MOVIE #27
Dracula (1931)
I feel like my selections have been skewing fairly modern this season, so I decided to give shine to some classics, and you can't get much more classic than this. The granddaddy of the Universal monsters, Tod Browning's
Dracula was the first of many iconic horror films the studio would use to usher in the era of sound movies. It's one of the most instantly recognizable films ever made, and Bela Lugosi's chilling turn as the titular count would become the standard all other Draculas are held up to.
And I... hadn't actually sat down and watched it until yesterday.
In my defense, it's easy to feel like you've already seen this movie, with how often it has been imitated in popular culture, but still, it's sort of one of those rights of passage that any horror fan should experience for themselves, and (spoiler alert) this definitely won't be the last classic Universal movie I'll watch this year. As for the actual review, I enjoyed it, but I understand why others wouldn't. There's some undoubtedly great elements to it, such as the aforementioned Lugosi, but Dwight Frye is also great in the role of Renfield, and it's got that classic Universal feel seeping out of every corner. The film was photographed by the same cinematographer behind Fritz Lang's
Metropolis, Karl Freund, and his work here is astonishing.
However, given it's such an early example of a sound movie to begin with, you have to be willing to accept that there's going to be some quirks that come with age. One of the most striking things about the film is how eerily quiet it is. Had it been made only a few years earlier, there might have been a score to fill some of the dead air, but in a way, that might not have been quite as effective. I think the antiquated style adds a layer of creepiness, and the fact that it isn't a loud, flashy film can be pretty unnerving itself. Personally, I think the film's best moments come from the opening stretch where Renfield is visiting Dracula's castle, but the entire thing is definitely worth watching at least once.
Rating:
"There are far worse things awaiting man than death." For my 200th logged film, I figured I would mark the occasion by finally sitting down and checking off a major blind spot in my watch history. As a huge fan of horror, I feel like there's really no excuse for me to have gone so long without...
boxd.it
. It's too bad Rodriguez didn't do more Horror as I really love his style and the way he shot this movie elevated it to another level from most other movies coming out around the same time imo.. It's pretty much my Breakfast Club as if you look at the main characters you could easily pin point the similarities even to how they start the movie and finish it. My only real issue with it is the ending which brought the overall movie down just a lillll bit for me but it's still rock solid!
However, I have two September watches I still need to post, the first of which being...
