DRACULA

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 5 out of 5

Rated:

Year: 1931

Considered one of the finest horror films of the early film century, I'm afraid that I cannot give Dracula as high of praise as many of its loyal fans. For being so limited, what with censors and a lack of special effects at the time, the filmmakers did as well as they could with a difficult story but most modern audiences will find it lacking in tension. The storyline only vaguely resembles the original novel by Bram Stoker. It begins in Transylvania as a coach hastens to make the village before darkness falls. Its occupants, several locals and a London businessman, are all anxious. The villagers want to return safely, the businessman is concerned with not making his appointment to meet his client's coach at midnight. Despite being warned against vampires by the innkeeper, Renfield (Dwight Frye) insists on being dropped off at the crossroads.

Met there by a sinister coachman and taken to a magnificent and eerie old castle, Renfield's concerns grow when the driver and his luggage simply disappear and he is received into a ruin. The castle is badly overgrown and neglected, dark and sinister and with cobwebs gracing every corner. Just as he is about to turn and flee into the darkness, a flicker of light appears along an upper passageway. It is his client, Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi). He escorts Renfield to a set of rooms much more well taken care of and there agrees to sign the papers the man has brought with him. Dracula desires to move to London. Renfield is struck by the strange abnormalities of his host and on seeing a large bat fluttering at his window, faints. Only then do we glimpse the true nature of his master, as his three brides awake from their coffins and come to drain the man's blood. They are sent away, and Renfield made a slave to Dracula's will.

The ship bearing its deadly cargo arrives in England in the throes of a storm, all of its crew found dead. Renfield is insane and placed into a mental institution in the household of Dr. Seward (Herberg Bunson). His daughter Mina (Helen Chandler) is due to shortly be married. The group make the acquaintance of Dracula at an evening play performance, in which he reminds them that he has leased the property beside theirs. Mina's best friend Lucy becomes enthralled with the count and then grows increasingly weak. A specialist is called in, Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloane), who believes that a great evil moves among them.

While the film itself is interesting and the black and white adds an eerie glamour to the surroundings, the movie suffers for modern-day audiences through its overt melodrama. Bela is very effective as Dracula, with just the right amount of lethal charm, but spends most of his time STARING and POINTING dramatically. He has a worthwhile amount of screen time and usually manages to steal it whenever he's around. He was also Hungarian and therefore his accent is authentic. He does not speak nearly enough but seems content to lurk in doorways and beneath darkened trees. The real performance here is from Frye, who starts off as a sane man and slowly descends into utter madness. The strength and force of his eyes whenever he becomes particularly violent is extremely effective. Jonathan isn't particularly memorable, Van Helsing does well, but the women suffer from under-use. We see Lucy twice and never again; they don't bother with her role in the storyline, nor do we learn of her eventual demise. The brides of Dracula don't even have any dialogue; they appear in several scenes, glide around threateningly in long gowns, and then vanish. 

Because this was made in the early part of the era, there is really no content to speak of. Various individuals are bitten and/or killed but we never see the action itself. Dracula leans down toward their neck and the camera fades out to another angle. Women are magnetically drawn to the count and normally fail to resist his lures. Dracula reacts violently at having a mirror thrust into his face. Van Helsing drives a stake through his heart (off-screen, but we hear the count's moans). There is talk of children being bitten by a woman in white (Lucy) and Renfield rambles on about blood and lives, and eating insects. Religion plays no role apart from fending off vampires with crosses. It's a slightly humorous thriller perfect for vampire fans who want to see how the count has evolved through the ages of cinema, but isn't worth seeking out just for a glimpse.