be good,
37:55or Dracula will get them.
37:57Much more influential than the threat of the impaler.
38:01The threat that Santa might not bring a gift.
38:04Don't you think?
38:06But there is much more you don't yet understand,
38:09more strange truths you have yet to hear.
38:12What could be stranger than the truth of Dracula's past?
38:17Dracula's present.
38:20To the people of Romania, still isolated from the modern world,
38:24Dracula and his legend live on.
38:27The stories play an important part in their lives.
38:29You see, my friend,
38:31Dracula does exist.
38:34Today. Where?
38:36Where else?
38:38In Transylvania.
38:40You seem to scoff at the truth.
38:42I beg you, do not leap to conclusions
38:45until you have heard the whole story.
38:48For stranger things are still to come.
39:00Come to a remote village
39:02in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania.
39:05Not 15th century Transylvania,
39:08when Vlad Dracula led his bloodthirsty raids,
39:12but Transylvania today,
39:14where his legend still lives on.
39:29TRANSYLVANIA
39:59TRANSYLVANIA
40:23Here a man has died.
40:26His body lies in state in his home,
40:29awaiting the funeral tomorrow morning.
40:31And outside, the villagers have gathered to perform
40:34an exorcism,
40:36an age-old ritual,
40:38complete with wailing and fires
40:40and homemade masks
40:42to ward off evil,
40:44to ward off the vampires.
40:47To these villagers, this is a serious,
40:50one could say, life-or-death matter.
40:53If they succeed, the soul of their friend
40:56will leave his body and rise to heaven.
40:59He could become a vampire,
41:02joining the great undead,
41:05destined to return
41:07and promote evil in their community.
41:10One double-sided mask shows the effigy
41:13of the historical decapitated Dracula
41:16on one side, and the traditional vampire
41:19with hollow eyes, pale skin,
41:22and bloodied mouth on the other.
41:24Dracula, the great undead.
41:30KNOCKING
41:50KNOCKING
42:00KNOCKING
42:19KNOCKING
42:29KNOCKING
42:39By the first light of morning,
42:42fear dwindles,
42:44but not precaution.
42:46Every care is taken
42:48to prepare the man's grave properly.
42:51In the graveyard,
42:53markers tell the story
42:55of how others in the village died.
42:57Here we see how this shepherd
43:00was murdered and then decapitated
43:03so that the victim could never come back
43:06to haunt his murder.
43:08Such traditions still prevail.
43:11To these people, there is no greater fear
43:14than the fear of the undead returning.
43:18A hole is cut in the sheet
43:21covering the corpse.
43:23The lid of the wedge-shaped coffin
43:25is carefully laid on top,
43:28but no nails hold it in place.
43:31The grave is shallow.
43:48These procedures make it easier
43:51for the villagers to detect
43:52any signs of unnatural life.
43:55Should anything around the grave be disturbed,
43:58they will see it and react accordingly.
44:01One can never be sure.
44:03Despite the greatest precautions,
44:05a person may be destined
44:07to become a vampire.
44:09And so it is that these creatures
44:11lurk in the villages of Romania,
44:14or so the peasants believe.
44:16And that's why their ritual
44:18extends past the cemetery
44:20into their daily life.
44:23As everyone knows,
44:25vampires hate garlic.
44:27So all that is precious to these people
44:30is protected by this herb.
44:33The livestock,
44:35and of course, the home.
44:39All possible entrances are covered.
44:42The windows and doors,
44:45even the chimney and keyholes.
44:48One can't be too well protected.
44:52The ceremonial mask
44:54reveals the two faces of Dracula,
44:56uniting two legends.
44:58The hero of Romania,
45:00the crusader,
45:02and the vampire,
45:04the great undead.
45:06Silly superstitions?
45:08Well, many have thought so.
45:10And many have attempted
45:12to disprove the legends
45:14through more practical and physical evidence
45:16of the life of Dracula.
45:18As you have seen,
45:20the historical proof
45:22of Dracula's blood
45:24has served mostly
45:26to substantiate the legend of evil.
45:28And as every detail is unearthed,
45:30each seems to match
45:32a portion of the legend.
45:34Perhaps the most astounding evidence
45:37was supplied by an archaeological expedition
45:40mounted in 1936.
45:42In that year,
45:44scientists traveled to Transylvania,
45:46to the monastery of Snavov,
45:48to Vlad Dracula's grave,
45:50in search of the final truth.
45:55Today, Snavov is a gloomy place
45:57with only traces
45:59of its 15th century magnificence.
46:01Rich in legend,
46:03there are peasants here
46:05who say they've seen the ghost
46:07of Dracula rising from the lake.
46:09Who knows how many prayers
46:11and prisoners, famous people,
46:13and infamous acts
46:15these walls have witnessed
46:17through the centuries.
46:18How many secrets lie buried here?
46:29Professor Dino Rossetti
46:31was among the scientists
46:33who made that pilgrimage in 1936
46:35here to Snavov.
46:37To this day,
46:39he is reluctant
46:41to discuss his findings.
46:44More than 40 years have passed
46:46since I conducted
46:48my archaeological work
46:50here at Snavov.
46:55Tradition said that
46:57the grave of Dracula,
46:59the grave of Vlad the Impaler,
47:01was located here.
47:10Here in this part
47:12of the monastery,
47:14I had the opportunity
47:16to examine the grave.
47:22There was nothing to indicate
47:24that the grave had been
47:26disturbed or profaned.
47:28When the grave
47:30and the coffin were opened,
47:32I found that the clothing
47:34was well preserved
47:36and in quite good condition.
47:42A red silk garment
47:44with the arms folded
47:46but to our absolute
47:48amazement,
47:50the body
47:52had completely disappeared
47:54from inside the clothes.
47:56Only the clothing was there
47:58without a trace
48:00of the body.
48:17Where is the body of Dracula?
48:20The body of the Impaler?
48:22The body of the great undead?
48:29Truth
48:31is an interpretation
48:33of facts,
48:35whether those facts
48:37be real or imagined.
48:39To the people of Romania,
48:41for the past 500 years,
48:43Vlad Dracula
48:44has existed as truth.
48:46The horrors of history
48:48lend credence to his legend.
48:50The people meld vampires,
48:52demons, and religious beliefs
48:54with the legend.
48:56The novelist mixes these elements
48:58with a fertile imagination
49:00and a dramatic flair.
49:02Et voila, we've got Dracula
49:04in all his glory.
49:06The prince's psychotic,
49:08twisted mind
49:10served a purpose
49:12for the people of Romania
49:14against the Turks.
49:16And his evil proves to be barbaric
49:18only in the light
49:20of the knowledge
49:21of successive generations.
49:23Well,
49:25I've told you the facts.
49:27It is up to each of you
49:29to interpret these facts
49:31and determine your own truth.
49:35Well,
49:37it's dawn already.
49:41How the time has flown.
49:42Well, I've enjoyed this evening
49:44very much,
49:46but I'm afraid our little chat
49:48must come to an end.
49:50Oh, Brimstoke should be back by now.
49:52He will show you out.
50:03Good morning.
50:12Good morning.
50:42Oh!
51:12All right!