FILM REVIEW OF ''DRACULA UNTOLD" (2014)

“Dracula Untold” (** OUT OF ****) is a picturesque potboiler.  A tapestry of gorgeous computer generated imagery, this predictable prequel about Bram Stoker’s immortal bloodsucker before he forsook his sword for fangs springs few surprises. Essentially, it looks like Universal has revamped the franchise.  Luke Evans, who played in “Clash of the Titans,” “Immortals,” “The Three Musketeers,” and the last two “The Hobbit” movies, seems appropriately cast as the virile protagonist.  Sadly, he brings little charisma to the role.  When he wields a sword, rides a horse, and cavorts about in period apparel, Evans displays more than enough competence.  Indeed, he is the ‘before’ Dracula, better known as Vlad Tepes, who impaled his adversaries on stakes for the terrible psychological effect it wrought.  Unfortunately, Dominic Cooper struggles to be villainous.  Aside from his ominous eye-liner and elaborate armor, the plucky little Englishman from “Need for Speed” poses little threat.  The problem is that Cooper’s Turkish Sultan Mehmed II isn’t half as wicked as his sinister lieutenant, Dumitru (Diarmaid Murtagh of “The Monuments Men”), who instills greater fear.  Although Dracula and Mehmed clash swords in a dramatic but drawn-out fight scene near the end, with Dracula stumbling around on a treacherous floor of silver coins, the fight is virtually anti-climactic after our hero’s encounter with Dumitru.  Comparably, as supernatural horror movies go, “Dracula Untold” isn’t scary.  Some spooky scenes in a cave with Charles Dance hideously made-up as the Master Vampire generate anxiety, but this PG-13 rated release relies more on spectacle rather than shivers.  Imagine the brawny Gerald Butler action fantasy “300” crisscrossed with Peter Jackson’s J.R.R. Tolkien trilogies, and you’ll have a clue about what to expect from this nimble, but immaculate 92 minute melodrama.

“Dracula Untold” unfolds with a prologue about Vlad’s sadistic wartime past as narrated by his son Ingeras.  Suspense takes flight from the outset since we know nothing catastrophic can occur to Ingeras if he can provide fodder about his father’s infamous feats. The imperial Ottoman Turks enthrone Dracula as the Prince of Transylvania after his splendid sadistic exploits in battle.  Our hero marries a sweet, lovely, but naïve bride, Mirena (Sarah Gadon of “Charlie Bartlett”), promises her peace, and they have a son, Ingeras (Art Parkinson of “Freakdog”), who has not a care in the world. Dracula continues to appease the Sultan of Turkey with tributes that consist of treasure chests piled with silver coins.  One day, while Dracula and two soldiers are out scouting the countryside, they find a dented Turkish helmet in a stream and search for the army that the Sultan has sent to their homeland.  Dracula and company trace the helmet back to a cave in Broken Tooth Mountain where they encounter the Master Vampire (Charles Dance of “Last Action Hero”) who makes mincemeat out of Dracula’s lieutenants.  No sooner has Dracula survived this predicament than he arrives home to be greeted by a Turkish envoy who wants more than his customary monetary tribute.  Not only does the envoy demand thousands of boys as conscripts for the Sultan’s army, but also he specifically wants Dracula’s son Ingeras.  Naturally, Dracula refuses to hand over Ingeras.  Later, after a disastrous diplomatic episode ends with bloodshed, Dracula returns to the mountain and negotiates a pact with the Master Vampire.  Since he lacks an army to pit against the Sultan, Dracula resorts to sorcery.  Of course, when he reveals he has sold his soul, Dracula finds himself persona non grata.  As the Sultan’s armies lay siege to Dracula’s Castle, all Hell breaks loose, and Dracula prepares to retaliate with his supernatural powers.

Moviegoers who relish buckets of blood as well as an abundance of severed body parts will be sorely disappointed with “Dracula Untold.”  Freshman film director Gary Shore, who has been directing television commercials, provides a high enough body count by anybody’s standards, but the MPAA’s chaste PG-13 rating has compelled him to scale back considerably on the bloodletting. Swords shriek as combatants unsheathe them and glint as the aforementioned slash with feverish abandon at their enemy.  Nevertheless, contact between blade and flesh has been minimized.  One of the more imaginative images of warfare used to mask the violence is the reflection of bloodshed on a sword.  Only time will tell if an unrated version will accompany the home video release.  Meantime, Shore keeps the action moving briskly enough, in part because rookie co-scripters Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless have penned such a formulaic, origins screenplay.  Memorable dialogue is certainly not one of their assets.  Meantime, after impaling thousands of combatants on pikes, Vlad must have lost his nerve because he behaves like a wimp when the Sultan shows up looking for juvenile recruits.  Indeed, Sazama and Sharpless paint Dracula into a corner, but it is still difficult to believe Dracula would have degenerated from a warlord into a whiner.  Since Shore had to diminish the violence, the only thing menacing about the Sultan’s army is its immense size.  Mind you, Dumitru’s coiffure qualifies as pretty disturbing.  Once Dracula acquires immortality courtesy of the Master Vampire, he is practically invincible.  Evans is shown poised atop a cliff, gesticulating passionately like a wizard, as he dispatches colonies of bats against the marauding Turks, emphasizing the true meaning of the word ‘combat.’  Nevertheless, the violence is depicted in such broad strokes that you cannot see how the bats are actually slaughtering their opponents.

Little in “Dracula Untold” constitutes a revelation.  Most of what happens is roughly based on sections of Stoker’s 1897 Gothic tale of terror.  Francis Ford Coppola’s above-average “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” covered his chapter of Dracula’s life with greater artistry and action. Additional movies such as “Vlad” (2003), “Dracula the Impaler” (2002), Vlad Tepes” (1979) as well as the made-for-television opus “Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula” (2000) has embellished Dracula’s origins. Universal has tacked on a provocative modern-day epilogue should audiences want a sequel. Although it possesses some potential, "Dracula Untold" amounts to a second-rate sword and sorcery saga.

FILM REVIEW OF "NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE" (GERMAN 1979)

“Fitzcarraldo” director Werner Herzog “Nosferatu the Vampyre” (**** out of ****) pays tribute to F.W. Murnau’s classic chiller, but this 107-minute, color masterpiece departs from the original in many respects. Essentially, the narrative doesn’t deviate drastically until the second half after Count Dracula bids the ruins of his castle farewell and travels by ship to Varna. Of course, the names have been changed since Herzog didn’t have to worry about the issue of copyright infringement. Although “Nosferatu the Vampyre” ranks as a brilliant film and a reverential remake, this German production creeps along at a gradual pace but the sets are for the most part genuine. Produced for under a million dollars, this atmospheric chiller doesn’t generate the degree of horror that the Hammer “Dracula” franchise or even the Universal franchise boasted. You are not going to lose any sleep watching this painstakingly recreated film. Marginal amounts of blood appear. Unlike the traditional Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee Dracula, the eponymous villain here is a hideous Dracula. He is bald, cadaverous, with long fingernails and two fangs at the front of his mouth. Mind you, Klaus Kinski delivers a spellbinding performance, but he doesn’t eclipse the portrait of evil the Max Schreck forged for the unforgettable 1922 silent film. Nevertheless, Kinski’s Dracula differs in more respects from the Schreck incarnation. Schreck epitomized unadulterated evil, while Kinski evokes a measure of sympathy. The Kinski vampire qualifies as a post-modern vampire because he emerges as a tragic figure. At one point in the subtitles of the German language version, the Kinski Dracula confides in the heroine that “Cruel is when you can’t die even if you want to die.” Like the Murnau original, vampires are susceptible to the damning rays of sunlight. Unlike the Schreck vampire, Kinski’s vampire doesn’t dissolve when the sunlight strikes him. He goes into convulsions and wallows around on the floor until Dr. Van Helsing takes a stake to him. Reminiscent of “Dracula’s Daughter, Van Helsing is arrested at fadeout for the murder of Dracula. The irony is that the plague that has infested Wismar in the form of rats has killed off all the police as well as prison officials so Van Helsing’s arrest is purely a matter of form instead of substance.

The major departures “Nosferatu the Vampyre” makes occur after Dracula leaves his castle. The scenes aboard the ship remain intact with the crew dying, but you don’t see anybody diving off the ship. Whereas Murnau showed several rats in his film, Herzog displays no restrain. He bought eleven-thousand white rats from a laboratory and painted them gray. According to Herzog on the Anchor Bay commentary track, the production company didn’t lose a single rodent, but the sight of the rats made a customs official faint. Furthermore, Herzog took elaborate precautions on the set to ensure that none of the rodents escaped. The co-commentator observed that Herzog also neutered the rats so that they couldn’t reproduce. Not since either version of “Willard” have so many rats appeared on camera. One striking scene involving the rodents occurs toward the end of the story. A group of plague-infected friends attempt to prolong their happiness by dining on one final meal before they die. They are surrounded by literally hundreds of rats. Murnau’s film cannot compete with the vast horde of rats that Herzog used. If the sight of rats is terrifying, you might have a problem with this film.

Bruno Ganz doesn’t play Jonathan Harker with the gusto that Gustav von Wangenheim imbued Hutter in the silent epic. Harker travels to the remote mountains of Transylvania on a mission similar to Hutter’s. Indeed, Renfield (Roland Topor) dispatches him with the same promise that he might lose some blood. Harker slices his thumb up while carving bread during his dinner and Count Dracula attacks him. Far away, Lucy Harker (Isabelle Adjani of “The Story of Adele H”) reacts to the vampire’s attack on her husband. Later, Harker watches as Dracula loads up coffins (more than Schreck loaded) and departs from the castle by a horse-drawn wagon. Interestingly enough, Ganz’s Harker has to walk on foot from the inn, where he rode by horse, to reach the rendezvous point with Count Dracula’s carriage. More importantly, Harker is bitten by Dracula, escapes from the castle, spends time in a church hospital but returns to Wismar. Unlike Hutter, Harker is slowly turning into a vampire.

At this point, the character of Lucy assumes greater significance than her counterpart in the Murnau film. Isabelle Adjani’s Lucy is a real combatant. She has a scene in her bedroom where she confronts Dracula and spurns him. Of course, she is wearing a crucifix, but she makes it blatantly clear that she wants nothing to do with him. She claims that she is prepared to spurn the Lord, too. After Harker returns but fails to recognize her, Lucy dredges up the book of vampires from his belongings and reads about the fiends. She approaches Dr. Van Helsing, but he dismisses her warnings about the real plague in the town. When Mina (Martje Grohmann) dies, the town officials say that she died from the plague. Herzog doesn’t have a drum-beating official reading a warning to the town. Instead, he shows black-clad, top-hatted officials carrying coffins on their shoulders by the dozens. Anyway, Lucy exemplifies female empowerment. She crumbles up sacred crackers to keep her husband at bay and seduces the unwitting Dracula so that he will sup from her neck and forget the dawn that destroys him.

Herzog doesn’t rely on any special effects in his version of “Dracula.” All the effects were produced in camera. The scene when Dracula entered Lucy’s bedroom while she stared in the mirror and watched the door swing open and a shadow appear is an example. Indeed, Herzog made the most of his budget. This period piece is steeped in atmosphere. “Nosferatu the Vampyre” isn’t a scary movie. It amounts to more of a literary exercise. The environment creates a genuine sense of dread as does Herzog’s use of the original music by Popol Vuh. Herzog does some amazing things with his camera and he doesn’t rely on the usual snap editing so that “Nosferatu the Vampyre” is a film of remarkable cohesion.

FILM REVIEW OF ''SCARS OF DRACULA'' (British 1970)

"A Night to Remember" director Roy Ward Baker helmed the liveliest “Dracula” sequel, “Scars of Dracula,” (***1/2 OUT OF ****) with Christopher Lee reprising the role for the fifth time in the Hammer Films franchise. “Scars of Dracula” followed “Taste the Blood of Dracula” but preceded the modern day epic “Dracula, 1972 A.D.” For the record, Dracula's groveling custodian bears most of those titular scars. Whether he went by his real name Anthony Hinds or his pseudonym John Elder, Hinds/Elder penned a screenplay far more ambitious and audacious in its scope, violence, horror, and sexuality. Mind you, despite its cheesy bat massacre, "Scars of Dracula" qualifies as the bloodiest Hammer film. Moreover, "Scars of Dracula" was the first to receive an R-rating in the United States. Dracula punishes his lowly caretaker Klove by applying the red-hot blade of a sword to his back. Further, the caretaker accepts his punishment as if he approved of being punished. Can we say masochism? Of course, the bats are hopelessly phony. Nevertheless, the scene where the bats maul the face off the priest in the church like piranha gorging themselves is terrific. The clergy came under increasing attack in 1970s movies. This scene alone should have landed the film on the video nasties list in Great Britain. Indeed, "Scars of Dracula" is the most supernatural of the "Dracula" franchise. Ultimately, it is the one "Dracula" film from Hammer where the Count boasts more screen time than usual. He also has a fiery death scene that suggests greater powers were at work to vanquish him because mere mortals could not finish him off. Inevitably, this quasi-invincibility adds stature to Christopher Lee's immortal creation

The opening gambit could easily have provided material for an entire movie. Although it somewhat picks up the narrative thread from the previous London-based Dracula opus, “Scars of Dracula” takes place primarily in rural Europe as earlier “Dracula” movies. Dracula’s resurrection scene has got to be the most outlandish of the franchise. A blood-dripping vampire bat shows up (whether by devilish designs or otherwise we never learn) at a remote castle, flies into a chamber that can only be reached by scaling the castle walls, and pukes blood on the Count's remains left over from “Taste the Blood of Dracula.” Presto, Count Dracula is reconstituted into an immaculate, smartly-groomed Christopher Lee. Let the blood-sucking begin! Dracula’s first victim is a farmer's daughter. The introductory credits roll as her sad father totes her lifeless remains to the nearby village. The landlord (Michael Ripper of “The Creeping Flesh”) of the inn assembles the villagers. “This evil must be destroyed,” he vows with feeling. They load up both sufficient fuel and timber, march to Dracula's castle through the woods, trick Dracula’s custodian into letting them within the confines of the castle so that they can set fire to the premises. Of course, their well-intentioned efforts avail them little because Dracula rests in a chamber that nobody can reach.

Ironically, before he allowed them to approach the castle, the priest uttered a prayer to protect his flock. When they return triumphantly from Dracula’s castle the priest congratulates them on the success of their mission. “We must give thanks,” the priest rejoices, “thanks to our savior for his protection.” The villagers agree. The priest turns to leave with them. “Let us go to our church and tell our loved ones they are safe.” Initially, before he supervised their departure, the landlord ordered his wife Marie (television actress Margo Boht) to gather the rest of the village into the church. The last thing that the landlord could imagine has happened. No sooner have they opened the church doors than four vampire bats swoop out past them. The men discover that the rest of the villagers lay blood-splattered and dead in the house of worship. Never have so many people been slaughtered during the first ten minutes in a Hammer “Dracula!” The transition from this scene of slaughter to a faraway birthday party is handled with considerable finesse. As the blood of a victim drips onto the white candles, director Roy Ward Baker dissolves to the red candles at the birthday celebration.

Sarah Framsen (Jenny Hanley of “Undercovers Hero”) and her lover Simon Carlson (Dennis Waterman) wonder where his errant brother, Paul Carlson (Christopher Matthews of "Scream and Scream Again"), is as everybody toasts Sarah. Paul has been sleeping with another woman when he learns that he is going to be late getting to Sarah’s party. When he dresses to leave her, Alice (Delia Lindsay of "The Devil's Widow") is convinced that Paul is leaving her for another woman. A wrapped and tied gift falls out of Paul’s suit jacket, and Alice threatens to scream. Ignoring her threats, Paul retrieves the present and heads downstairs. Alice pursues him with only a bed sheet concealing her breasts and vagina. However, her buttocks are bare for all-to-see in two shots as she follows the recalcitrant Paul down the stairs. As he is making for the door, Paul encounters Alice’s imperious father, the Burgomaster (Bob Todd of "Burke & Hare"), and Alice accuses Paul of wantonly having his way with her. The Burgomaster and Paul struggle briefly before Paul escapes his clutches. The Burgomaster's men chase Paul, and he makes a momentary appearance at Sarah’s birthday party and then leaps from a high window to escape the authorities. Crashing through the roof of a carriage parked below the window, Paul spooks the steeds and they plunge off into the night. Paul finds himself trapped in a runaway carriage. Desperately, he tries to rein in the animals but low-hanging tree limbs knock him off the vehicle.

Paul has no luck finding anybody who will take him in after dark. The landlord of the inn in the village has no room for him and turns him out into the cold night. Predictably, things get worse for Paul. He wanders aimlessly through the woods until he finds another parked carriage drawn by quartet of horses. Climbing into the carriage, Paul falls into a deep sleep. What he doesn’t know is that the carriage belongs to Count Dracula. Dracula’s custodian, Klove (Patrick Troughton of “The Omen”), has been out hunting game, and he drives the carriage back to Castle Dracula without realizing that the carriage contains a passenger. Dracula is very civil to Paul when he meets him. Paul is admiring a knife from a wall mounting and stands with his back to Dracula. Dracula’s first words to Paul are: “The blade is very sharp.” Dracula refuses to let Paul leave.

Klove escorts Paul to a sumptuously appointed bedroom. Meantime, Dracula takes a bite out of his dark-haired hostess, Tania (Anouska Hempel of “Black Snake”) and Baker shows the vampire sinking his fangs into her neck. Later, she comes knocking at Paul’s door in her undergarments. She pleads for Paul to save her and explains that she is being her prisoner against her will by Dracula. No sooner has she told Paul that she is a prisoner than she implores him to sleep with her. Tania and Paul consummate their lust for each other. While Paul lies sleeping, Tania admires his throat. The Count catches Tania staring at Paul’s neck, and his rage at seeing Tania with Paul, prompts Dracula to stab her "Psycho" style repeatedly. Afterward, he quenches his lust for her blood. This is the first time that Dracula has behaved in this manner. In "Horror of Dracula," Dracula drove a vampire woman from Jonathan Harker because she had wanted to feast on him. One interpretation for Dracula murdering Tania is that Tania betrayed him when she had sex with Paul. Presumably, Dracula punished Tania for her infidelity. More probably, Dracula didn’t want sloppy seconds, that is, having to dine on Paul after Tania had done the initial damage. Surprisingly, Dracula does nothing to Paul who sprawls unconsciously on the floor. When Paul recovers, he removes the drapes from the bed canopy and lowers himself down from the bedroom window to the only open window below. Talk about getting out of one frying and then getting into another! Paul has descended into the chamber where Dracula hides his coffin! “Help,” Paul cries as the evil Klove reels up the drapery, “there’s no way out!”

Meanwhile, two uniformed policemen with an arrest warrant question the landlord about Paul’s whereabouts, but he tells them nothing. When Julie (Wendy Hamilton) confides in them that Paul went to the castle, they decide that they want nothing more to do with the case. Eventually, Simon sets out to find Paul with an indefatigable Sarah tagging along despite Simon's protests. They experience the chilly hospitality that the landlord provides at his inn when they inquire about Paul’s whereabouts, too, and are treated like persona-non grata. Simon and reach visit Castle Dracula. Dracula welcomes them and sets aside rooms for them. Dracula’s hospitality turns out to be a ruse. He separates Simon from Sarah. They escape after Dracula tries to sink his fangs in Sarah’s neck. The crucifix that Sarah wears around her neck repulses Dracula. Sarah and Simon manage to get away and return to the village. The priest allows them to sleep in the violated church that nobody attends any more after the bat massacre. The priest explains to Simon that Dracula is not simply a man but the incarnation of all things evil. He compels Simon to wait until dawn before he goes back to the castle to search for his brother. Simon offers Klove the small picture of Sarah so that he can get into the castle again. This time Simon is determined to kill Dracula. He shattered the wooden contraption that holds a wash basin and takes one of the legs to serve as a stake. Locking the door to his room, Simon descends by rope to the window beneath the bedroom where Paul and Tania indulged in carnal pleasures before Dracula interrupted them. This time Simon learns the ugly truth about Paul. He discovers Paul impaled and stuck on a wall. Sarah shows up in time to lower the rope to Dracula’s window.

Earlier, Klove explained that the Master sleeps where nobody can get to him. Baker stages a neat scene where we see Dracula leaving through the window of his room and scaling the architecture to the windows above. Indeed, Bram Stoker wrote about Dracula's uncanny ability to scale walls. Dracula clashes with Klove about Sarah, and the vampire throws him off the top of his castle. Simon appears with an iron spear and hurls it at Dracula so it lands in his stomach. Dracula removes the object from his body without suffering. Nevertheless, Dracula is surprised when lightning strikes the metal stake and kills him.

Christopher Lee’s memories of "Scars of Dracula" aren’t particularly fond. In his 1977 book “The Lord of Misrule: The Autobiography of Christopher Lee,” Lee describes the Baker film as “truly feeble.” Lee elaborated: “It was a story with Dracula popping in almost as an afterthought. Even the Hammer make-up for once was tepid. It’s one thing to look like death warmed over, quite another to look unhealthy. I was a pantomime figure. Everything was over the top, especially the giant bat whose electrically motored wings flapped with slow deliberation as if it were doing morning exercises. The idea that Dracula best liked his blood served up in a nubile container was gaining ground with the front office and I struggled in vain against the direction that the fangs should be seen to strike home, as against the more decorous (and more chilling) methods of shielding the sight with the Count’s cloak.” Nevertheless, “Scars of Dracula” qualifies as one of the best of the Hammer "Dracula" films.

FILM REVIEW OF ''SON OF DRACULA" (1943)

Although I'm a super big fan of Lon Chaney, Sr., I've never admired his son Lon Chaney, Jr. While Junior fared better as the sympathetic Lawrence Talbot in "The Wolf Man," this big lug of a lout is woefully miscast as the urbane, sophisticated Count Dracula in Robert Siodmak's "Son of Dracula." Okay, I'll give Chaney credit for being the first Dracula with a mustache. Was it Chaney's idea or Siodmak's? Other than John Carradine and Christopher Lee, most Draculas are smooth-shaven gents, but Junior needed more than a mustache to make a menacing bloodsucker of himself in this otherwise imaginative but flawed chiller. Junior constitutes the chief flaw. His delivery is stiff beyond belief. When he utters 'decadent' as de-kay-dent, you want to chuckle. He doesn't radiate that evil Bela Lugosi glint in his eyes. Moreover, he doesn't send a chill either up or down your spine. The lack of aristocracy in his appearance doesn't help. Odd enough, Dracula comes off as somewhat of a chump in “Son of Dracula.” Moments of atmosphere, particularly the off-beat setting for this second sequel, and the strange nature of the screenplay compensate for some of the weird things about “Son of Dracula.” The sight of Dracula and his bride going to a Justice of the Peace is faintly amusing. On the other hand, the Count’s emergence from the swamp is a nice touch.

Appropriately enough, “Son of the Dracula” (**1/2 out of ****) opens with a pair of hands clearing out cobwebs. Remember eight years had passed since the release of “Dracula’s Daughter.” The Southern Gothic setting and the swamp is wonderfully sinister. Initially, Frank Stanley (Robert Paige of “Flying G-Men”) and Dr. Harry Brewster (Frank Craven of “Barbary Coast”) arrive at a railroad depot to greet Count Alcuard. The Transylvanian nobleman, however, is nowhere in sight. They spot the railway luggage cart that is stacked with three trunks bearing the family crest. Immediately, Brewster notices that Alucard spelled backwards reads Dracula. Dracula (Lon Chaney, Jr.) makes his first appearance outside ‘Dark Oaks,’ the antebellum house where Katherine ‘Kay’ Caldwell (Louise Allbritton of “Parachute Nurse”) eagerly awaits his arrival. She plans to marry Dracula.

Katherine’s elderly father, Colonel Caldwell (George Irving of “Coquette”), is Dracula’s first victim. When the Colonel’s will is read, Katherine inherits Dark Oaks. Frank is madly in love with Katherine, but she only has eyes for Dracula. She met Dracula initially in Budapest. Meanwhile, Dr. Brewster summons a renowned vampire hunter, Professor Lazlo (J. Edward Bromberg of “Invisible Agent”) from Memphis. Like Van Helsing, Lazlo knows everything about Dracula. Frank shoots Dracula with a revolver after he learns that Kirby has married them. He cringes in horror when his first bullet penetrates Dracula and kills Kay. Kay was standing behind Dracula when Frank fired his first shot at the Count. Frank fires two more shots, discards the gun, and charges through the dark swamp. Later, he turns himself into the authorities and takes the blame for Kay’s murder. Dr. Brewster visits Dark Oaks but finds Kay alive.

Dracula’s first rendezvous with Kay in the swamp is truly atmospheric. The Count’s coffin emerges from the watery depths like a submarine. A mist percolates out of it and turns into Dracula. Literally, Dracula levitates himself across the water to Kay. They drive off to the Justice of the Peace with a jealous Frank shadowing them. The special effects transformation where Dracula turnS his back to the camera and then turns into a flying bat is impressive for its day. It looks cool when the lady vampire dematerializes as a fog bank in the jail cell. The burning of Dracula's coffin as a way to destroy him was a new one on me. Mind you, every studio that has ever made a vampire movie tampers with the formula. The premise that a woman would flirt with Dracula to obtain immortality then double-cross him is interesting. Dracula cuckolded!? Indeed, "Son of Dracula" seems more like film noir than horror. Things get pretty complicated and these complications make "Son of Dracula" worth watching.

The gimmick of spelling Dracula's name backwards is clever. Anybody but Lon Chaney, Jr., would have made a serviceable Dracula. The guy looks like he ought to be stuffing baloney into his big hammy jowls instead of draining bodies of blood with his fangs. Incidentally, you never see his fangs, but then you never saw Lugosi's fangs or Carradine's fangs. The Production Code Administration probably ruled out such a toothy display on the grounds that it was too repellent. George Robinson's black & white photography is textbook excellent. He takes a two-dimensional format and gives it a three-dimensional look by bringing out the foreground from the background and the mid-ground.

Altogether, "Son of Dracula" surpasses “Dracula’s Daughter.” Nevertheless, you have to overlook the obvious lapse of continuity in “Phantom of the Opera” scenarist Eric Taylor’s screenplay that he derived from Siodmak’s story. Basically, the studio maintained no continuity for Dracula. Siodmak and Taylor make no references to previous "Dracula" movies. Universal Studios observed far greater continuity in the "Frankenstein" and "The Wolfman" franchises. Doesn't it say something when the second sequel to "Dracula" appeared eight years after “Dracula’s Daughter?” The latter in-name-only sequel without Lugosi and only a glimpse of the infamous Count in a coffin with a stake driven into his heart amounted to a letdown compared with the vintage original. The change in the character of Dracula is even more apparent in “Son of Dracula.” Perhaps they simply couldn't conjure up a reasonable excuse about how to keep reviving the count. Of course, Universal should have brought back Lugosi. Presumably, studio politics kept Lugosi from encoring in the role until "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein." "Daughter's Daughter" and the remaining "Dracula" movies qualify as stand alone sequels. Remember, Countess Zaleska burned Dracula’s body in “Dracula’s Daughter.” In “Son of Dracula,” however, the vampire expert states the Dracula died in the 19th century.

FILM REVIEW OF ''DRACULA'S DAUGHTER"

The executives at Universal Studios didn't have long to mind the store after they produced the deplorable "Dracula's Daughter." Universal's principal debtor, Standard Capital Corporation, gave studio founder Carl Laemmle and his regime the boot after production wrapped on it. Laemmle and company should have gotten the boot far earlier for making such a lackluster sequel. Any sequel that doesn’t bring back the original protagonist—villainous or otherwise—can hardly be considered a genuine sequel. Not only does “Dracula’s Daughter” (*1/2 out of ****) refuse to reanimate Dracula, who had been impaled at the end of the original, but also Universal replaced their seminal male vampire with an entirely different protagonist—a female vampire! Unfortunately, Bela Lugosi didn't make an encore appearance; even though the Count’s supine corpse lies sprawled in his coffin at the police station. Not surprisingly, the corpse bears no resemblance to Lugosi. Indeed, Dracula plays only a peripheral part in “Dracula’s Daughter.” Conversely, Edward Van Sloan's Professor Von Helsing plays a major part. None of the other characters from the Tod Browning original participate in these new antics. Well, Renfield's body appears at the foot of the stairs in the opening sequence when the two London policemen discover him.

Presumably, since a supernatural horror movie like "Dracula" was so new to Hollywood, Universal Studios scenarists had no idea how to handle such a character. After all, “Daughter’s Daughter” came out in 1936, five years after “Dracula!” It makes you wonder why Universal waited so long to parlay a franchise out of the character. “Dracula’s Daughter” picks up where “Dracula” concluded in Carfax Abbey—a much cleaner Carfax Abbey--after Van Helsing had driven a stake into the Count as the bloodsucker lay in his coffin. Later Universal “Dracula” sequels, such as “House of Frankenstein,” would bring back Dracula even though a stake had been hammered through his body. Apparently, Universal didn't know how to handle its own merchandise. Consider if you will the inconsistency between Dracula’s corpse in “Dracula’s Daughter.” Dracula’s corporal body remains intact with the stake in him. In “House of Frankenstein” (1944), however, Dracula is a skeleton with a stake in his ribs. Clearly, the cinematic technology of 1944 enabled Universal to alter the rules that they had created for Dracula.

As Dracula's Daughter, the dark-haired Hungarian Countess, Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden of “Dodge City”), boasts the power to hypnotize the helpless. She accomplishes this feat with the use of an awesome ring. She is strong enough to put a victim into a coma with her hypnotic powers. Later, "Dracula's Daughter" waxes somewhat risqué, particularly when the eponymous heroine seduces a young girl from the streets. Lili (Nan Grey), who had planned to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge, has consented to be a model for Zaleska to paint. A strain of forbidden lesbianism permeates this scene when the Countess convinces pretty young Lili lower the straps of her slip so she can admire her neck and shoulders. This is about as scary as this movie gets. Like Dracula, the Countess possesses her own sinister assistant, Sandor (Irving Pichel of "British Agent"), who carries out her orders. The faithful Sandor found Lili. Comparatively, Sandor resembles Renfield because he performs some of the leg work for Zaleska. Ultimately, Sandor hopes that the Countess will reward him for his service. He yearn to be her lover for an eternality. Unfortunately, for Sandor, the Countess has her eyes set on somebody else who has far greater power than Sandor.

Initially, the Countess claims she is struggling to break free of ‘the curse of Dracula.’ After all, she steals Dracula’s corpse from the police station and cremated it in the wilderness. Meanwhile, the bulk of the action at the outset concerns Von Helsing turning himself over to two London policemen for the murder of Count Dracula. “Dracula’s Daughter” wins brownie points for this loyalty to the original. The police send Von Helsing to Scotland Yard where he tries to justify the ‘service to humanity’ that he performed by murdering Count Dracula. Commissioner Sir Basil Humphrey (Gilbert Emery of “Scandal Sheet”) warns Von Helsing that a jury will either convict him to be hanged or sentence to a mental asylum for the criminally insane. Von Helsing solicits the help of a former student, psychologist Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger of "Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet"), and defines vampirism and the methods of dealing with vampires to Garth. A skeptical Garth assures Von Helsing that the jury will hang him at the mention of such folklore. Eventually, the Countess seeks out Dr. Garth, but she runs into trouble with Garth's jealous secretary Janet Blair (Marguerite Churchill of "Riders of the Purple Saga") who behaves like a comedian from a screwball comedy. Janet and the Countess clash from the get-go, and Janet does everything in her power to see the Countess doesn't get any time to be alone with Garth.

B-western director Lambert Hillyer replaced A. Edward Sutherland as director after several delays plagued the production. Hillyer helmed 161 films during his 32 year career as a director. Aside from “Dracula’s Daughter,” Hillyer is best known for his 1943 serial “Batman,” the first appearance of the DC Comics Caped Crusader on the big screen. Hillyer maintains forward momentum and the action never bogs down in complications. Mind you, George Robinson's glorious black and white lensing creates considerable atmosphere. For the record, Robinson went on to photograph the sequel to "Dracula's Daughter," "Son of Dracula" (1943) with Lon Chaney cast as the immortal count! Nevertheless, despite the first-rate photography, little that is spooky occurs this half-baked sequel.Hillyer and "Frankenstein" scenarist Garrett Ford try to whip up some fury in the last ten minutes as the Countess abducts Dr. Garth's girlfriend Janet and flies back to Transylvania with her as her hostage. A desperate Garth follows hot on their heels and following just as hot on Garth’s heels are Von Helsing and Humphrey. Despite some atmospheric moments, the eponymous heroine generates none of the chills that Lugosi conveyed. Moreover, despite her Hungarian origins, the Countess speaks English without an accent. “Dracula’s Daughter” would have qualified as an okay vampire yarn outside the “Dracula” franchise, but it is a disappointing “Dracula” sequel.

FILM REVIEW OF ''DRACULA" (1931)

 Bela Lugosi plays the eponymous vampire in "Dracula" based on Bram Stokers' novel.Many actors have incarnated Dracula since Lugosi originated the role in Tod Browning's landmark horror chiller, but only one has matched Lugosi. Christopher Lee portrayed the immortal fangster memorably at least seven times for Hammer Films and a couple of times for other producers. Ironically, Lugosi only played Dracula twice during his disappointing Hollywood film career. Seventeen years later at the twilight of his career, Lugosi donned the cape to play Dracula in "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein." Although Browning's movie introduced one of the most popular horror villains in cinematic history, nothing about "Dracula" (*** OUT OF ****) is remotely scary. First, Universal Studios made the film so as to not incur the wrath of the Hollywood Production Code or offend pious church groups. Second, Dracula never bares his fangs. Furthermore, we never see the infamous vampire feeding off his prey. After all, he couldn't have kept his evening clothes looking so pristine if he got blood splashed all over himself from draining a rebellious human of their life essence. Third, when Van Helsing stakes Dracula in his coffin at the end, this important action occurs off screen with only the anguished groans of the Count to let us know that the vampire is dead. Originally, the Production Code Administration had Universal remove these sounds of death. Indeed, "Metropolis" lenser Carl Freund photographed "Dracula," and he makes this nonsense look genuinely atmospheric. The close-up shots of an unblinking Lugosi as Dracula with pen lights brightening his lupine stare make this vampire look appropriately intimidating.

Initially, the studio sought Lon Chaney, Sr., for the part, but cancer claimed Chaney before the great thespian could make the film. Lugosi landed the role for a minimal $500-a-week and he never topped "Dracula," though he came close with "White Zombie." Eventually, he would thrive in Poverty Row studio chillers and comedies and ended his career in director Ed D. Wood's preposterous "Plan 9 from Outer Space." Browning went on to make the controversial "Freaks" with genuine freaks about intrigue and murder in a small traveling circus. Universal produced "Dracula" for about $341-thousand, but curiously enough they neglected to capitalize on their surprise hit until four years later when they produced "Dracula's Daughter" with no Lugosi in sight. Granted, Van Helsing had destroyed the Lugosi monster in the first film, but later films dismissed this consolation to realism. Lee's Dracula reconstitutes himself in virtually all the Hammer films.

"Dracula" opens with a long shot as a real-life, horse-drawn stagecoach threads its way through the Carpathian Mountains. Renfield (Dwight Frye of "The Doorway to Hell") is a London real estate agent who has come to Transylvania with a lease for Count Dracula to sign. Renfield is riding with several other passengers when an anxious native explains that they must reach the inn before sunset. "It is Walpurgis night, the night of evil." He pauses and then continues, "Nosferatu. On this night, Madame, the doors-they are barred and to the Virgin we pray." Meantime, at the inn, the workers are reciting the Lord's Prayer in Hungarian. The coach pulls up at the Inn, but Renfield has no plans to stay. "I say, porter, don't take my luggage down. I'm going to the Borgo Pass tonight." The innkeeper struggles to persuade Renfield to remain until sunrise the following day because the coachman is frightened. Renfield explains that a carriage awaits him at midnight at the Borgo Pass. He adds that his destination is Castle Dracula. The innkeeper warns Renfield not to enter Castle Dracula. "We people of the mountains believe at the castle there are vampires! Dracula and his wives. They take the form of wolves and bats. They leave their coffins at night and they feed on the blood of the living." Renfield discounts all this hokum. He believes they are all superstitious, something that Renfield isn't. The innkeeper's wife thrusts a crucifix into Renfield's hand. "If you must go, wear this for your mother's sake. It will protect you." The crucifix was a standard weapon in any vampire hunter's arsenal. In this 1931 production, the crucifix can stop a vampire. When Universal Studios remade "Dracula" in the 1970s with Frank Langella, the crucifix bursts into flames in Dracula's presence.

Renfield swaps stagecoaches at Borgo Pass and rides off to Castle Dracula. The coach is making good time when Renfield peers outside and sees a huge bat flapping its wings in front of the horses as if it were leading the steeds. Once they reach the castle, Renfield searches for the coachman who is nowhere in sight. Of course, we know from the instant that we saw the coachmen that he is Dracula and can shape-shift. Renfield enters the imposing but dilapidated Castle Dracula. The count guides his guest through the cob-web infested premises to more comfortable quarters. Dracula scrutinizes the lease to his future home in Carfax Abbey. Afterward, Renfield cuts himself accidentally with a paper clip. Dracula darts forward impulsively at the sight of blood on Renfield's middle finger. Just as he closes in for the kill, Dracula shrinks backwards in revulsion at the sight of the crucifix that topples onto Renfield's bloody hands. Later, Dracula bites Renfield after the head vampire has scared off his three wives.

Dracula boards a sailing vessel, the Vesta, for London. He arrives in London and tours the town dressed up in a silk top hat and a cape. He approaches a flower girl and bites her, but we are shown nothing. Dracula introduces himself to Dr. Seward, Jonathan Harker, and Professor Van Helsing at the opera house. Not long afterward Dracula strikes and kills Lucy (Francis Dade of "Raffles"). The mirror scene where Van Helsing exposes Dracula is good. The count exits the premises as a wolf so nobody will follow him. Later, Van Helsing and Harker track Dracula down and kill him in his coffin. "Dracula" qualifies a spooky classic horror thriller.