For the past 4 years I have been trying to watch every Dracula movie ever made, currently at number 164. Most of them suck ass. This quest has brought ruin to my life. I have lost the respect of my friends and loved ones. Horrible, burning welts and boils have broken out across my body. I am disturbed by dark dreams of huge, black bats and baying wolves. Nevertheless, I will keep going. Because you, the good people of Tumblr, deserve someone to review every Dracula movie. So, for my first entry, here's one of the good ones.
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From director Tod Browning and cinematographer Karl Freund, this is the first OFFICIAL Dracula movie and one of the most iconic, for good reason. A lush, gothic film with delightfully heightened performances from its cast. Bela Lugosi is both suave and imposing as the Count, but Dwight Frye and Edward Van Sloane deserve equal praise as Renfield and Van Helsing respectively. All three, and the rest of the cast really, deliver such fantastic melodramatic performances, playing up the eery, moody script. The rivalry between Dracula and Van Helsing, who exudes such calm confidence despite being in grave danger, is highly compelling.
Of course, it's also a visually impressive film. The sets are wonderfully gothic, all foggy verandas and old, creepy castles. The cinematography is dim and gloomy, with great use of light vs dark, long shadows creeping from every corner, and characters lit harshly in a way that adds a lot of depth. It's very striking!
As beautiful as this movie is to look at, there are a few elements that don't work for me, mostly involving the script. I don't think it's necessary for a Dracula adaptation to be accurate, but this film in particular feels overly abridged, resulting in a blindingly brisk pace and the omitting of some important scenes. I personally find it confusing at points because it seems like the movie moves so fast that we're missing out on necessary details. But if you've read the book or are already familiar with the story, this isn't a huge issue.
All in all, Dracula 1931 is a very pretty film that is effectively creepy even now. There are a few better Dracula movies out there, but it's a great place to start for any Dracula freak. I give it 7 BATS OUT OF 10.
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