Dracula

Dir. Tod Browning

75 Minutes

USA

1931

Starring: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Herbert Bunston

****1/2/*****

Tod Browning's masterful Dracula adaptation stands alongside the best of the wonderful early Universal monster pictures (with the title going to Frankenstein without batting an eye). Lugosi's Dracula is more gentleman than monster, scary in that he can blend in with facets of high society without anyone being any wiser: with the exception of the observant and intelligent Van Helsing (despite having not even lived one full life, as the Count describes). 

Even in weaker horror works like The Thirteenth Chair Browning has a knack for atmosphere, and what elevates terror in Dracula is the complete removal of any music (with the exception of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake over the opening credits, a staple in several Universal horror pictures of the time). What comes as a result is a casually paced, often restrained film, where the silence eerily slows the action down making the violence hit harder than perhaps otherwise. Additionally, sounds that come as a result of violence linger longer, such as Renfeld's trip down the long flight of stairs after Dracula is finished with him, or the moans of Dracula as Van Helsing drives the stake into his heart off camera. And he fills the frames with things to keep things visually interesting, whether it is armadillos and possums running around the underground caverns of the castle, or neat shadow manipulation as people survey a massacre aboard the ship bringing the Count to London (and Renfeld's eyes of madness remain creepy no matter how many times this has been seen). 

Lugosi is terrific in the part and there is a reason why, despite only actually playing a vampire a small handful of times, he is inextricably linked to the part (though his crowning achievement would not be until Son of Frankenstein in 1939). But the film elevated his star status after its release, and for good reason. One wishes that perhaps he was a bit more selective than his rival Boris Karloff, but he goes beyond the often used "fun" moniker (even in much weaker films) and is genuinely creepy at times, most notably during moments of Svengali-like mesmerizing close-ups. Remains a marvelous film, and an absolute staple.

October 21st, 2019