Exploring the Cinematic World of Horror with Iloz Zoc - Page 2

The 1931 Dracula remains a wonderfully creepy, Gothic-styled horror film mainly due to its star, Bela Lugosi. His persona as the undead aristocrat remains a vivid image to this day, and the iconic look of Dracula that everyone tends to remember. Of course, with Edward Van Sloan and Dwight Frye, the story, although whittled-down budget-wise due to the Great Depression, still is a good one. But Lugosi is incredible. What's more, his was the first talking performance for an on-screen supernatural monster. His Dracula ushered in Universal's great horror cycle, opening the door for the later Frankenstein, Wolfman, and Mummy films.

It's a wonderful coincidence that his accent, which proved a hurdle in later films, was perfect for Dracula. The film wouldn't be as strong if it were done silently - it was released in a silent version since many theaters in 1931 still weren't sound ready for talkies. Aside from Lugosi and company, the expansive set design early on in the film (while a culmination of the gothic designs from the silents before it) is superlative here. It's unfortunate that director Browning didn't have his heart in it; the film may have been much more exciting and atmospheric if he had.

So, my answer to your question is that Dracula is the first great horror film because it led to the classic cycle of supernatural horror unleashed by Universal, which transformed into the mutant atomic horrors of the 1950s, which led to the Hammer Studios' evocative revivals, etc. That's not to belittle or ignore Lon Chaney's influence on the genre; his part as Erik in Phantom of the Opera is fantastically chilling and sorrowful at the same time. In fact, he was supposed to play Dracula in place of Lugosi. Tragically, his untimely death decided otherwise. If he had starred in it, I'm sure the film would have been entirely different due to his penchant for makeup; of course we'll never know. But his performances, which led Universal to consider doing a major horror film like Dracula, don't directly connect to that classic cycle. The advent of speaking rolls really changed the face of horror, as well as film in general.

Now, not surprisingly, my opinion would be contested by lots of other horror heads — phooey on them. However, if you wanted to look at the timeline for horror films, then, according to Wikipedia, the current consensus on which is the first horror film would be 1896's Georges Melies' film, The Devil's Castle. Who outside of a really dyed-in-the-wool horror head would know that? It's also three minutes long, so you can't really do much of a story in three minutes.

Article Author: Alessandro Nicolo

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