tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65175732224282718.post8534630075624273696..comments2022-03-27T04:40:18.156-07:00Comments on I Was Just Watching a Movie ...: I've Just Seen: Dracula (1931)Julia Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09041411551162128922noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65175732224282718.post-70798589618978839692015-10-25T16:16:42.406-07:002015-10-25T16:16:42.406-07:00I did enjoy this. The Transylvania sequence is gre...I did enjoy this. The Transylvania sequence is great, very creepy and gothic. I liked the nod to Murnau's version with the tempting bleeding finger. <br /><br />I should have mentioned Renfield more; he is great in this. His madness was a surprise, but a good change to the story. <br /><br />This is not my favourite Dracula film; that honour belongs to Herzog's film (very chilling), but this is great fun!Julia Machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09041411551162128922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65175732224282718.post-40910614402178140482015-10-25T16:12:45.540-07:002015-10-25T16:12:45.540-07:00Yes, Browning seems to have not made a smooth tran...Yes, Browning seems to have not made a smooth transition to sound films. I enjoyed this, but my inner filmmaker was fidgeting at the choices to deny the audience moments that they didn't need to be. Julia Machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09041411551162128922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65175732224282718.post-1837381535375826062015-10-25T09:00:44.251-07:002015-10-25T09:00:44.251-07:00This is one of my favorite movies! I bet I've ...This is one of my favorite movies! I bet I've seen it 30 or 40 times over the decades.<br /><br />It's hard to argue with the many criticisms directed at the sometimes haphazrd editing and direction. But when it's good, it's great!<br /><br />The entire opening Transylvania sequence is superb. How can you not love the opossum and the armadillos! Lugosi is great, as course, and what about Dwight Frye as Renfield! I also like the creepy brides of Dracula swarming over Renfield. And where Renfield looks out the window and sees a bat driving the carriage! WOW!<br /><br />I think my favorite scene is where Renfield is at the asylum running around loose, describing the vision that Dracula revealed to him of the rats. Each one a life! With their blazing red eyes, like his, only smaller.<br /><br />I also love Helen Chandler's performance as Mina. I see her in other 1930s movies from time to time and it's a shame she isn't better known outside of Dracula. I highly recommend The Last Flight, if you ever get a chance to see it. <br /><br />If you ever watch Dracula again, you'll find that the good stuff grows on you and the bad stuff matters less and less. The viewer is given a lot of blanks to fill in on his own.Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17921029597363212734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65175732224282718.post-42012138669971370432015-10-25T05:35:09.301-07:002015-10-25T05:35:09.301-07:00I was not excited by this one. I saw it back to ba...I was not excited by this one. I saw it back to back with Frankenstein and in comparison that is a much better movie. Also Browning made better movies such as Freaks. TSorensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12208153011927807857noreply@blogger.com