Average Rating: 7.8/10
Reviews Counted: 42
Fresh: 39 | Rotten: 3
Bela Lugosi's timeless portrayal of Dracula in this creepy and atmospheric 1931 film has set the standard for major vampiric roles since.
Average Rating: 7.7/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 0
Bela Lugosi's timeless portrayal of Dracula in this creepy and atmospheric 1931 film has set the standard for major vampiric roles since.
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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 41,302
"I am....Drac-u-la. I bid you velcome." Thus does Bela Lugosi declare his presence in the 1931 screen version of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Director Tod Browning invests most of his mood and atmosphere in the first two reels, which were based on the original Stoker novel; the rest of the film is a more stagebound translation of the popular stage play by John Balderston and Hamilton Deane. Even so, the electric tension between the elegant Dracula and the vampire hunter Professor Van Helsing (Edward
Jan 1, 1931 Wide
Aug 28, 2001
Universal Pictures
All Critics (42) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (45) | Rotten (3) | DVD (26)
An exciting melodrama, not as good as it ought to be but a cut above the ordinary trapdoor-and-winding-sheet type of mystery film.
Top CriticA sublimated ghost story related with all surface seriousness and above all with a remarkably effective background of creepy atmosphere.
The opening scenes, set in Dracula's castle, are magnificent -- grave, stately, and severe. But the film becomes unbearably static once the action moves to England.
With Mr. Browning's imaginative direction and Mr. Lugosi's makeup and weird gestures, this picture succeeds to some extent in its grand guignol intentions.
Dracula deserves its status as a classic, although one might be tempted to append the word 'lesser' to that label.
Certainly it is Lugosi's performance, and the cinematography of Karl Freund, that make Tod Browning's film such an influential Hollywood picture.
Classic vampire movie is more creepy than violent.
Lugosi's seminal performance and the striking opening act are what distinguish Browning's version of the classic tale.
A perfect example of the worst traits of Hollywood films in the early sound era.
Stark, cold, and deeply sensual, "Dracula's" atmosphere and intention is rooted in a fear of unknown lust and desire from which there can be no escape. To view "Dracula" is to be bitten by the vampire's desperate attack.
A classic despite numerous flaws.
All time horror classic starring Lugosi; still creepy as blazes.
Bela Lugosi gives the performance of his life in a role that might have been written just for him. Highly atmospheric throughout, this remains a milestone in horror movie history.
The atmospheric opening is the best part -- moody and full of sinister potential. After that, it's stilted drawing-room talk, variably acted, except for the cultish over-the-top dementia of Dwight Frye.
Not by any means the masterpiece of fond memory or reputation, although the first twenty minutes are astonishingly fluid and brilliantly shot by Karl Freund.
Once you get into the rhythms of the film, you'll discover a masterpiece.
there is a reason why Bela ended up in Ed Wood movies
The evidence of [Glass'] considerable genius being the decisions to (a) use only a string quartet (b) engage the services of Kronos Quartet ...
It haunted no one as much as dear Bela...
As with Boris Karloff's role in Frankenstein, Dracula forever-defined Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula - something that brought him great fame and fortune yet haunted him through all of his career. Tod Browning's 1931 adaptation of the stage play was a big hit in the U.S., despite there being a superior version shot
April 26, 2007
Super Reviewer
You may chuckle at the sight of the fake looking bats and the over-theactrical acting, you may even nod off due to the slow-pacing, but this film is an undeniable classic and highly influencial on the horror genre. It may have lost its scare appeal but it does retain its eerie gothic atmosphere.
May 15, 2011
Super Reviewer
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