Dracula (1931)

After spending most of my night last night working on my video for the Poe Arts Festival Poetry contest, I decided to jump back into the classics today. My next selection from Shudder was the one that started it all, Dracula from 1931.

Plot/ The ancient vampire Count Dracula arrives in England and begins to prey upon the virtuous young Mina.

For me, this was one of my first horror films that I watched back in my younger days and one that still resonates with me today. While I do love the classic silent unauthorized adaptation Nosferatu, there is something with the adaptation that takes the Bran Stoker story to an all-new level especially when you remember that the movie was made in 1931. Whether it was the amazing performance by Bela Lugosi or the technical vision and work of Tod Browning, this film creates one of the most iconic and memorable films of the history of cinema. Of course, there are other factors that help make this one great. All of the performances are solid and work within the storyline; the setting and cinematography create something dark and atmospheric, and as the first in the run of Universal Monsters the movie allows the rest of the universe grow by laying a tremendous foundation everything that would follow. Yes, the ending is a bit mellow and there are some head-scratching moments, but those do not really hold the movie back in any way. In the end, this movie remains a must see (along with Nosferatu) for fans of the vampire genre and one that stands tall in horror history. If you have not seen it, you are missing out.

Frankenstein (1931)

Over the weekend my sleep schedule got extremely screwed up. Luckily, I was able to find some great things to help pass the hours of insomnia. Nothing was greater though than finding the original Universal Studios classic Frankenstein on TCM. While I have seen this many times, it had been a while.

Plot/ Henry Frankenstein is a doctor who is trying to discover a way to make the dead walk. He succeeds and creates a monster that has to deal with living again.

It is amazing to sit back and watch what James Whale created with this very short but ultimate horror classic. Here we sit some 80 years later, and its influence is still felt in many flicks. Boris Karloff is wonderful, and definitely brings the monster to life in a way that has never been replicated. The sets, scripting and acting are perfect within the atmospheric world created in this Universal Studios entry into literary horror. Others may try to duplicate this flick and remake it with technology and modern twists, but, those versions will never live up to the original masterpiece that Karloff and Whale created.