This is probably the movie that started it all for me, I watched in on the Creature Feature-type show on my little black and white TV as a kid and I was hooked. 

Transylvanian vampire Count Dracula bends a naive real estate agent to his will, then takes up residence at a London estate where he sleeps in his coffin by day and searches for potential victims by night.

Storyline

After a harrowing ride through the Carpathian mountains in eastern Europe, Renfield enters castle Dracula to finalize the transferral of Carfax Abbey in London to Count Dracula, who is in actuality a vampire. Renfield is drugged by the eerily hypnotic count, and turned into one of his thralls, protecting him during his sea voyage to London. After sucking the blood and turning the young Lucy Weston into a vampire, Dracula turns his attention to her friend Mina Seward, daughter of Dr. Seward who then calls in a specialist, Dr. Van Helsing, to diagnose the sudden deterioration of Mina’s health. Van Helsing, realizing that Dracula is indeed a vampire, tries to prepare Mina’s fiance, John Harker, and Dr. Seward for what is to come and the measures that will have to be taken to prevent Mina from becoming one of the undead.

Our Thoughts on Dracula (1931)

This movie has thrilled and chilled viewers for generations and also serves as a standard for vampire flicks. This is the role that Bela Lugosi was born to play, Count Dracula. His mannerisms and looks make the character masterful and commanding. Based on Bram Stoker’s novel, a vampire terrorizes the English countryside searching for sustenance, human blood.

Glorious black and white. The lighting, scenery and mood music should share equal billing with the great direction of Tod Browning. This movie leaves an impression that lasts a lifetime.

7 out of 10 Stars

Trivia 

Generally regarded as the film that kickstarted the horror genre in Hollywood.

Among the living creatures seen in Dracula’s castle in Transylvania are opossums, armadillos, and an insect known as a Jerusalem Cricket (Stenopalmatus fuscus). This insect was common in Southern California, which may explain its cameo in the film. The inclusion of armadillos was due to the fact that armadillos had occasionally been seen digging in graveyards, which led to the mistaken belief that they would dig their way into coffins and eat the cadavers.

Dracula’s castle was a painting on glass in front of the camera. The coach traveling along the road was real but the background was not.

Dracula never once blinks his eyes, an effect that enhances the undead character’s otherworldly aura, abetted by Bela Lugosi‘s famous, menacing stare.

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