10 A-List Actors Who Did Z-Grade Horror Films

Gerard Butler plays the title role in this umpteenth retelling of Bram Stoker’s story, which relocates the action to modern day America and reduces Dracula to pimping for Virgin Records. Desperate to launch itself in the US, Virgin effectively becomes an unbilled character in the movie, though the shameless plugs aren’t limited to a few close-ups of one of its stores.

In New Orleans to locate a Virgin employee named Mary (“Virgin Mary”, geddit?), Dracula visits her workplace and is entranced by a music video featuring S & M queens and topless dancers. He’s watching the Heads Explode promo for Monster Magnet, a band signed – you guessed it – to Virgin’s V2 label.

Butler remains tight-lipped about the movie, but that’s probably because his audition tape later appeared on YouTube. Long-haired, bug-eyed and given to growling, the actor more closely resembles Jason Mamoa than Bela Lugosi, and they still handed him the role. Aspiring thespians will shake their heads in wonder.