Dracula (1931)
I appreciate Dracula more every time I see it. As an early "talkie", it can be a bit jarring to newcomers (unlike Universal's Frankenstein or The Invisible Man who are truly timeless) but there's a reason this interpretation of the story is still being talked about today. It’s an important horror film and unlike any other.
Based on the 1924 play by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston (adapted from the novel by Bram Stoker), it tells the story of the vampire Count Dracula (played by the immortal Bela Lugosi) who leaves his rotting Transylvanian castle to prey on the people of London.
This is a strange picture. An excerpt from Act II of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake plays during the intro credits, and then the score vanishes. Was this, and the mostly static camera work a deliberate decision on behalf of director Tod Browning? Maybe, or it could've been that no one in 1931 considered shooting this adaptation of a play as anything but a play. Just as it would be unfair to criticize a picture shot in Japan for not being in English, it’s unfair to criticize Dracula for its special effects or cinematic techniques. That’s just the way it was done at the time. Pay attention instead to what this film does right, the aspects which have shaped the way movie vampires have been portrayed ever since.
What has allowed this film to stand the test of time are the memorable performances and the story. Once you see Bela Lugosi in his most famous role, he's impossible to forget. The man has real presence. His hypnotic gaze, the way he reaches out with his hands to command the men and women he bends to his will, the cadence of his speech, and his dialogue are mesmerizing. Even if you're awful at imitations, no one could confuse who you're pretending to be when you say “I never drink... wine” or “Listen to them. Children of the night!” Those lines are and always will be hallmarks of this 1931 film.
Dwight Frye as Dracula’s wretched slave Renfield also deserves a lot of love. While Lugosi is calm and collected, Renfield is delightfully loony and tortured. Varying from grinning, hysterical maniac to a pitiful shade of his former self that begs the Count to spare his would-be victims, he's the more unsettling of the two. When the officials discover him in the bowels of a deserted ship, laughing with clenched teeth and wide eyes, it gives you chills. Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing stands out as well. He’s a solid foil for Dracula, and his voice is just as iconic.
Dracula is unique among adaptation of the novel and vampire movies. Its only predecessor was the silent Nosferatu, meaning they designed the archetypical vampire without knowing it. At the time, making a horror film was considered a risk. No one knew they were making something that would endure but here we are. This is more than a mere adaptation of the novel or play. It has its own identity. It's an important film which means you need to examine it a bit differently than you would a modern-day blockbuster but really take a look at this. Consider what the movie means, what its influences are, and how memorable it is despite the ages which have passed. (Original Theatrical version on DVD, April 30, 2015)