Dracula
Country - USA
Year - 1931
Director: Todd Browning
Starring: Bela Lugosi (Count Dracula), Helen Chandler (Mina Harker), David Manners (John Harker), Dwight Frye (Renfield), Edward Van Sloan (Prof. Abraham Van Helsing), Herbert Bunston (Dr. Jack Seward), Frances Dade (Lucy Weston)
Genre: Vampire
Dracula
"Listen to them! Children of the night! What music they make..."
When most people think of Dracula, I bet a pale, suited figure with slicked back hair in a widow's peak and piercing eyes comes to mind. Such is the enduring legacy of Lugosi's performance that generations continue to identify him as the archetypical Dracula figure. His thick Hungarian accent resonates in this role and, despite limited screen time and script, shines in his trademark role.
We know the story before the film begins: creepy Hungarian count buys Carfax Abbey in England and proceeds to torment young Lucy Western, then her friend Mina Harker. Professor Van Helsing is called in to rid the vampiric threat of the Count. It's possibly one of the best-known (and most oft-filmed) stories known. For a film as old as this one, it's aged pretty well - and the acting is way above the calibre of many other films of this time. A special mention here must go to Dwight Frye who plays Renfield first as a young upper-class jaunty gentleman then a wide-eyed madman with allegiance to the Count and a strange penchant for eating insects. The movie is dark, gloomy and an absolute classic. Totally unmissable and worth seeking out!
Reviewer - @helen_of_horror
Movie Spoiler - If you want to know the ending of the film.
