ItĀ“s one of the best horror comedies ever.
But not all Zombies come with googly eyes howeverā¦
Is that the one where Zombie Michael Jackson gets electrocuted?
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Dracula (1931)
I finally watched the second film (chronologically) in my blu ray set.
I enjoyed this one, but not as much as Frankenstein. I think thatās down to the fact that Bram Stokerās novel is one of my favourite books, so it was always going to be hard to top in film format. The story is still there, but you lose all the feeling, intrigue and foreboding that the letters and journal entries convey in the text. Itās just not the same.
I also wasnāt that keen on Lugosiās portrayal ā I know itās dated now, but his Dracula is so campy and a bit over-charming. The supporting characters were a bit more believable ā especially Renfield who I thought was great (and more versatile than his Fritz in Frankenstein). Renfieldās carer, apparently channeling Dick van Dyke from Mary Poppins, was also hilarious ā ātheyāre all cryyyyyzy!ā
Favourite things:
- any time Lugosi swishes his cape
- the tottering bat
- the fact that a lot of whatās going on is left to the imagination (you never see a neck being bitten from what I remember)
- some of the lines are great, and delivered well: āthe strength of the vampire is that people will not believe in himā
7/10
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Yeah, I think that is also the reason why Lovecraft doesnĀ“t work well on the screen. It kinda has to feel like you are actually doing some research in old dusty documents yourself.
The original german silent Nosferatu works a lot better in that way, which might be a given for a silent movie.
He doesnĀ“t even have fangs or transform into anything (except the bat, which you donĀ“t see).
My favourite lines include:
- I never drinkā¦wine!
- To be deadā¦really deadā¦must be glorious!
Or Renfields super believable:
āDRACUALA??!!! I never even HEARD the name!ā 
IĀ“m interested now what you think of the Chrisopher Lee version (which is even further from the novel, Harker visits the castle knowing Dracula is a vampire and with the intent to kill him for once!).
I think my favourite may really be Nosferatu, although it eliminates many characters (even changes all names including DraculaĀ“s in the german version!) including Van Helsing, the mood and visuals are just perfect.
But I agree it was kind of this portrayal that started the whole emphasis of the vampire as a seducer that wasnĀ“t as strong in the novel and Christopher Lee never liked for once (he thought heĀ“s supposed to be a scary monster, and thatĀ“s how he played him).
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I actually thought that was intentional to replicate how he says it 
Yeah I agree re Nosferatu - the atmosphere is much better - but I feel like the book is somewhere in between the two and I still prefer it if weāre comparing all media. Iām curious about the Christopher Lee version but doubt Iāll see it in a hurry.
With any of these films itās so hard to see it as people would have at the time, because theyāre such definitive tropes now. I guess with Dracula some people would know the book already (and the earlier films and plays) but not anywhere near to the extent of today.
As an aside that was the least disturbing picture of a āVampire Koalaā that Google provided me with!
The availability of the Hammer Studios films could be better in germany. I might be assuming that they are easy to get in the UK, but IĀ“m not sure.
Would be interesting how the movie appeared to people who were familar with LugosiĀ“s stage performance of the character!
All those classic universal monster movies didnĀ“t reach germany until the 1970s btw because the time they originally came out wasā¦well letĀ“s say not the best time for american movies to come out over here.
If itās anything like my āzombie catā searchā¦ 
though that actually made me quite sad.
Thatās interesting, hadnāt thought of that. They mustāve seemed pretty dated by then.
Goddamnit! No, itĀ“s not as bad as that. I had never heard of that āBartā before, actually!
More like this:
I couldnĀ“t tell, but you be the judge when you see the Hammer movies. The Hammer movies reached germany BEFORE the universal ones so Christopher Lee might as well be the more iconic Dracula here.
The dubbing is pretty glaring though as the sound of the voices is much clearer than the rest of the sound.
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I cannot unsee that.
I feel like he is here too. Donāt know though - thatād be an interesting survey!
Have you read the news about the mummy cats they found in egypt?
Bela Lugosi might be the most parodied one, which obviously is because it lends itself to it more because of itĀ“s natural campiness.
I prefer Lee though because he still remains scary all those years later.
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Nope. Is it SFPoK?
I would say yes, since I havenĀ“t seen them unwrapped anywhere so far. I think they just showed them how they opened the tomb where they found the wrapped cat sized things inside.
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I donāt think that would bother me, unless theyāve been hurt. I mean they are dead, so probably, but not visibly!
My article linked above is safe in that respect, but I just found an article that holds a theory you really wouldnĀ“t like.
Yeah thatās what I was wondering. It is in the past though.
Yeah, itĀ“s not like the people who did that are roaming the streets of London right nowā¦
UNLESSā¦
One of them ended up as a mummy in the egyptian museum who just happens to get resurrected TONIGHT! 
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