1931's Dracula -- True cinematic masterpiece or overrated wasted opportunity?

[chickenluver]

Since we're posting library picks I guess I'll rep mine

Here's where I do a lot of my reading

 

[Guestx]

Since we're posting library picks I guess I'll rep mine

Here's where I do a lot of my reading

That looks bad ass! Where are you?

 

[JSN]

I live in a trendy little neighborhood right outside of downtown. So it's not the burbs, but it is residential. We have a little neighborhood library and I have no problems there. That's actually the one I go to when I want to guarantee peace and quiet. It's not very busy to start with and the few people who are there know how to shut the fuck up.

hmm almost sounds like an actual library.

 

[chickenluver]

That looks bad ass! Where are you?

That's the Central Library in downtown Seattle. The one that inspired the photographer in that link of yours actually.

 

[Guestx]

That's the Central Library in downtown Seattle. The one that inspired the photographer in that link of yours actually.

No shit. Well it looks cool. I have . . . I wouldn't quite call it an obsession . . . but certainly a fascination with libraries.

You are a regular patron, it seems?

 

[JSN]

The Lewis Library at PRinceton has an interesting, very expensive stainless steel roof. I don't know if I actually like it though. The brick is hideous and so is the interior. It looks like they ran out of money.

 

[chickenluver]

You are a regular patron, it seems?

Yeah, it's on the way to school/work so I stop by most days on the way home to do some reading and drop off/pick up books, CDs, DVDs etc.

 

[Guestx]

Yeah, it's on the way to school/work so I stop by most days on the way home to do some reading and drop off/pick up books, CDs, DVDs etc.

What did you think of that article? And if I may ask, what are your thoughts on the role of the library today? And furthermore, what is its future?

 

[prod2821]

from Dracula to Library, didn't see that coming

those are some fancy library's by the way, and I mean that in a good way

 

[Throwin Bombs]

Bela Lugosi is mesmerizing as Dracula and is still the standard by which the character is judged. Dwight Frye and Edward Van Sloan also turn in great performances but the rest of the characters are less interesting.

The movie does not graphically depict much in the vampire lore and has a noticeable lack of sound in some parts due to the recent advent of sound in movies. The movie does have a great dream like quality but is slow at parts especially the middle. There are more than a few great scenes that elevate the movie. I think it is no doubt a classic and I am a huge fan of all the universal horror movies. Dracula is not my favorite I'm the series but I love all of them.

I have seen the Spanish version also multiple times, I like the Lugosi version much better but the Spanish one does have some interesting additions and camera angles. But there is no replacing Lugosi's performance

 

[JSN]

*ahem*

 

[chickenluver]

If memory serves, wasn't Nevsky the first time someone edited their film to the rhythm of the music, cutting at certain beats and such? Which is how editing is mostly done today.

I believe so

I wouldn't go that far.

Oh but I would

Just from the same time period you have King Kong which I find to be scored fantastically.

Max Steiner was great, but he was no Prokofiev. Besides it's mostly the editing of audio and visual together that I found so impressive. That's what I think Nevsky did better than anything else I've seen.

 

[Guestx]

Yeah, it's on the way to school/work so I stop by most days on the way home to do some reading and drop off/pick up books, CDs, DVDs etc.

Hmm. I think I'm with you in that's it's interesting but I'm not sure I like it.

 

[Guestx]

from Dracula to Library, didn't see that coming

LOL. Yes, it was an unexpected turn of events.

Hijacked! This thread is now about libraries.

 

[Bullitt68]

I've never loved Dracula, but for Lugosi's screen presence alone (not to mention the visuals), it's totally worth it. To be honest, I'm not really a fan of any of the Universal monster movies. I prefer literally everything else that Lugosi and Karloff did in the 1930s and 1940s like Murders in the Rue Morgue, White Zombie, The Old Dark House, The Black Cat, The Raven, The Invisible Ray, The Walking Dead (not the TV show ), Black Friday, Before I Hang, etc.

Also, for an unheralded early Dracula film, check out House of Dracula starring the criminally underrated John Carradine (also great in another unsung horror film from the 1940s, Bluebeard).

Vampyr is a film best viewed in the late, late hour of the night, when the senses are dulled and everything is still.

First silent movie I ever watched. I was like 12, was visiting family in California, it was around midnight, me and the family had just watched Terminator 2 and everybody turned in for the night, and I went into my room and turned on the TV because I still had more movie watching in me and I stumbled onto Turner Classic Movies and they were showing it as part of their "Silent Sunday Nights" broadcast. I was as mesmerized as I was creeped out.

In the years since, I've watched Dreyer's other stuff, and while it's not bad, his early shit (Leaves from Satan's Book, The Passion of Joan of Arc, and Vampyr) is where it's at.

 

[sleepwalk]

I understand that we've spent some time discussing library architecture and design but has the thread really discussed vampire movies for this long (including Nosferatu) without any mention of...

 

[europe1]

Now THAT'S a premise.

Murnau hires an actual vampire to play the part and convinces the rest of the crew that he's just some crazy Russian method actor.

Just saying it like that, it could have been an excellent comedy as well.

Overlooked movie for sure.

 

[Guestx]

I understand that we've spent some time discussing library architecture and design but has the thread really discussed vampire movies for this long (including Nosferatu) without any mention of...

I remember going to see this in theater. I haven't seen it since.

Interesting film for sure and definitely original, but I didn't love it.

 

[europe1]

Also, for an unheralded early Dracula film, check out House of Dracula starring the criminally underrated John Carradine (

While Carradine is, indeed, part of some thespian pantheon in the skies, he REALLY did not look or fit the part for Dracula. And his two Dracula appearances are even more squandered due to how poorly the character is handled. In House of Frankenstein he's basically reduced to some random Doctor's manservant and House of Dracula is just a betrayal of the character, where he wants to be cured of his vampirism. That worked in Daughter of Dracula. Doesn't work for Dracula.

And Dracadine's death is so thoroughly anti-climatic in the second movie. Lamest death of a Vampire Lord I can think of. He's unceremoniously killed off so that that other guy can take the center stage.

EDIT: And for the record, House of Frankenstein >>> House of Dracula.

 

[Bullitt68]

While Carradine is, indeed, part of some thespian pantheon in the skies, he REALLY did not look or fit the part for Dracula. And his two Dracula appearances are even more squandered due to how poorly the character is handled.

I come in with Carradine and House of Dracula and this is your response?

That scene with Carradine at the piano framed through the candles as he tries to "inspire" Martha O'Driscoll is easily worth the price of admission. The person-to-bat/bat-to-person effects are also pretty damn good for 1945. Once it shifts from Dracula to Frankenstein/Wolf Man, I tune out, but the Carradine stuff is great.

There's no way you can talk shit about Bluebeard, though. Have you seen Carradine in that one? If not, there are some copies of it on Youtube if you can't find it anywhere else, although the foggy Victorian visuals will be more potent if you can get your hands on a higher quality copy.

Also, now that I'm thinking about some of these more out-of-the-way titles, have you ever seen Lured? If not, that one's on Youtube, too, and it's a surprisingly high quality version. Lucille Ball and George Sanders star but Boris Karloff steals the show with a phenomenal cameo that creepily foreshadows Rupert Pupkin of all people