Movie Review - "Dracula"

Movie Review number 34

PLOT

This black and white movie made in 1931 is based on Bram Stoker's "Dracula" story and starts with Englishman Mr Redfield travelling by horse drawn carriage to Transylvania for a meeting at Dracula's Castle.  He arrives late at night to a small Transylvanian village, with the carriage driver refusing to go any further.  Mr Redfield insists as he has an Important Meeting and has to reach another horse drawn carriage at midnight exactly to take him to the castle.  After some discussion, they agree to take him further up the mountain.

He reaches the second carriage and is then taken up to the Castle where he is met by Count Dracula played by Hungarian Bela Lugosi.  Lugosi does a very creepily evil, if somewhat camp, Count (with the plastic bats and spiders not adding any sense of seriousness to the movie!  I'm sure if you looked hard enough, you could probably spot the wires the bats are dangling from!!!)  Redfield has arrived with a lease agreement on an old abbey (monastery/church) in Whitby, England which, after close examination, agrees to and states that four boxes will be ready for a ship voyage to Whitby the next day.

Next, there is a ship sailing through a horridly nasty storm........ only to be found drifting into Whitby Harbour some time later, with the entire crew dead, and a madman (Redfield) in the hull of the boat with four boxes....... which turn out to be coffins!!!!  But what's inside the coffins???  Redfield is then taken to Dr Seward's Sanatorium for the Insane.

Later, Count Dracula arranges to meet Lucy, Mina and her fiance John Harker to find that his rented abbey is "next door" to their large property and are neighbours!  A few days later, Lucy is discovered comatose in bed with two marks on her neck.  After several blood transfusions, she never gain consciousness and dies.  Dr Van Helsing arrives to assist, and finds that Dracula cannot be seen in a mirror, and discovers Dracula's true identity!!!!  Later, Mina complains of nightmares, and is found also to have two marks on her neck and Van Helsing discovers that she now is part of the Undead Vampires!!!  John Harker refuses to believe it, and tries to take Mina to London to get her away from the panic setting in around Whitby!  However, she is kidnapped by the Count and taken to the Abbey.... followed by the mad Redfield...... who is followed by Van Helsing and Harker!!  Van Helsing drives a stake through the heart of the Count, and Harker finds Mina "just in time"...... which is where the movie ends!!!

RECOMMENDED
Although this is now somewhat dated, it's a good "watch"!

SCORE
7 squeaks out of 10

SCOOBY SNACKS
Black pudding.
If you don't know what that is, google it!!!