Dracula begins when Renfield (Dwight Frye) enters castle Dracula to finalize the transferral of Carfax Abbey in London to Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi), who is in actuality a vampire. And he has his sights set on the young Mina Seward (Helen Chandler).
Is the King of Vampires the King of Vampire Movies?
Tod Browning's 1931 Dracula is drenched in dark mood, rich with great performances and is an elegant masterpiece of a film.
It's also really, really, slow and boring.
With the advent of sound, movies could now talk to their audience, giving actors and directors a whole new set of tools to create their films with. However, being that sound was new to them, no one thought to include music in the movie. This isn't much of an issue in Dracula's crib, as the long moments of silence have a chilly, dream-like essence to them. The castle is haunting and beautiful to look at. There's a strange sort of lust and desire from the film itself that threatens to bring you down until you can't escape. It's when the movie changes location and focuses on the happenings in London that you start to yawn and look at your watch. Fewer or shorter scenes in London would have benefited the movie more.
Having a new plaything like sound wasn't all bad though. Dwight Frye as Renfield is guaranteed to give you goosebumps, his ear-to-ear grin could turn a grown man pale as a sheet, and his laugh could make small children cry. It's almost as if a serial killer is on screen, not an actor. He's practically a polar opposite to Bela Lugosi, who's calm and cool. And while Dracula seems like a perfectly nice guy, you know he's up to no good, and when you see that enticing glare of his, there will be no doubt in your mind. Lugosi has such a commanding screen presence, his performance has forever cemented the folklore and image of the character, and it is still widely considered to be the best Dracula ever.
Lugosi is another reason why having more of the movie take place in the castle would have made the movie better, because any excuse to give Lugosi more screen time is a legitimate reason. Sadly, the long stretches of silence and little to no action make the movie impossible to really consider a horror film or scary at all. Is it chilling, and creepy? It can be. Dracula may be a staple in film history, and is certainly has the right to be, but generally speaking, it's mainly for vampire aficionados and anyone curious about the classic horror movie icons.
Dracula is 4 Vampire Pimps out of 5.
28 Days until Halloween!
Directed by Tod Browning
Written by Bram Stoker (and others)
Starring Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan
Unrated
Running time: 75 minutes
Available on Netflix DVD Queue and Instant Queue
Author George P.
Is the King of Vampires the King of Vampire Movies?
Tod Browning's 1931 Dracula is drenched in dark mood, rich with great performances and is an elegant masterpiece of a film.
It's also really, really, slow and boring.
With the advent of sound, movies could now talk to their audience, giving actors and directors a whole new set of tools to create their films with. However, being that sound was new to them, no one thought to include music in the movie. This isn't much of an issue in Dracula's crib, as the long moments of silence have a chilly, dream-like essence to them. The castle is haunting and beautiful to look at. There's a strange sort of lust and desire from the film itself that threatens to bring you down until you can't escape. It's when the movie changes location and focuses on the happenings in London that you start to yawn and look at your watch. Fewer or shorter scenes in London would have benefited the movie more.
Having a new plaything like sound wasn't all bad though. Dwight Frye as Renfield is guaranteed to give you goosebumps, his ear-to-ear grin could turn a grown man pale as a sheet, and his laugh could make small children cry. It's almost as if a serial killer is on screen, not an actor. He's practically a polar opposite to Bela Lugosi, who's calm and cool. And while Dracula seems like a perfectly nice guy, you know he's up to no good, and when you see that enticing glare of his, there will be no doubt in your mind. Lugosi has such a commanding screen presence, his performance has forever cemented the folklore and image of the character, and it is still widely considered to be the best Dracula ever.
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Lugosi is another reason why having more of the movie take place in the castle would have made the movie better, because any excuse to give Lugosi more screen time is a legitimate reason. Sadly, the long stretches of silence and little to no action make the movie impossible to really consider a horror film or scary at all. Is it chilling, and creepy? It can be. Dracula may be a staple in film history, and is certainly has the right to be, but generally speaking, it's mainly for vampire aficionados and anyone curious about the classic horror movie icons.
Dracula is 4 Vampire Pimps out of 5.
28 Days until Halloween!
Directed by Tod Browning
Written by Bram Stoker (and others)
Starring Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan
Unrated
Running time: 75 minutes
Available on Netflix DVD Queue and Instant Queue
Author George P.
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