31 Days of Horror: Dracula (1931)

“There are far worse things awaiting man than death.”

Filmology Rating: 3.25 out of 4

'Dracula' was released in 1931- directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula.

The mysterious Count Dracula takes up residence in an old castle in London with his hypnotized slave, Renfield! Dracula then begins to wreak havoc as he searches for victims to bite and also turn into vampires!

This is the first 'Dracula' film if you do not count 'Nosferatu', which is a "Dracula" movie, but just not a 'Dracula' film. The silent film, 'Nosferatu', was one of the first plagiarized films ever. Essentially, they took Bram Stoker's novel of 'Dracula' and changed the name and appearance of the character. It turned out to be a great film, but at a huge cost. The film was ordered to be destroyed as they did not have permission to use the material. Head of Universal Studios at the time, Carl Laemmle Jr. saw the film and realized the story's potential and decided to purchase the rights to the book. 

To put it much more understandably, Carl Laemmle Jr. was the Kevin Feige of the early days of cinema. He often picked up rights to horror novels and made them into films. This film was the kernel that later grew into an array of horror pictures. 

Tod Browning, the director, was mostly known for directing silent films- 'The Jazz Singer' just recently came out and was the first film ever to feature sound in a film. So it was a fairly new direction that film was going in. 

Bela Lugosi, a Hungarian stage actor, wanted the role of Dracula. But he was refused many times because he barely spoke a word of English. Accepting a pay cut, Lugosi was hired. The film was budgeted at three-hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 

This is another film, more so than 'Night of the Living Dead', where people will watch the film and go, "What's all the fuss about this film? It's so boring!" However, it must be understood that this was one of the first horror films ever to feature sound. And the addition of sound in film adds a whole new layer of believability. Sound design, diction, accents, music, and much more.

Bela Lugosi's performance as Count Dracula is possibly one of the most iconic performances ever. It's such a watershed performance because whenever someone does the "Dracula accent", they're imitating Bela Lugosi. Even 'Sesame Street' used Lugosi's Hungarian accent.  It's also such a theatrical performance. Once again, sound in film is fairly nuanced- so stage actors often get cast in films around this time. Almost every person in films from this era is overacting because their theatrical background. It's a charming aspect because that aspect is very much of its time. It should also be noted that Bela Lugosi had the pleasure of ending his career on a high-note by starring in Ed Wood's 'Plan 9 From Outer Space.'

The set design and cinematography also should be praised. Apparently, Tod Browning did almost nothing on the set. So the cinematographer, Karl Freund, was taking on a lot of the directorial responsibilities. 

The film is just so of its time. Matte paintings, miniatures, rubber bats- it's all very charming and it's fun to see where old-school trickery in film came from.  Like most films from the 30s to the mid-60s, they were mostly in black and white and in the academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1. That means it's very box-like. So don't let that turn you off to the film. 

This film accomplishes quite a bit in seventy minutes-the length of most of the Universal Horror pictures. There is such a great atmosphere in this film. Everything feels very cold to the touch and the lighting really allows for plenty of contrast in the frame. 

While it may seem like there isn't much on the bone in this film, this was a very influential film and character. The character of Dracula is so iconic that he's been in over fifty-eight films. 
It's a very classy film that a lot of people today will not find "scary" because its executed in a very traditional way.

Rating: See It

-Nolan