"To die, to be really dead, that must be glorious!"
"I am...Dracula."
"I bid you...welcome."
"Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make!"
"I never drink...wine." etc.
Dracula is a
Universal horror film from 1931, which made
Bela Lugosi famous as
The Classical Movie Vampire. His portrayal of Dracula is the one most people think of when they hear the characters name (or even just the word "vampire"), even those that have never seen the movie.
Being bored with Transylvania, Count Dracula decides to move into London for some fresh blood. After making the proper arrangements with Renfield, Dracula makes him his thrall and travels to England by the sea, killing the crew of his ship in the process. When he finally arrives at London, he turns the Carfax Abbey (the property he bought with the help of Renfield) into his base of operations. He then takes special interest in Mina Harker, who lives on the sanitarium premises owned by her father Dr. Seward at the next door. As victims turn up and Mina Harker starts to act weirdly, Professor Van Helsing comes to help...
The film was originally planned to be a high-budget adaptation of
Bram Stoker's original novel, but due to
The Great Depression, the film was instead adapted from the popular stage play at the time by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston. However, the producers did manage to collect enough money to film some of the early Transylvania scenes.
A Spanish-language version was shot at night on the same sets; it's often claimed it's actually the better film, lacking only an actor of Lugosi's magnetism playing the Count.
In 1936, it was followed by a direct sequel entitled
Dracula's Daughter.
For the 1958
Hammer Horror adaptation go to
Horror of Dracula.
Count Dracula is also one of the 8 major Universal Monsters.
This film contains the examples of:
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Apart from making the disgusting Dracula from the book into a sex symbol, the 60-years old Renfield is played by the 31-years old, stunningly handsome Dwight Frye.
- Adaptational Badass: Inverted with Harker. His role in the film is limited to Mina's Love Interest and the skeptic to Van Helsing's advice.
- All In The Eyes: The classic example.
- Answer Cut: Used after Mina is bitten by Dracula for the first time.
Harker: What could have caused those marks, Professor?
Maid: [Under Dracula's influence and announcing the arrival of their guest] Count Dracula.
- Anti-Climax: In the end, a stake is simply put through Dracula's heart when he sleeps in his coffin. Then Jonathan and Mina walk up the stairs to greet the morning sun.
- The film originally ended with Van Helsing talking directly to the film's audience but it was cut for the original re-release because the contents of the speech violated the Hays Code. The footage has never been recovered, but a similar speech is in the original Broadway stage play the film was partially based on.
- Also, Dracula's dying moans, as well as Renfield's screaming while Dracula breaks his neck were removed by censors, and not heard for decades until the film's DVD release.
- Bilingual Bonus: The peasants at early parts of the film speak authentic Hungarian, including praying The Lord's Prayer. (and it ends up an unintentional Actor Allusion to Bela Lugosi's origins)
- Blood Lust: Dracula's bloodlust is demonstrated in a scene where Renfield accidentally cuts his finger, causing Dracula to stare hungrily at the blood.
- Cardboard Prison: Dr. Seward's asylum can hardly keep Renfield in. He manages to get out of his room to wander around the premises even without his master's help.
- Charm Person: Dracula's hypnotic powers are between this and Hypnotic Eyes.
- Chewing the Scenery:
Renfield: Rats. Rats. Rats! Thousands! Millions of them!
- Cobweb Jungle: Renfield has to go through one in the Castle Dracula.
- Cobweb Of Disuse: Played with; much of the Count's castle is swathed in cobwebs that make it appear totally deserted. At least, they seem to imply nobody's been using it ... until a sneaky camera cut makes it appear that the vampire has walked straight through a large orb web without disturbing it.
- Creepy Basement: Castle Dracula and Carfax Abbey both have this.
- Fate Worse Than Death: Said in the film.
Dracula: There are far worse things awaiting man than death.
- Forced Perspective: The shot of a bug crawling out of a miniature coffin.
- Glamour Failure: Van Helsing notices Dracula's vampirism with a help of a mirror.
- Haunted Castle: Castle Dracula.
- High-Class Glass: Dracula has a monocle. Unfortunately, he never wears it.
- Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: The film starts off on Walpurgis Night.
- Large Ham: Dracula. Renfield also manages to steal every scene he's in after he is made Dracula's servant.
- Man of Wealth and Taste: He's the page image!
- Melodrama: Given it retains many elements of a Silent Movie despite being a talkie, it ends up on this.
- Melodramatic Pause: Dracula's speech patterns are filled with these.
- Misplaced Wildlife: Armadillos in Transylvania. Yeah, we know. Also, if you look closely, you'll notice the "rats" in Dracula's crypt were being played by opossums, which are also native to the Americas. Then again, so are vampire bats and nobody seems to complain about that...
- Only Sane Man: What Martin believes himself to be, said in a humorous exchange.
Maid: "He's crazy!"
Martin: "They're all crazy. They're all crazy except you and me. Sometimes I have my doubts about you."
Maid: "Yes."
Martin slowly backs away
- Our Vampires Are Different: Dracula is a largely emotionless bloodthirsty abomination that passes itself off as human, and there are plenty of cracks in that masquerade that make him seem more than merely eccentric to ordinary people; for example, Castle Dracula looks as though it's been abandoned for centuries, with Renfield surprised that anyone actually lives there; Carfax Abbey is in a similar state of disrepair, and he bluntly informs his bewildered neighbours that he has no intention of fixing it up. He also doesn't seem to like or be able to keep up his facade of normalcy for long periods of time, and he will leave, enslave, or kill you within minutes of any meeting. In addition, his idiosyncratic speech patterns make it seem like he hasn't used his mouth for speaking in a long, long time. He's less like a cursed man than some kind of malevolent, primitive, pre-programmed robot that doesn't fully understand how it should interact with human beings. Quite creepy indeed.
- The Power of Blood: As Dracula puts it:
"The spider spinning his web for the unwary fly... The blood is the life, Mr. Renfield. "
- The Renfield: But of course.
- Say My Name: "Mina! Mina! Mina! Mina!"
- "Oh Jo-o-o-ohn! Jo-o-o-ohn!"
- Scream Discretion Shot
- Setting Update: The original novel took place circa 1897; the movie seems to be set in the time period of its making, at least judging by the costuming, and the fact that England has telephones and motor vehicles. As pointed out in the DVD commentary, the first hint of this is in the scene where Dracula arrives in London.
- Tragic Monster: Dracula is less sympathetic than the Monster or Larry Talbot, but it's still rather evident that undeath is not a pleasant state.
To die... To be really dead... That must be glorious.
- Undeath Always Ends
- Vampire Vords: Ur Example
- Vampires Are Rich
- Vampires Are Sex Gods
- Voluntary Shape Shifting
- What Happened to the Mouse?: What happened to Lucy and her victims?
- You Have Failed Me: Dracula kills Renfield when he unwittingly leads Van Helsing and Jonathan to him.
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