Vampire Movie: Dracula
What a treat! I finally got a copy of Dracula, made in 1931, a movie I have been wanting to see for ages.
Dracula - 1931
I poured myself a glass of red wine, turned out all the lights and pushed play. Even though Renfield really annoyed me at the beginning (before he went crazy), I was pulled in by the villagers tales of the vampire – and couldn’t wait for Count Dracula to make his appearance.
Bela Lugosi was a wonderful Dracula – one that set the tone for the cinematic vampire for years. So much different than the terrifying Count Orlok in Nosferatu, Count Dracula was enticing, striking, handsome, well-dressed, attentive and polite with a hint of something very dark. And we all know what that is!
Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula
The story is one of the most familiar stories to me, one of my favorites – though there were some differences from the original story. One major one being that Jonathan Harker never made his fateful trip to Transylvania. Only Renfield made the trip and helped Dracula make his way to London. That I found to be a pretty profound detour and a little distracting.
Count Dracula
Although I loved the shadowed closeups of Dracula (so very dramatic at first with light splayed across his only his eyes), about half way through the movie it started giving me the giggles! He truly was the original Zoolander!
One of the aspects of the movie I really noticed throughout the length of the film was the lack of music. Today music is such an integral part of any film and I wondered if it were just the way of early movie making. As I sat through the film I began to think that the silence was almost fitting. Nighttime is a very quiet time and silence can be very scary. There is a scene where Dracula is feeding on woman in bed and not one sound to be heard. It gave me the creeps!
I am definitely going to add this one to my collection. It is such an important piece in the evolution of the vampire. Now if only I could find a vampire with a long black cape to take me into his arms…
VVVV (4 fangs for Dracula)
Posted on April 1st, 2010 at 7:32 pm
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