Dracula (1931)

Directed by Tod Browning. Starring Béla Lugosi, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Herbert Bunston, Frances Dade.

First sound film adaptation of the classic bloodsucker story is closer to the 1924 stage play than Bram Stoker’s source novel; too dated and creaky to ever be truly chilling, but still fun. Lugosi’s hardly the most horrifying Count on record, but he is the most iconic; don’t forget about Frye’s batty Renfield and Van Sloan’s undeterrable Van Helsing, though. Rich Gothic atmosphere aplenty, with memorable sets strikingly photographed by Karl Freund, who also did some uncredited work as director. Its abrupt anticlimax, storytelling gaps, and stagy effects (those bats are adorably goofy) spoil some measure of the spell it casts, but this is still a must-see for any fan of Old Hollywood horror. Filmed concurrently with a separate Spanish-language version of the story; the two productions even shared some of the same sets!

76/100