...a motion picture for people who love motion pictures, their history, and their evolution. It is a self-recommending classic.
Tools:
Recommend review to a friend »
When I was a kid, I used to argue with my friends about who was the best monster, Frankenstein's or Dracula. Of course, I always took the side of the Frankenstein creation--bigger, meaner, and uglier. How could anyone be scared, I contended, with some guy in a cape going, "Look into my eyes"? Since then, about ten times more vampire movies have been made than Frankenstein films, so what did I know. Maybe it's all those sexual connotations with blood suckers that continues to make them so popular.
Anyway, thanks to this special edition disc from Universal, there is enough supplemental information to keep the argument alive for years, with two complete and separate film versions, English and Spanish, a documentary, a feature-length commentary, a new musical score, and loads of production notes and biographies.
Bram Stoker's 1897 novel was first brought to the screen in a now-lost European film, "Dracula's Death," and in F.W. Murnau's unauthorized 1922 German rendering, "Nosferatu." But the world would wait until 1931 before getting the quintessential, if somewhat abridged, adaptation. Universal's account is claimed to be the world's first talking supernatural thriller. The novel had been made into a successful stage play in the late twenties, concentrating on the second half of the story, and when the studio decided to film it, they went with the actor who had made it famous on Broadway, Hungarian-born Bela Lugosi. The film and Lugosi were instant hits. So much so that Universal asked Lugosi if he would do the lead in their next monster flick, "Frankenstein." Lugosi declined because the creature had no spoken lines. Lugosi's loss; our gain (and Karloff's).
"Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make." --Dracula
In a nod to the stage play, the movie skips hurriedly over the first half of the story, which takes place in the Count's Transylvanian castle, and moves quickly to Dracula's arrival in London. The Count takes up residence in abandoned Carfax abbey; brings along his goofy assistant, Renfield; starts necking with the local populace; gets chased by Professor Van Helsing; and, well, you know the story. It's Lugosi's aristocratic presence and nobly evil bearing that bring a magic to the role that has yet to be duplicated. Later Draculas, like those of Christopher Lee and Frank Langella, had their own memorable idiosyncrasies, but only Lugosi was Lugosi. It is he with whom the role has become forever identified. Yet Lugosi was not the filmmakers' first choice for the part. That honor goes to Lon Chaney, who probably would have done the piece had he not died the year before.
"I never drink...wine." --Dracula
Video:
The picture quality for the old film is not particularly good. The print shows its age in numerous small flecks and spots, some graininess, and an overall loss of sheen.
Audio:
Likewise, the monaural sound is rather scratchy and accompanied by a good deal of background noise. This is unfortunate because there is quite a lot to see in director Tod Browning's film, with its almost expressionistic feeling and sets of mold and decay. To accompany this edition of the film, however, there is an interesting bonus item: A brand-new musical track composed by Philip Glass and performed by the Kronos Quartet. It is quite atmospheric and recorded in Dolby Digital 5.1 sonics. Yet superimposed over the old dialogue, it makes an odd contrast in sonic styles. I watched the film both with its original music and again with its new Kronos accompaniment, and I must admit that in the latter mode by halfway through the film I was beginning to find the strings more than a bit static and the music repetitious. The original version has actually very little music in it, the title and end credits and a bit of orchestration played live. Browning was primarily a silent-film director, guiding several of Chaney's most famous movies, and his reluctance to use sound is evident throughout "Dracula," in its sparse dialogue and long silences.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]3508[/release]