Dracula (75th Anniversary Edition) (Universal Legacy Series) dvd movie.|
Dracula (75th Anniversary Edition) (Universal Legacy Series) buy bestselling dvd movies, videos find reviews, ratings, prices |
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List Price: $26.98 Our Price: $19.99 You Save: $6.99 Features • Color • Dolby • DVD-Video • Full Screen • Subtitled • NTSC In Theaters : 14 February, 1931 DVD Release : 26 September, 2006 |
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Dracula (75th Anniversary Edition) (Universal Legacy Series) description When Universal Pictures picked up the movie rights to a Broadway adaptation of Dracula, they felt secure in handing the property over to the sinister team of actor Lon Chaney and director Tod Browning. But Chaney died of cancer, and Universal hired the Hungarian who had scored a success in the stage play: Béla Lugosi. The resulting film launched both Lugosi's baroque career and the horror-movie cycle of the 1930s. It gets off to an atmospheric start, as we meet Count Dracula in his shadowy castle in Transylvania, superbly captured by the great cinematographer Karl Freund. Eventually Dracula and his blood-sucking devotee (Dwight Frye, in one of the cinema's truly mad performances) meet their match in a vampire-hunter called Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan). If the later sections of the film are undeniably stage bound and a tad creaky, Dracula nevertheless casts a spell, thanks to Lugosi's creepily lugubrious manner and the eerie silences of Browning's directing style. (After a mood-enhancing snippet of Swan Lake under the opening titles, there is no music in the film.) Frankenstein, which was released a few months later, confirmed the horror craze, and Universal has been making money (and countless spin-off projects) from its twin titans of terror ever since. Certainly the role left a lasting impression on the increasingly addled and drug-addicted Lugosi, who was never quite able to distance himself from the part that made him a star. He was buried, at his request, in his black vampire cape. --Robert Horton |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | WILL THE REAL BLOODSUCKER, PLEASE STAND UP! |
| I have mixed emotions about this DVD set. Yes, it is an improvement over the last release in some ways but, there are many questions to be answered. I found the sound to be worse on this set than the last release but, it sounds clearer when you add the Glass soundtrack...???! The film looks very good and restoring the groans of Dracula to the ending is a big plus but, is this the best they can do? I guess I'm expecting too much after seeing some truly amazing restorations come to DVD. The extras are carried over from the last release and they have added a new documentary called "Universal Horror" which is on the Frankenstein 75th Anniversary DVD set too. This is my third dip buying this film, forth..if you count my VHS version. I'm sure I will buy a HD version someday too. I wouldn't mind so much if Universal would stop draining my savings ever couple of years on minor improvements. Now reviewing the film. This is a monumental film and should be in everyone's collection. Lugosi would become forever associated with the role. The DVD set does include the Spanish version of Dracula which in many ways is better but, Lugosi's performance is the deciding factor and makes the American original reign supreme. If you don't already own this film, then this might be the one to buy. Just remember that with the legacy set, you get all 4 of the Dracula related films from Universal, plus the Spanish version for about the same price including most of these extras. It's a toss up but, I would go with the Legacy set for now and skip this 75th edition. | |
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