Dracula (1931)
Bela Lugosi set the precedent for future portrayals of Transylvania's favourite blood-sucking vampire. He's creepy, he's charming, he's hypnotic, and he's very other-worldly. He learned his script phonetically, and in a way this helps because, although the unique speech patterns mean delivery of them is unnatural, it sounds so natural for a Dracula figure. Lines like "I am Dracula, I bid you welcome," and "I never drink...wine" can only be spoken in the way that Lugosi spoke them in his version of Dracula.
Bram Stoker's novel was published in 1897, but this adaptation is based on a stage play rather than the original story. So, there are some plot changes, but it's still most definitely Dracula.
It's a familiar plot - Renfield goes off to Dracula's castle in Transylvania to finalise a property sale, he falls under a hypnotic spell and becomes Dracula's loyal servant. Dracula and Renfield (who now has an appetite for insects) travel to England. Dracula turns Lucy Weston into a vampire, and sets his sights on Mina Seward, daughter of Dr. Seward. As Mina's health deteriorates mysteriously, Dr. Seward enlists the help of Professor Van Helsing, who deduces that Dracula is a vampire. It's down to Van Helsing and his allies to put an end to Dracula's wrongdoings and save Mina. Spooky.
Of course, this version is an all-time classic. It gets the atmosphere just right, and features some stunning sets. However, it's not without its problems. And it's not just the Transylvanian armadillos that wander the castle. This film is said to have caused audience members to faint during screenings back in 1931, but it's possible that Universal made this up to make it seem more terrifying than it actually was. Dracula is menacing, and the way he approaches his victims is disturbing, yet we never see him actually attack. It either happens out of view, or the scene cuts to the one afterwards. There are no special effects to speak of - no transformations from bat to Count, or vice versa. He changes form off camera, and in bat form, he is clearly just some sort of rubber puppet on strings. There's some mist though. Which is great news if you like your horror films to contain mist.
Something that probably helps the film is the lack of a score. There's an awful lot of silence. An early scene, where Renfield is drugged, collapses in a thud, and Dracula's brides approach but get cast away, is silent but for the sound of movement and footsteps. It's very eerie in a way, and probably more effective than if it did have a soundtrack. This wasn't intentional. The producers simply didn't want to fork out on the costs of adding a score.
But, when people aren't shuffling around the set in silence, they talk. And talk and talk and talk. Parts of the film get bogged down with conversation, especially during discussions between Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, and John Harker. In these moments, the stage play origins of this version become very apparent, and some of the scenes are overly straight-laced, notably some of the interactions between Mina and John Harker. It makes the film feel a lot slower than it needs to be, although Dracula's presence saves many of the scenes. What is disappointing is the ending. It just felt unsatisfying.
This movie features the iconic version of Dracula that remains to this day, and is definitely an enjoyable watch, but might not be the horror-fest that you'd expect for such a classic.