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Dracula (1931)

tomatometer

93

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.

100

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.

audience

77

liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 41,302

My Rating

Movie Info

"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

Unrated, 1 hr. 15 min.

Classics, Horror

Garrett Fort

Aug 28, 2001

Universal Pictures

Cast

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.

October 15, 2008 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A sublimated ghost story related with all surface seriousness and above all with a remarkably effective background of creepy atmosphere.

October 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

September 25, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
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Dracula deserves its status as a classic, although one might be tempted to append the word 'lesser' to that label.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: ReelViews | Comment
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Certainly it is Lugosi's performance, and the cinematography of Karl Freund, that make Tod Browning's film such an influential Hollywood picture.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Classic vampire movie is more creepy than violent.

November 4, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

Lugosi's seminal performance and the striking opening act are what distinguish Browning's version of the classic tale.

July 21, 2010 Full Review Source: Cinemania | Comment

A perfect example of the worst traits of Hollywood films in the early sound era.

October 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | Comments (8)
Antagony & Ecstasy

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.

May 8, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | Comment
ColeSmithey.com

A classic despite numerous flaws.

November 24, 2008 Full Review Source: ESplatter | Comment
ESplatter

All time horror classic starring Lugosi; still creepy as blazes.

March 22, 2008 Comment
Video-Reviewmaster.com

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.

September 25, 2007 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

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.

September 25, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

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.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Once you get into the rhythms of the film, you'll discover a masterpiece.

October 8, 2005 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

there is a reason why Bela ended up in Ed Wood movies

May 12, 2005 Comments (20)

The evidence of [Glass'] considerable genius being the decisions to (a) use only a string quartet (b) engage the services of Kronos Quartet ...

February 26, 2005 Full Review Source: JWR | Comment

It haunted no one as much as dear Bela...

January 7, 2005 Comment
Blunt Review
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Dracula

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
FilmFanatik
Tim Salmons

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
WrenchLT
Lee ?

Super Reviewer

    1. Count Dracula: Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make.
    – Submitted by Tyler C (10 months ago)
    1. Count Dracula: There are far worse things awaiting man than death.
    – Submitted by Prana Independent F (10 months ago)

Movies Like Dracula

Latest News for Dracula

February 8, 2011:
Warners Hires Jaume Collet-Sera for Dracula Project
Warner Bros. will bring Dracula back to the screen with "Harker," a "re-imagining" of the Bram...

August 19, 2010:
Sam Worthington Is Alex Proyas' Dracula
Sam Worthington is attached to star in Alex Proyas' "Dracula: Year Zero," scheduled to begin filming...

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Foreign Titles

  • Dracula (1931) (DE)
  • Dracula (1931) (UK)
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