"They HAD to change things up in order to make the movie, and what they DID come up with took two years to mount."

The George Pal movie DID scare the hell out of me the 1st time I saw it-- I about 7 or 8, maybe. But 15 years later, I saw it again-- ON A BIG SCREEN!!! It was on a reissue with WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE-- my Dad and I both agreed WOTW was far better than WWC. A classic! Same with DRACULA-- I have increasing respect for both the Lugosi & Lee versions-- and the Universal Spanish version of 1931 as well (which in some ways fulfills the promise of the Lugosi version, filmed simultaneously on the same sets with the same crew). By comparison, Coppola's is magnificent-- and the changes HE made turned out to be my favorite parts of his version (go figure). In truth, the MOST accurate DRACULA remains the BBC's version with Louis Jordan-- but so many don't consider "mere" TV versions...

"the album scared me so bad that I STILL have nightmares from it to this day"

WOW. But I know what you mean. It's probably Richard Burton that puts it across...

"Earth-- BELONGED-- to the Martians."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!! [AAAHHHH!!!]

Of course, the idiots where I worked only joked, calling the album "Disco Dracula".

I can't fathom the Wayne interference thing. After all, look how many times 2-- or more-- versions of the same story have been filmed at the same time!!! In the 30's there were TARZANs competing with Johnny Weismuller. In '63 2 completely different adaptations of the book "RED ALERT" were filmed (by Sidney Lumet & Stanley Kubrick). In '83 James Bond appeared in 3 different films (including a TV cameo-- heehee). And Kurt Russell & Kevin Costner's Wyatt Earp films came out within 6 months of each other. Sure, it's absurd, but it's happened-- and will no doubt continue to.

As for Burton... my fave film of his remains BEETLEJUICE. For so many reasons...