Dracula | Anna Bakacs, Daisy Belmore

Dracula | Anna Bakacs, Daisy Belmore | A classic

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Dracula

	Dracula Anna Bakacs, Daisy Belmore Universal Studios, 1992 average customer review:based on 207 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

I never drink... wine

Bram Stoker's vampire novel has been remade dozens of times, but perhaps the best adaptation is the classic Bela Lugosi version. Fairly faithful to the novel and dripping with gothic atmosphere, what really makes "Dracula" stand out is the bone-chillingly charming performance by Lugosi.

A solicitor, Renfield (Dwight Frye), is travelling to Count Dracula's castle for a real estate deal, despite the locals freaking out and crossing themselves whenever Dracula's mentioned. He soon finds out why -- the Count (Lugosi) is a vampire, who enslaves a mad Renfield to his will. Soon after, a ship with a dead crew (and Renfield and Dracula in the hold) arrives in England.

Soon Dracula has moved into his new home, Carfax Abbey, and is insinuating himself with the Seward family -- and especially with pretty Lucy Westenra, who dies of blood loss and is reborn as a vampire. Only the intervention of the mysterious Dr. Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) can stop Dracula's attacks in London.

Then there's the Spanish-language one, which is virtually identical and was filmed on the exact same sets, during the hours when the English-language one was not being shot. Same settings, same marks, same cinematography, many of the same scenes -- although it's much longer. It's excellent, and although it lacks that iconic intensity that Lugosi brought the English-language film, it's full of atmosphere and good acting.

Technically "Dracula" wasn't the first adaptation of "Dracula" -- that honor belongs to "Nosferatu" -- but it was the first to actually tackle the storyline in Stoker's book. And to date, it's perhaps the only to portray everyone's favorite vampire with the necessary atmosphere -- ominous, dignified and creepy.

Tod Browning sets it in all the necssary places -- crumbling castles, savage mountainous villages, foggy London streets, and sumptuous Victorian drawing rooms with eerie noises from outside. Granted, a fair amount of stuff is changed -- Jonathan Harker is partially replaced by the mad Renfield -- but none of these really detract from the storyline.

And Browning pours the creepiness on thickly, such as Dracula's seduction of young women, which keeps up the whole idea of vampiric sexuality. But Browning also knows how to pour on the subtle horror, without blood or violence -- like any scene with Renfield.

The script is just as great as the direction, with some unspeakably good dialogue ("For one who has not lived even a single lifetime, you're a wise man, Van Helsing"), usually from Dracula. But the best scenes and dialogue are made up of highlights from the novel (such as Dracula saying dreamily, "Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!").

But the star of all this is Lugosi himself, one of the two quintessential vampire actors (the other being Christopher Lee). While he doesn't resemble the book's Dracula, his hypnotic stare and charming, intense manner make him an ideal vampire count. And Frye deserves a nod for one of the nastiest, maddest, creepinest performances in cinema history. Sort of a nuttier, bug-eating Gollum ("Not when I can get nice fat spiders!").

The original "Dracula" is still the best, more than seventy years after it was made. Dripping with Gothic atmosphere and seductive charm, this is a magnificent piece of work.

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A classic

Got my kids to actually sit down and watch it with me. Teenagers! When we did research on the history and background of the film and actors they enjoyed the movie so much more. They said it helped put them in the mindset of the 1940's movie goer and felt the sheer terror they felt watching Dracula come to life.

A Fate Far Worse Than Death

This atmospheric horror film based on the play adaptation of Braum Stoker's literary horror classic, still has enough going for it to make it one of the great films from the early days of talking pictures. Lugosi's portrayel of Dracula may seem a bit ripe at times when viewed today, but it is part of the charm of this horror masterpiece.

Producer Carl Laemmle brought director Tod Browning in to film Garrett Fort's script of the play and it proved the perfect choice. Browning gave "Dracula" the fog-shrouded look and feel of something evil and not of this world intruding upon the living. Something only wolfbane and a cross can keep at bay.

It begins in Transylvania as Renfield (Dwight Frye) is on his way to Count Dracula's castle to have him sign lease papers. He is bewildered by the reaction of peasants when they discover his destination. But it is not long before Dracula (Bela Lugosi) has become his master and he discovers there are far worse things awaiting men than mere death.

A chartered ship to England will become a crew of corpses with Renfield doing the bidding of his new master, and in the process slipping into insanity. It is in London that Dracula will meet the lovely Mina (Helen Chandler) and her friend Lucy (Frances Dade), whose fascination with the Count will lead her into a life of the undead.

It is Mina Dracula has big plans for, however, only her love John Harker (David Manners) and the intrepid Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) standing between he and the evil which could take Mina into darkness forever. Van Helsing knows that desperate measures must be taken or the two marks on Mina's neck will bring her forever under the spell of Count Dracula.

Only a somewhat abrupt ending mars this film classic. Helen Chandler makes a lovely heroine and the atmosphere created by Tod Browning and cinematographer Karl Freund is made for late night viewing with a big bowl of popcorn. While it may be more fun today than horrific, as it was in 1931, it still stands as one of the great films in American cinema.

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A new look at an old favorite

I really didn't think anything could top Universal's excellent "Legacy Collection" of the classic monster films. True, the initial collection was released to help promote Stephen Sommer's forgettable VAN HELSING film, but they were also a very impressive and affordable way to collect many of the studio's great monster movies.

Now, for the 75th annivesary of Dracula, here comes yet another DVD release. . .the third release, in fact (Dracula was released on DVD in a single-disc edition in 2000). For fans who already own one or both of the previous releases, the question is obvious: Do you need another version of Dracula?

Well, the answer is YES, you do! And here's why: As good as the Legacy Collection prints of Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. looked, Universal has actually improved upon the picture and sound quality for this release. But that's only part of the reason to upgrade. Several new bonus features enhance your viewing experience. In addition to the excellent audio commentary from film scholar David Skal (heldover from the earlier discs), there is an all-new commentary track from Steve Haberman. Haberman, the director of Mel Brooks' parody DRACULA, DEAD AND LOVING IT, might seem an odd choice at first. But he offers plenty of insight into the film's production, and spends an inordinate amount of time picking apart the Spanish production of Dracula, which many fans feel is superior to Tod Browning's film.

Another bonus is "Monster Tracks," a running text commentary, in which trivia about the film's production appears on-screen throughout the feature. Much of the information is repeated from Haberman's commentary, and the track's writers take off on tangents that sometimes have nothing to do with what's happening on-screen (such as lengthy biographical information on director Browning). Still, even a die-hard fan like myself learned a few new tidbits about Dracula.

"Lugosi: The Dark Prince" is a fine documentary that was also included on Image's "Heroes of Horror" from a few years back. And I'm pretty sure it also aired on A & E sometime in the mid-90's. Lugosi fans looking for a more definitive overview of the actor should pick up "Lugosi: Hollywood's Dracula."

Lastly, there's a great feature-length documentary on ALL the Universal Horror films. Well...maybe not quite ALL of them, but it's a fairly comprehensive program.

I won't use up any more space discussing the merits of Dracula itself. If you're read this far, you know it's one of the defining moments of cinematic horror. And with this deluxe 2-disc set, virtually no stone is left unturned in celebrating its lasting impact. This is truly an essential purchase for classic horror fans, and probably for anyone else interested in the early history of sound movies.

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English version better than Spanish version

The actor that played Dracula in the spanish couldn't comepare to Lugosi . The Spanish count looked as scary as my mother-in law ! They don't make movies like this anymore . I heard about this movie and was curious watched it and was not disapointed .

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