What were the first action movies with Dracula and/or vampires in it?

Does Nosferatu count (ha ha pun intended) as an action movie?

I’m not sure what you mean by “action film,” but film adaptations of the Bram Stoker novel, Dracula, go back to at least 1921, and possibly further.

There is an argument about this among film aficionados. There has been a rumor for at least nine decades that there was a 1920 film made in the Soviet Union based on Stoker’s book by the name of Дракула (Drakula). This film would have predated the lost 1921 Hungarian film, Dracula’s Death, and is thus claimed by many to be the first adaptation of Dracula.

The oldest existing film is the 1922 silent, Nosferatu: _eine Symphonie des Grauens_ (“Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror”), which caused Stoker’s estate to sue for copyright infringement. Made by film director F. W. Murnau, the horror film took the story of Dracula and set it in Transylvania and Germany. In the story, Dracula’s role was changed to that of Count Orlok, played by Max Schreck.

The Stoker estate took exception to these changes, won its lawsuit, and all existing prints of Nosferatu were ordered destroyed. However, a number of pirated copies of the movie survived to the present era, where they entered the public domain. Copies of Nosferatu can now be found for download on many sites including the Internet Archive and YouTube.

Thanks @Espiritus_Corvus and @jaytkay.…

First time I heard of Drakula and Dracula’s Death. Would be very exciting if any prints of those two films surfaces but seems there’s almost no chance of that happening.

It’s always been Nosferatu which I’ve thought of as the very first movie based on Stoker’s book. By action movie I meant a film having a protagonist who used weapons like swords or guns or maybe even martial arts to fight Dracula or another character with a different name but based on him.

I can only recall as far back as Captain Kronos the Vampire Hunter or was it Killer-? I think that was done in the 70s. He had a sword. Also, have no idea yet if in Asia and anywhere else in the world, vampire movies were produced as action films.

@Espiritus_Corvus is correct regarding the early Russian film.
That said, I would be hard pressed to say any of the silent vampire films were considered Action films. Lugosi’s Dracula is the recreation of a stage play, which is best described as a Horror/Drama film.