Dracula (1931)

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 HALLOWEEN REVIEWS 2025


Director: Tod Browning

Writers: Garrett Fort, from the play adapted by Hamilton Deane & John L. Balderston, based on the novel by Bram Stoker

Stars: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloane, Herbert Bunston, Frances Dade, Joan Standing



The classic Universal horror film featuring the most famous vampire in all fiction suffers from the same structural problem as the novel that inspired it—a fantastic beginning, but it’s all downhill from there. 



The set design of Castle Dracula, expertly photographed by Karl Fruend, is wonderfully creepy, as is the Carfax Abbey set later in the film. 



Once the action shifts to London, however, the script’s reliance on the stage play rather than the novel reveals itself in a stagy presentation with characters entering and exiting rooms as required to report on events in the world outside. 



Time has not been kind to Bela Lugosi’s performance, which seems a little campy to modern eyes, but that is not his fault.

 


Rather, it is a credit to him that his portrayal was powerful and unique enough to inspire generations of imitators and impressionists.






































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