Movie Review: Spanish Dracula (1931)
In the early days of sound film, apparently it was common practice for Hollywood studios to shoot foreign-language versions of their English-language movies. With this movie, they used the same sets and script as the Bela Lugosi version, but with different actors and costumes.
Watching it for the first time (as someone who’s seen the Bela Lugosi version a good number of times), it was like seeing a new perspective on a movie I’ve seen plenty of times. In some ways, this is the superior movie. The camerawork is much more lively, and it feels less like a filmed play. Spanish actor Carlos Villarias’s performance is great, and very different from Lugosi’s.
He’s less calm and mannered, and more intense. It’s all in the eyes with Villarias. Pablo Alvarez Rubio is also quite memorable as Renfield, and gives a very unique performance to the iconic one by Dwight Frye.
I still can’t say I prefer this version. There’s just something about Lugosi that’s so perfect. This obviously isn’t as iconic as that, but if you’re a fan of the original, this is definitely worth checking out. It’s a visually superior film, if not all around superior.
This movie was apparently lost for decades, and resurfaced in the ’70s. I think this whole practice may seem so strange to people nowadays, that it’s worth seeking out just for that curiosity.
Rating: 7/10
