original Dracula film
Apr. 15th, 2012 08:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amelia_petkovaLast night I saw the original Dracula movie, starring Bela Lugosi for the first time. Some thoughts:
The atmosphere in this film was great, although I thought some of the pacing stunk. After Renfield arrives at Dracula's castle the brides turn up almost immediately, Dracula leans over Renfield (but not seen biting him; according to imdb trivia, the studio wasn't allowed to film an attack because of perceived gay subtext), in the next scene, crazy!Renfield and Dracula have already boarded the boat for England. Also, I think Dracula attacking Lucy was a "blink and you miss it" scene because I have no memory of it whatsoever.
Interesting detail: wolfsbane is constantly used as vampire repellent and garlic is never mentioned.
The actors who did the best job were Bela Lugosi and the actor who played Renfield. Lugosi exudes atmosphere and Renfield absolutely nails the insane facial expressions. I have to say that the main characters are stupid: Renfield escapes from the asylum on a regular basis and turns up at the heroes' mansion several times, just wandering around while they make no attempt to stop him! Also, in one scene a maid who sees Renfield's leer faints dead away (very funny when you see it) and he starts crawling towards her, implying to the audience that he wants to attack her. Just as he gets close, the scene changes to the other characters. We never find out what happened to the maid!
When Van Helsing and Jonathan follow Mina and Dracula to the crypt in Carfax Abbey, the undead are snoozing in their coffins. Van Helsing grabs a rail to use as a stake and a stone to pound it with. The camera cuts to Jonathan walking towards Mina, who's woken up. Offscreen, we hear a moan/gasp. Van Helsing's killed Dracula! WAIT, THAT'S IT? THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO DRACULA'S DEATH IN THIS MOVIE? Very disappointed.
On a lighter note, I was surprised to hear one of the themes from "Swan Lake" used during the opening credits. Since I now automatically associate Tchaikovsky with Princess Tutu, I kind of want vampires in Princess Tutu.
The atmosphere in this film was great, although I thought some of the pacing stunk. After Renfield arrives at Dracula's castle the brides turn up almost immediately, Dracula leans over Renfield (but not seen biting him; according to imdb trivia, the studio wasn't allowed to film an attack because of perceived gay subtext), in the next scene, crazy!Renfield and Dracula have already boarded the boat for England. Also, I think Dracula attacking Lucy was a "blink and you miss it" scene because I have no memory of it whatsoever.
Interesting detail: wolfsbane is constantly used as vampire repellent and garlic is never mentioned.
The actors who did the best job were Bela Lugosi and the actor who played Renfield. Lugosi exudes atmosphere and Renfield absolutely nails the insane facial expressions. I have to say that the main characters are stupid: Renfield escapes from the asylum on a regular basis and turns up at the heroes' mansion several times, just wandering around while they make no attempt to stop him! Also, in one scene a maid who sees Renfield's leer faints dead away (very funny when you see it) and he starts crawling towards her, implying to the audience that he wants to attack her. Just as he gets close, the scene changes to the other characters. We never find out what happened to the maid!
When Van Helsing and Jonathan follow Mina and Dracula to the crypt in Carfax Abbey, the undead are snoozing in their coffins. Van Helsing grabs a rail to use as a stake and a stone to pound it with. The camera cuts to Jonathan walking towards Mina, who's woken up. Offscreen, we hear a moan/gasp. Van Helsing's killed Dracula! WAIT, THAT'S IT? THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO DRACULA'S DEATH IN THIS MOVIE? Very disappointed.
On a lighter note, I was surprised to hear one of the themes from "Swan Lake" used during the opening credits. Since I now automatically associate Tchaikovsky with Princess Tutu, I kind of want vampires in Princess Tutu.
