Dracula and Frankenstein Double Feature

Like everyone else, it seems, I really enjoy watching horror movies during the month of October so I couldn't resist the chance to see a double feature of the 1931 versions of Dracula and Frankenstein on the big screen yesterday.  Unbelievably, I had never seen either of these movies before so it was a lot of fun!  They are based on the novels by Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley, respectively, although they take a lot of liberties with the source material (I used to teach both novels, alternating each year, to my British literature classes) in order to be more cinematic.  In Dracula, Bela Lugosi plays Count Dracula, a vampire from Transylvania who emigrates to London and preys upon several young women.  It is very atmospheric with lots of fog and dramatic lighting, especially on Dracula's eyes as he bewitches his victims, and some impressive (for the time) special effects involving bats.  I was particularly struck by the fact that there is not a score, which seems so unusual now, and by all of the long periods of silence.  I also liked Lugosi's portrayal of Dracula and all of the close-ups on his face to show his sinister intentions.  However, I thought the ending was really ambiguous and abrupt which prompted some laughter from my audience.  In Frankenstein, Colin Clive is an obsessed scientist who digs up corpses with his hunchbacked assistant in order to bestow life on the being he creates.  Boris Karloff is the resulting monster who terrorizes Frankenstein's village and attacks his fiancee.  As with Dracula, I was quite impressed with the special effects, particularly the scene where Frankenstein harnesses the power of electricity to bestow life on his creature.  I also enjoyed Karloff's performance because he is quite frightening as the monster (his makeup is very elaborate for the time) but there is also a vulnerability to him.  The mob scene where the villagers pursue the monster with torches is also quite spectacular.  I really enjoyed seeing these movies because they are now regarded as iconic.  In fact, the portrayal of these characters in popular culture today is informed more by these movies than by the novels that inspired them.  I definitely recommend seeking them out this month!

Note:  Fathom Events will also be presenting The Invisible Man and The Wolf Man as a double feature later this month (go here for information and tickets) as part of the 90th Anniversary of the so-called Universal Monsters.