Classic Movies Horror
Dracula the Movie (1931) Review
Playing for Scares
Dracula from 1931 was actually based on a play (Deane, Hamilton, and John L. Balderston. Dracula: The Vampire Play in Three Acts. New York: Samuel French, 1927.) Many movies after this were based on this very same play rather than the Bram Stoker work. There are plenty of changes that were made from the book to the play and hence the movie. Later movies like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, for instance, have done away with the plays’ framework.
Some of the significant changes include making Renfield a significant character and more of a tragedy than a horror movie. Renfield is an innocent man who fills in the shoes of Johnathan Harker at the beginning of the film. But he is immediately turned into a creature of Dracula, without much delay.
The significant issues in this movie are due to the time in which it was filmed. While these are probably understandable, the viewer quickly has to make some severe leaps in disbelief. More than that, however, it can be argued that movies such as this are the reason why the film industry is just as guilty of having movies that no longer hold up in any way, shape, or form as any other technology-based industry. As much as the movie industry would like you to believe differently, movies are not forever.
