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.
Dracula (1931)
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Reviews Counted: 42
Fresh: 40
Rotten:2
Average Rating: 8/10
Consensus: Bela Lugosi's timeless portrayal of Dracula in this creepy and atmospheric 1931 film has set the standard for major vampiric roles since.
Runtime: 75 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: This is the first screen version of Bram Stoker's famous tale based on the smash hit stage production. Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) arrives in London and immediately works to enrapture and transform... This is the first screen version of Bram Stoker's famous tale based on the smash hit stage production. Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) arrives in London and immediately works to enrapture and transform into vampires young Lucy Weston (Frances Dade) and her friend Mina Seward (Helen Chandler). After he succeeds in turning Lucy, and Mina's health suddenly deteriorates, Mina's father (Herbert Bunston), calls in a specialist, Professor Abraham Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan). Van Helsing quickly recognizes Dracula's vampirism, and sets about saving Mina (and in the process, becomes Dracula's archenemy). The film, arguably the most influential of the legend's film versions, launched Lugosi's career in horror movies and forever invited vampires across Hollywood's threshold. [More]
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Herbert Bunston, Frances Dade
Director: Tod Browning
Director: Tod Browning
Story: Bram Stoker
Screenwriter: Garrett Fort
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Reviews for Dracula
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.
A sublimated ghost story related with all surface seriousness and above all with a remarkably effective background of creepy atmosphere.
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.
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.
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.
Bela Lugosi's Dracula is the definitive characterization of history’s most famous vampire. Browning’s direction is flawless. I could watch this movie a 1000 times and still want to see it again.
The evidence of [Glass'] considerable genius being the decisions to (a) use only a string quartet (b) engage the services of Kronos Quartet ...
After Lugosi, all vampire performances are doomed to be compared against him as either homage or departure.
Dracula takes place within the confines of the parlors and drawing rooms of London society, which bears a striking resemblance to Americana circa 1931.
Latest News for Dracula
May 16, 2007:
Ernest Dickerson to Direct "Dracula" Sequel
An "officially sanctioned" sequel to Bram Stoker's "Dracula" is about to hit the bookshelves ... and the movie screens. More...
July 11, 2006:
Universal Plans "Dracula" Origin Story
Newcomer screenwriters Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless have sold a Dracula-oriented screenplay to Universal, but this one seems to promise something new: The bloodsucker's full... More...
May 03, 2006:
A Sequel to the Original "Dracula"?
Filmmaker Jan de Bont plans to produce the first "officially sanctioned" sequel to Bram Stoker's original "Dracula" story, one that will catch up with all of... More...
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