++
Dated, somewhat stagy horror classic, based on Bram Stoker's novel by way of the 1924 play by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston. The revised story (written by Garrett Fort) asks a great deal of readers of the book, particularly in that here it is Renfield, not Harker, who visits Castle Dracula. Harker is still engaged to Mina, but Mina has somehow become the daughter of Dr. Seward. At only 85 minutes, what could we expect? Not this. Not a condensation when what was really required was a distillation. The story lies with Harker and Mina, but that story is too busy fighting for screen time to establish any meaningful ties with the audience. The long opening at Dracula's castle -- now wasted on an ancillary character -- unbalances the entire film. With Renfield's continued antics and the filmmakers' refusal to jettison Lucy, bless her heart, Harker is reduced to a blind fool and Mina to mooning over how it feels to become a vampire (it feels pretty good, evidently.) It all runs so quickly that this feels like the Cliff's Notes version of a badly mistranslated copy of the book. On the plus side, Helen Chandler, as Mina, is quite good and director Browning manages a few good shots along the way, particularly those involving long, wide staircases as are found in Dracula's castle and his London home of Carfax Abbey. With Dwight Frye as Renfield, Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing and, of course, Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula. Followed by a sequel, Dracula's Daughter, in 1936.
Dated, somewhat stagy horror classic, based on Bram Stoker's novel by way of the 1924 play by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston. The revised story (written by Garrett Fort) asks a great deal of readers of the book, particularly in that here it is Renfield, not Harker, who visits Castle Dracula. Harker is still engaged to Mina, but Mina has somehow become the daughter of Dr. Seward. At only 85 minutes, what could we expect? Not this. Not a condensation when what was really required was a distillation. The story lies with Harker and Mina, but that story is too busy fighting for screen time to establish any meaningful ties with the audience. The long opening at Dracula's castle -- now wasted on an ancillary character -- unbalances the entire film. With Renfield's continued antics and the filmmakers' refusal to jettison Lucy, bless her heart, Harker is reduced to a blind fool and Mina to mooning over how it feels to become a vampire (it feels pretty good, evidently.) It all runs so quickly that this feels like the Cliff's Notes version of a badly mistranslated copy of the book. On the plus side, Helen Chandler, as Mina, is quite good and director Browning manages a few good shots along the way, particularly those involving long, wide staircases as are found in Dracula's castle and his London home of Carfax Abbey. With Dwight Frye as Renfield, Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing and, of course, Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula. Followed by a sequel, Dracula's Daughter, in 1936.