Dracula

The 1931 version of Dracula was the first Universal Monster movie and it stars perhaps the most famous vampire actor of all time. Bela Lugosi was certainly committed to the part and this is obviously his trademark role. You’ll just have to work hard to overlook his almost funny schtick. Is Lugosi any good as the Count though? Well, is anyone in this cast any good? Maybe one guy (Dwight Frye) nails it by going deliriously over the top. Yeah, it’s fair to say we didn’t have much lust for Tod Browning’s picture. His direction is creaky and stilted and if his film was scary to audiences 90 years ago, it certainly isn’t anymore. However, the sexual subtext and the theme of a Transylvanian visitor representing a foreign plague are effective, just as they were in Bram Stoker’s classic book. So go to bed in your trusty coffin just as home invaders have come to kill you, but before you lay down, cue up the 410th Ellises’ Analysis to hear us yack about Drac. You can’t get a discount on superb coffee if you like to add blood, but you CAN get one if you go to Sparkplug Coffee’s website and stay away from the red stuff. You can save a delicious 20% by using our promo code (“top100project”). Hey, Twitter is a place to post thoughts. We are @moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis Our website remains top100project.com Ryan also jabbers about sports movies on Scoring At The Movies