Dracula (1931)
| Dracula (1931) |
| Cast: | Bela Lugosi | Count Dracula/Coach Driver |
| Helen Chandler | Mina Seward | |
| David Manners | Jonathan Harker | |
| Dwight Frye | Renfield | |
| Edward Van Sloan | Professor Abraham Van Helsing | |
| Herbert Bunston | Dr. Jack Seward | |
| Frances Dade | Lucy Weston | |
| Joan Standing | Maid | |
| Charles K. Gerrard | Martin |
Review by Bret Walker
In an age of film where censorship abounded and sexual themes were all but outlawed, a terrifying film came out about Bram Stoker's most evil creation, Count Dracula, played to perfection by Bela Lugosi. Indeed, Lugosi's performance is the definitive Dracula, by which other performances are judged, rated, and often discounted.
Believe it or not, I first saw this film in its entirety a couple weeks ago. It was on A&E, which is one of my favorite channels for films made in a bygone era. They usually show films in their entirety, uncut and uncensored (not that they need to be, most films of that time could be shown on commercial TV as well) and, most importantly, uninterrupted by commercial breaks. Plus, they usually have some interesting trivia about the films thrown in as well. If you don't watch A&E, take a look some time. It's not, as a lot of people think, just another PBS. It's actually a great way to see great films any time, day or night.
OK, now that I've finished talking about A&E (this was a Dracula review, right?), I have to say that after seeing several versions of the Bram Stoker novel (including Francis Ford Coppola's "definitive" version with Gary Oldman in the title role) and tons of vampire-based movies, I was actually blown away by this 69 year-old film. The filming techniques of the day did not include a lot of background music, which made the film just feel wierd at first, since I'm used to hearing the sweeping orchestral score behind the scenes. But it also made the film that much more dark and creepy. With the absence of music, the audience is forced to pay attention to the action and the actors are forced to be that much more effecive. Bela Lugosi is incredible as the tortured Count. And Tod Browning really took this film about as far as he possibly could for a film made a scant three years into the era of "talkies."
If you like good horror films, do yourself a favor and check out this classic. This is definitely one of those "must-see" films that you must actually see at least once in your lifetime. I'm glad that I did.
Rating:
Explanation: I actually took the era of the film into consideration when coming up with this rating. For 1931, it was as excellent a film as you could see, just shy of perfection.
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