A man washes ashore in England after a shipwreck and is found by Mina Van Helsing (Jan Francis). The man introduces himself as Count Dracula (Frank Langella) of Transylvania, and proceeds to integrate himself into the lives of Mina and her friend Lucy Seward (Kate Nelligan). However, when Mina dies and her father, Prof. Van Helsing (Laurence Olivier), attributes her death to a vampire, evidence indicates that Count Dracula is the monster, and Lucy is his next target.