Janson DVD Looks at World&'s Most Famous Vampire

Janson Media celebrates Halloween with its DVD, Dracula: The True Story, an entertaining biography of the world's most famous vampire, which travels to the heart of Transsylvania, in today's Romania, to uncover the historical truths behind the legend of Dracula. Today, vampire tourism in Romania is booming. A self-described vampire hunter, Paul Daian, believes that vampires lurk in the streets of today's Bucharest and can adopt various forms. A Viennese dermatologist, Christian Honigsmann, discusses his theory that porphyria, a widespread genetic illness in Transsylvania in those days, was behind many vampire superstitions, especially the idea of their fear of sunlight. And Princess Brianna Caradja, a descendant of Vlad Tepes' talks about her famous ancestor. Interviewed in the film, Princess Brianna Caradja, Dracula's great granddaughter in the 27th generation, says, 'Even now Romanians use expressions such as, 'Where is a Vlad Tepes now, we would need somebody like him now to make the country better.' So in this way, yes, I'm proud.' A sampling of the many positive reviews the film has received follows: 'This incisive documentary examines the vampire tourism phenomenon, and provides a good historical perspective on the superstitions and folklore that propelled the Dracula myth to its current status. Sure to be popular. Recommended. Three Stars.' - Video Librarian 'The film features interviews with scholars as well as one of Vlad's living relatives, along with footage of his castle and a few of the spots featured in Stoker's novel. In addition to Vlad's history, this also touches on vampire lore. Very informative and great grisly fun. ...Recommended.' - Library Journal 'Is Dracula real or just a myth? Where did the Irish author, Bram Stoker, come up with this famous vampire and who did he base his story on? Dracula: The True Story takes a look at this phenomena of the greatest known undead. With the current interest in horror stories, this video would be a great introduction to the genre. ... and is a great introduction to the study of the novel.' - School Library Journal 'A highly informative documentary about the history of the Dracula legend. With some scenes from Nosferatu and Bram Stoker's Dracula, this tape looks at several very real historical facts that may have spawned the mythology that eventually led Bram Stoker to create the infamous vampire. Much of the tape focuses on Vlad Tepes and his bloody deeds. There are also some modern takes on the effects of the legend in Romania. It's interesting to see how tourism has been affected... There's also a scientific look at several diseases that have been historically attributed to vampirism. An excellent documentary that is highly recommended to anyone interested in the history of one of the greatest monsters ever created.' - The Classic Horror Website