Christopher Lee as Dracula captivated our imagination!

Another English actor who, like 'James Bond' Sean Connery, captivated our imagination in our childhood, especially in our teen years, was Christopher Lee (Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee). I haven't seen many of his films, except a few. In his later years, he was featured in many commercially successful films like the James Bond film 'The Man with the Golden Gun,' Star Wars films, the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and many more. At that time, I left my country of birth, Sri Lanka, due to political unrest.

As a teenager, I  watched many films, including Hollywood movies, while living in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. After I went to continue my degree studies at the University of Moratuwa in the Colombo metropolitan area, my interest in watching any films waned. After I left Sri Lanka and settled in Canada, I rarely watched films in the movie theatres.

Even though I watched a few of his films, Christopher Lee is still in my memory for his famous role as 'Dracula. In that teenage time, we loved to read thrillers, mysteries, supernatural stories, and cartoons like the Phantom series. Most of the Western cartoon series were available in Tamil, published by various publishers from Tamil Nadu, India. My favorite one was 'Indrajal Comics,' featuring Phantom's adventurous life journeys.

We enjoy watching any ghost-related supernatural movies. When I think about these types of movies, the first thing that comes to my mind is Christopher Lee. I still remember two of his Dracula films that were screened in Jaffna: 'Horror of Dracula' and ' Taste the Blood of Dracula.' Watching the blood-thirsty Dracula jutting out with two sharp teeth on the big screen gave us goosebumps. In the Dracula movies, Christian religion plays a major role. Dracula can't face the cross. I still remember watching the movie 'Taste the Blood of Dracula' at the Manohara movie theater in Jaffna.

One of the memorable scenes in the movie  was when someone was walking alone in the darkness of  night.  They were walking on the fallen leaves. Even the sound created by the leaves whenever the walking person's feet touched them is still fresh in my memory. I was watching the second show that day. The show ended around midnight, which was the time we believed ghosts were active. After the movie was over, I hurriedly walked to my grandma's house, where I stayed while studying at Jaffna Hindu College.

Even though I read several ghost-featured stories in Tamil and English,  the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about them is Christopher Lee's Dracula character. That shows how good he was in his acting. Like how Sean Connery is  James Bond, Christopher Lee is  Dracula.