A NIGHTMARE OF HORROR!

Starring: Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Helen Chandler, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Herbert Bunston, Frances Dade

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make." - Dracula, regarding wolves

Why watch this? The elaborate sets and Lugosi's haunting, iconic performance.

Plot Summary: Count Dracula, a Transylvanian vampire, travels to England and takes up residence in Carfax Abbey. He begins to exert his influence over local society, specifically targeting the young women, including Mina Seward and her friend Lucy Weston. When Lucy falls ill with a mysterious ailment, Professor Van Helsing is called upon to investigate, soon realizing the danger posed by the Count and working to protect Mina and expose Dracula's true nature

Dad's Preview: This classic film practically invented the "goth" classification. Lugosi's memorable role as the creepy Count spawned a slew of imitators and homages. This film's unique, Victorian atmosphere creates an eerie 17th century Europe, where all trees are dead, and it's forever dark and foggy. Though Lugosi would later portray several other Universal monsters, he only played Dracula once more, and that was in the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).

Tod Browning, Carl Laemmle Jr.; Universal Pictures