DRACULA (1931)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Horror

Director: Tod Browning

Cast: Bela Lugosi / Dwight Frye / Helen Chandler

Plot

 A Transylvanian vampire count moves to London, where he attempts to transform a wealthy doctor’s daughter into one of his vampire brides.

What I Liked

If ever there was an iconic performance in the history of horror film, it is Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula.  Lugosi’s vampire is simultaneously debonair and soulless.  He is not the bestial, rat-like vampire of earlier films but neither is he the tortured romantic anti-hero of later portrayals.  He is pure evil, uncompromising and complete, beneath a frighteningly thin veil of fine manners and dress.  In addition, the audience is convinced that Dracula is indeed dangerously powerful simply by his presence.  Though Lugosi participates in very little physical violence through the film, he is nonetheless intimidating in every scene in which he appears.

Dwight Frye, given the most overtly interesting character of the film (the trapped and tortured Renfield), is also excellent.  I first saw this movie as a kid and the scenes with the crazed and sniveling Renfield were the scenes that I remembered most.  At times frightening, at others pathetic, and at still others funny, Frye livens up a movie that could use some livening up.

What I Didn’t Like

“Dracula” is such a classic film and its title character such a well-known villain that one would expect this movie to be full of memorable action and suspense.  Instead the audiences is presented with very little spectacle, too much dialogue, hammy acting from a supporting cast, and not a single on-screen death.  There is some haunting ambiance, with howling wolves and some creepy set pieces, but on the whole the effects are hokey.  It’s all made that much worse with pacing that sucks the drama dry.  Thank god for Lugosi and Frye who are clearly what made his movie so frightening for audiences back in the 1930s.

Most Memorable Scene

My personal favorite scene is after the boat named Vesta arrives ashore in London carrying nothing but a dead crew, Dracula, and the insane Renfield.  We hear Renfield’s slow, raspy laugh and, as the police investigate the sound, they open a door to find Renfield standing at the bottom of a set of stairs.  He’s staring up at them with a crazed look on his face and that creepy laugh coming from somewhere deep in his chest.  For me, this was the most chilling moment of the film.  Probably because I think one of the worst things that can happen to you is to go insane and lose control of your own mind.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5