Day 4: Dracula

4. Dracula (1931)
Dir: Tod Browning
Cast: Bela Lugosi, Dwight Frye Helen Chandler, Edward Van Sloan

With charm, a subtle intensity and that classic Romanian accent, there was really only one true Dracula and that my friend was the iconic Bela Lugosi. Directed and co-written by horror veteran Tod Browning and co-starring Helen Chandler, Dwight Frye and Edward Van Sloan. 1931 brought on a new age of Universal monsters and probably the best and most memorable portrayal of the Count Dracula character.

Following the classic story, Dracula here is quite different from Murnau's Count previous portrayal. Bela Lugosi, who had a few years before been playing Dracula live on stage, basically writes the book in this film regarding what it means to be the Count. I mean when you see a Dracula impression today or even any time after the film was released, it's basically what Bela essentially did in this subtle classic. With a hypnotic look and strong screen presence, he brought this film to life.



Though as iconic and influential this film may be, I do feel I have to level with you regarding my personal opinion. Now there's a lot here I appreciate; the performances, the beautiful sets and the mood but even for a 70 something minute movie, this is a little slow and can tend to even be boring. So perhaps it hasn't held up as well over the years regarding entertainment value but that doesn't mean it can't be enjoyed on some level. I'd say this is worth a gander for horror fans, unless your opposed to watching old stuff. Sure it may require some patience but I think most can respect what this film accomplished. I mean if anything this is simply worth seeing for Bela, he's really one of the unsung legends of the Golden Age of Hollywood.... Just don't get the version with Philip Glass music, dear god that's annoying.

Fright Fact: The role of Dracula was originally meant for Tod Browning regular/horror legend Lon Chaney who unfortunately died of lung cancer in 1930 at the age of 47.
Horror Highlight: Renfield meets Dracula