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Old 02-22-2018, 06:40 PM
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ventricle


 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: USA, IL
Posts: 6,141
Dracula (1931)
9/10

A vampire from Transylvania threatens the lives of good folk in England.

I seem to remember once remarking that the film was a bit stagey as it's derived from the stage play. I take that all back. The shot direction is not stagey. It's certainly not the head-whipping shot direction of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), but there's plenty of effective depth, movement and change of angle. And the giant sets and mattes of Dracula's castle are as beautiful as they are threatening.

Bela Lugosi (Dracula) and Dwight Frye (Renfield) play two of the most odd, captivating and iconic characters in film history. The ongoing battle between Dracula and Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) is often riveting. Although Helen Chandler as Mina Seward often plays it plucky, David Manners as John Harker is overly lifeless.

Although there are very few scenes of particular suspense, and it's more foreboding than scary, each scene steadily progresses the plot.
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