Blogger Party

Last night I saw Tod Browning's "Dracula" for the first time--the most iconic Dracula film, I think, since Bela Lugosi's performance has informed every vampire since.

It was kind of surprising, though, to finally see it. Movies of the period were rarely concerned with faithful adaptations--but this Dracula gutted the story entirely. Lucy's suitors: gone. Jonathan's trip to Transylvania: gone. The entire sequence of chasing Dracula back to Transylvania: gone. The Brides are only glimpsed for a moment; Jonathan is renamed "John"; the costuming is some strange anaglam of '30s style and the late Victorian period. (Lucy has a flapper hairstyle. A Victorian woman would never wear her hair that short.) And the climax was so short and abrupt that I pretty much missed it because I was wrestling with my FTP program.

Granted, the Coppola Dracula added a lot, the reincarnation angle and pretty much the entire Mina/Dracula romance, but at least the basic structure of the story is there.

But I'm glad I stayed up late to watch it anyway; it's always good to see the classics, even the slightly cheesy ones.

Posted in minorblue's blog | | | | 256 reads