(Review originally written at 3 December 2003)
Along with "Alien" this is the most stylish horror movie I have ever seen.
This version of Dracula is different from others since this movie is based on a play. There are still some surprises and interesting elements even if you have seen some of the other many Dracula movies that has been made and in many ways this movie is better then all the other Dracula movies. One of the reasons why is the cast. Bela Lugosi with his crazy accent puts quite some passion in his role and Dwight Frye is simply amazing as Renfield. But the rest of the cast is also more than excellent. The acting is different from other movies made at the time, the acting can be described as timeless and even after more than 70 years it is still not outdated.
But there are of course many other things that are outdated. Such as especially the special effects of course.
An interesting element in this movie was the gentlemen battle between Dracula and Van Helsing. There was really some chemistry in the scene's between those two and there was a real tension without them both fighting eachother.
There was a really nice moody atmosphere that was very stylish. The great sets and locations contributed to this. But also the cinematography was wonderful and I especially like the way they filmed the character of count Dracula it was done really well!
But of course an old movie like this is far from flawless. At times there are some serious pacing problems and it was a bit weird to see Renfield walk around freely in the house most of the time and there are dozens of more tiny things like this that makes the movie far from perfect. Still there are lot of things that compensate this and make this movie a real horror classic and a must see.
Still after many years of movie making the best Dracula movie ever made and the movie leaves no question about it that Bela Lugosi is and always will be the one and only Dracula as much as I love Christopher Lee as Dracula...
9/10
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