It has been 90 years since Dracula, the original 1931 film from Universal Pictures, was released, and over nine decades, it has yet to be matched in its style or legendary status.
“They leave their coffins at night, and they feed on the blood of the living,” the spooked small-town innkeeper utters chillingly to David Manners’ Jonathan Harker. Soon after, long, pale fingers emerge from caskets as opossums and armadillos look on. Finally, a stoic and dapper Bela Lugosi gazes into the camera, cementing his legacy as the king of vampires.
One of my favorite things about going back and watching Dracula is seeing and appreciating the absolute genius of the set work. The film crew was tasked with making a full-on castle from front to back that would be used in tons of Universal films in the years to come.
Painted glass was used as background scenery in travel shots, and because of the film’s black-and-white nature, it blended seamlessly. Spider webs were created by shooting rubber cement across the set with a rotary gun. Every single scene is a work of art from the set crew. It’s incredible.
Even after 90 years, Bela Lugosi is still the quintessential Dracula. His haunting stare has pierced through every single performance that has tried to replicate the character over the years. Not that many of those weren’t good, but all of the pieces came together perfectly for Lugosi. From his natural Romanian accent to his dedication to his craft. He didn’t blink a single time throughout the film, amplifying the spookiness of his gaze.
There’s such a contrast between his performance and everyone else’s in the film, with Lugosi flawlessly conveying what it’s like to have a life after death. The entire cast was incredibly invested in their roles, which is why Dwight Frye’s Renfield and Edward Van Sloan’s Van Helsing remain so memorable after almost a century.
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Another aspect of Browning’s genius as a filmmaker is the play-like flow from scene to scene in Dracula. Each intense moment has a definitive beginning and end. Still, he leaves out just enough to keep the audience yearning for more while weaving dialogue scenes between them to continue storytelling.
He keeps us invested by showing a little more of Dracula’s viciousness each time, never fully committing to the brutality we know lies beneath. It’s no wonder this story is performed in actors’ theaters across the nation every year.
I could gush for pages about how much I love Dracula, as it’s one of my top three classic monster movies. I’ll leave you with the suggestion to watch this film, especially if you’ve never seen it. Sure, fake bats and silly spiders make it feel dated. Still, the performances, direction, and set work are true spectacles of this film that every horror lover should experience for themselves.
“Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make!”
 released from Universal Pictures, and the film has yet to be matched in its style and legend.){kind=link}