Customer Reviews

Dracula - Classic Monster Collection- IMPORT - ALL REGIONS (1931)

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If you follow my reviews, you know that I feel the 1979 "Dracula" with Frank Langella as Dracula and Laurence Oliver as Abraham Van Helsing was the best. but it is probably not fair to compare the 1931 Lugosi version to one that would come 48 years later. As the Anglican Church felt the "King James" Bible was the best available in 1611, they felt the "English Revised" was the best available in 1885.

Moving on, Renfield goes to conduct some real estate business with Count Dracula; but he is surprised at the sympathetic fear he is getting from people in the area. (Nice suspense) Renfield then meets Dracula (Lugosi) who appears to be a decent host. But there is an early sign of horror when Dracula is especially interested when Renfield cuts his finger. Considering the limited resources back then, the scenery is well done. Once in England, we see that Renfield has become a servant of Dracula, and it doesn't take Dracula long to start killing people once he arrives in England. We are then introduced to Jack Seward and John Harker. (Harker is engaged to Seward's daughter Mina.) Mina's friend Lucy is killed which leads to more suspense. Granted, we as the audience know who is killing everyone, but there is some suspense as to when the characters will find out.

We then meet Van Helsing. Van Sloan portrays Van Helsing as an interesting character who has unusual knowledge that he tries to use only when people may be ready for it, or situations are dire enough to share his knowledge. (Van Sloan does not make Van Helsing the heavy drinker he was in the book.)

Harker is a real skeptic, but Seward is understandably more open because he is concerned over his daughter Mina's failing health. Interestingly, we see the good in Renfield is fighting to come out, but he is also afraid of what Dracula may do to him. (Nice suspense that allows us some sympathy for Renfield.) We then see that while Harker is a skeptic, he can be convinced with the right evidence. I don't want to ruin the movie for those of you who haven't seen it. But the climax is done reasonably well, and it leaves us with a slightly open ended conclusion.

The 1979 version with Frank Langella as Dracula, Sir Laurence Oliver as Abraham Van Helsing, and Donald Pleasence as Seward will always be my favorite. But I do feel that the 1931 Lugosi version was the best one available in 1931. It remains my 2nd favorite version, and a lot better than a lot of SO CALLED recent Draculas.