Dracula | Anna Bakacs, Daisy Belmore

Dracula | Anna Bakacs, Daisy Belmore | dracula

vhs video:

Dracula

	Dracula Anna Bakacs, Daisy Belmore Universal Studios, 1992 average customer review:based on 207 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

When Universal Pictures picked up the movie rights to a Broadway adaptation of Dracula, they felt secure in handing the property over to the sinister team of actor Lon Chaney and director Tod Browning. But Chaney died of cancer, and Universal hired the Hungarian who had scored a success in the stage play: Béla Lugosi. The resulting film launched both Lugosi's baroque career and the horror-movie cycle of the 1930s. It gets off to an atmospheric start, as we meet Count Dracula in his shadowy castle in Transylvania, superbly captured by the great cinematographer Karl Freund. Eventually Dracula and his blood-sucking devotee (Dwight Frye, in one of the cinema's truly mad performances) meet their match in a vampire-hunter called Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan). If the later sections of the film are undeniably stage bound and a tad creaky, Dracula nevertheless casts a spell, thanks to Lugosi's creepily lugubrious manner and the eerie silences of Browning's directing style. (After a mood-enhancing snippet of Swan Lake under the opening titles, there is no music in the film.) Frankenstein, which was released a few months later, confirmed the horror craze, and Universal has been making money (and countless spin-off projects) from its twin titans of terror ever since. Certainly the role left a lasting impression on the increasingly addled and drug-addicted Lugosi, who was never quite able to distance himself from the part that made him a star. He was buried, at his request, in his black vampire cape. --Robert Horton

for more information click here

Excellent album !

Excellent album for all the tracks it has, not only for the films (English and Spanish version) but also for the documentaries. Don't miss this album if you are a true Bela Lugosi's fan. This special edition for anniversary is of as high quality in its conception. 75 years is easy to say but let's imagine the hard efforts in making the mos famous Holywood's Dracula.

dracula

so many reviews i couldnt read them all, butt this guy was the greatest actor for count dracula and who directed did superb job. butt the real count dracula lived for real and he did drink blood of the people and he killed them if they crossed him , he was a real count and very rich and mean and had a castle so just in case nobody knows this. this is based on true story

for more information click here

Gothic horror at its finest

Tod Browning did more than perhaps any other filmmaker to develop the "horror" genre, and this Gothic horror masterpiece is one of the crown jewels in his filmography.

Perhaps the first genuinely "supernatural" American horror films (previous American horror films always explained away the existence of spirits or demons by attributing the scary goings-on to escaped mental patients or psychotics). Universal was perhaps the perfect studio to produce this film, as the large influx of German talent in the late 20s had created a house style at the studio perfectly suited to such a film. The atmospheric, Expressionist cinematography by Karl Freund is one of the most memorable aspects of the film. Browning's direction is solid, although he is still clearly uncomfortable with the requirements of making a sound film (his best work had been in silents, and his most memorable sound films were those in which he was able to direct non-talking sequences). Still, Browning's distinct touch is evident throughout the film, creating a much more genuinely terrifying, menacing sense of horror than the slightly more sympathetic and even at times campy horror found in the work of James Whale.

As with many talkies made between 1930 and 1932, there is very little underscoring throughout the film ("Swan Lake" is used memorably under the opening titles). While some consider this a deficiency of the film, it's important to remember that Browning dictated the lack of music to heighten the atmospheric sound. There is a version with a score composed by Philip Glass, running under most of the non-talking scenes, which lacks the taste that one usually associates with that composer.

"Dracula" stands as a seminal film in the development of the horror genre, of great interests to genre fans and film historians alike.

for more information click here

The Best Possible In 1931

If you follow my reviews, you know that the 1979 Frank Langella / Sir Laurence Oliver version is my unchallenged favorite version. But it is probably most fair to rate this version without comparing it to the phenomenal 1979 version which would come 48 years later. As the Anglican Church felt the "King James" was the best available Bible available in 1611, they felt the "English Revised" was the best one available in 1885. Renfield goes to conduct some real estate business with Count Dracula; but he is surprised at the sympathy and fear he is getting from people in the area. (Nice suspense) Renfield then meets Dracula (Lugosi) who appears to be a decent host. But there is an early sign of horror when Dracula is especially interested when Renfield cuts his finger. Considering the limited resources back then, the scenery is really well done. Once in England, we see that Renfield has become a servant of Dracula, and it doesn't take long for Dracula to start killing people. We are then introduced to Jack Seward and Jon Harker. (Jon is engaged to Jack Seward's daughter Mina.) Mina's friend Lucy is killed which leads to more suspense. (Granted, we as the audience know who is killing everyone, but there is a creepy suspense as to us wondering when the characters will find out.) We then meet Van Helsing (played well by Edward Van Sloan). Van Sloan portrays him as an interesting character who has unusual knowledge that he tries to use only when the people may be ready for it, or situations are dire enough for them to have to know. (Van Sloan does not make him the eccentric heavy drinker he is in the book.) Harker is a real skeptic, but Mr. Seward is understandably more open because he is concerned over his daughter Mina's failing health. Interestingly, we see that the good in Renfield is fighting to come out, but he is also afraid of what Dracula may do to him. (Nice suspense that allows us some sympathy for Renfield.) We then see that while Harker is a skeptic, he can be convinced with the right evidence. I don't want to ruin the movie for those of you who haven't seen it, but the climax is done reasonably well, and it leaves us with a slightly open ended conclusion. The 1979 version with Frank Langella, Sir Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasence, Trevor Eve, and Kate Nelligan version will always be my favorite. But I do feel that the 1931 Lugosi version was the best one available in 1931. It remains my 2nd favorite version, and a lot better than a lot of so called Draculas that recently came out.

for more information click here

Lugosi is inspired, but DRACULA S##KS

If Frankenstein gives you the underground creeps, and The Mummy keeps your nerves all wrapped up, while Creature From The Black Lagoon makes you search for dry land, this ancient version of Dracula has lost it's bite. Bela Lugosi literally sustains the sense of creepiness all by himself in one of the most unlikable casts ever assembled for a Universal horror picture classic. Nothing is deadlier for a horror tale where the so called good guys are achingly so intolerable in character and demeanor, it would be a virtual pity if Dracula didn't have his way with most of them indeed. Nina is a sniveling grown up woman with a childish wimpering voice that needs to be silenced by someone. Please help us here, Bela. The manly hero is a push over rich boy sweating beads for his dear Nina, while running amuk in the final scene calling her name in no uncertain terms. Van Helsing is why I stay at home in the states, I do not require an irritating foreign tongue which makes me long for home. His demise would be if Bela told him a hefty joke to crack that cemented mug of his. To top everything off, this tale is based and formed from a stage version, not utilizing the great cinema features of sight and sound. Walt Disney would have had a straight jacket fit! Some of the lighter sets appeared the future home of I LOVE LUCY. No doubt, Bela is unsurpassed in his Dracula facade, which made his presence and attitude legendary to everyone on planet earth, but the movie itself is grinding, even compared to much better hits of the day.
A few key moments do not a movie make.

for more information click here