Dracula

U.S.A. | 1931 Directed by Tod Browning Starring Bela Lugosi David Manners Helen Chandler B&W | 75 Minutes | Not Rated Format: DVD (R1 - NTSC | 2-disc set) Universal Home Video

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		Review by Brian Lindsey

6     9   10 = Highest Rating   Replaces EC's April 2001 review of the single-disc edition

Bela Lugosi became an immortal screen legend in Dracula, the first of Universal Studio's "Monster Cycle" of the 1930s. Reams of literature — by much better scribes — have been written on the film, exploring both its production history and considerable impact on popular culture. So I won't attempt to do that here. (In fact, the uninitiated can look to David J. Skal's excellent The Road to Dracula documentary, included on the DVD, as an essential primer.) Needless to say the original Dracula is required viewing for any aspiring cult film devotee. Just be prepared to yawn a lot.     After the first 20 minutes, set mostly at Drac's Transylvanian abode, the film settles down to a glacial crawl. Not very much happens until Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) and the Count have their dynamic confrontation in the drawing room (one of the all-time great scenes in horror cinema) — and then nothing truly interesting goes down after that. Almost all the action takes place offscreen. Other than the opening credits Dracula is completely devoid of a musical score, only accentuating its stodgy, stage play origins. (Some have compared it to a silent movie, but many such films contain plenty of goings-on.) Like almost all films of the era it's a showcase for wooden, exaggerated acting and poorly blocked stage direction. Jumping to a close-up within the same scene is about as much movement as you're going to get with Browning at the helm. No getting around it, y'all... For all its (deservedly) classic status, this movie can prove more efficacious than Tylenol PM for inducing slumber.     Thus, with all its weaknesses, Dracula is nothing without Bela Lugosi. His electrifying, charismatic turn as the Count — bloodsucking continental charmer in tux, tails and top hat — is the entire reason for the film's status as an enduring classic. (Some juicy lines certainly help, such as the famous "Children of the Night" soliloquy.) If not for Lugosi and his signature performance, the character of Count Dracula may never have become such a universally recognized pop culture icon.     NOTE: Given the comments above, some explanation of my '6' film rating is in order. The film is mostly quite dull, so I give it a basic '3'. Lugosi's iconic performance is easily worth three points. Bela is The Man!

Universal "triple-dips" with the company's third release to date of Dracula. Previously there was the 1999 single-disc Classic Monsters Collection edition (long out of print); in 2004 it was again issued as part of the Dracula: The Legacy Collection multi-film set. These editions contained identical extras: an excellent audio commentary by film scholar David J. Skal; the documentary mentioned earlier, The Road to Dracula, hosted by the movie's one surviving cast member (she plays the young woman wearing glasses in the opening stagecoach scene); a poster and photo montage; a specially commissioned, full-length musical score by minimalist composer Philip Glass, performed by the Kronos Quartet, which one can switch on or off as desired. (I rather like portions of the score, but feel that it is overused, too often stepping on the dialog.) Both editions also included the 104-minute Spanish language version of the film, directed by George Melford, shot simultaneously with Browning's using the same sets. In many ways a more technically proficient work, its main shortcoming is that Carlos Villarias sure ain't no Bela Lugosi — sadly, his sometimes laughably bad performance as the Count is a stake driven directly into the picture's heart.     The new 75th Anniversary edition (released Sept. 26, 2006) packages its two discs in a handsome-looking leatherette case and replicates all the bonus features listed above. Happily some new extras have been added. The 35-minute featurette Lugosi: The Dark Prince provides a nice overview of the actor's horror film career and a number of the notable roles he played, focusing mainly on his best work in the genre — Murders in the Rue Morgue, White Zombie, The Black Cat, The Son of Frankenstein, etc. — in addition to Dracula; his personal life is almost completely ignored. Universal Horrors is the 90-minute documentary originally shown on Turner Classic Movies in 1998, a splendid history of the studio's fantastic films of the 1930s and '40s. Narrated by Kenneth Branagh and loaded with terrific clips, it skimps somewhat on the Word War II era but covers the formative Depression period, when the first American talking horror films were birthed, in solid detail. Also new to this anniversary edition is a second audio commentary with author/screenwriter Steve Haberman. It hashes over some of the same arcana as the Skal track and the Road To Dracula doc but provides enough new material, from a different perspective, to be worth a listen. Finally, viewers have the option of playing the film with accompanying "Monster Tracks", a pop-up text commentary covering much the same ground discussed in Skal's and Haberman's talks.     The main question for those who already own the 1999 disc or the Legacy Collection set will be, is this movie worth buying again? This time I'd have to say yes. In addition to the new bonus materials, picture quality has been marginally improved. The new transfer looks brighter, with heightened visible detail in numerous scenes. Even so, Dracula remains in need of a major restoration effort akin to that of Frankenstein. This wish applies to the aural as well as the visual, since the film's original soundtrack isn't exactly in the best of condition — even when considering the film's advanced age. (At least here Renfield's final scream and the Count's death-groans have been restored.) 9/30/06

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