Rating The Universal Dracula Films

 

Now it's time for my personal rankings of the Universal Dracula films made during the studio's classic monster era from 1931 to 1948. 

This will be the same setup as my Universal Frankenstein rankings from yesterday. There's going to be some overlap from that list, as HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, HOUSE OF DRACULA, and ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN both feature the monster and Dracula. For the purposes of this post I'll be looking at those movies by how they feature the Count. 

I also need to point out that, in my opinion, none of the Universal Dracula films significantly stand out from the others. None of them are truly bad....but I wouldn't say any of them are outstanding. I'm ranking them in order of preference, but honestly there's a dozen ways I could have written this list. 

1. SON OF DRACULA (1943) 

I'm sure this choice will get some attention. Robert Siodmak's fine tale of small-town American supernatural noir is one of Universal's most unique monster movies (and thankfully it has no comic relief whatsoever). As for the debate on whether Lon Chaney Jr. actually is playing Dracula here....he's billed in the title credits as "Count Dracula", so that's good enough for me. And as for the debate on Lon Jr.'s performance....I think he's quite good as a vampire (I actually prefer him as Dracula rather than the Frankenstein monster). Lon's portrayal here anticipates Christopher Lee's Dracula in a number of ways--Chaney's scenes are brief, strong, and to the point. The real star of this film, however, is Louise Allbritton, who is fantastic as a death-obsessed dark-haired vixen who chooses to becomes a member of the undead in order to further her own wild schemes. 

2. DRACULA'S DAUGHTER (1936) 

It took a long time, a lot of scripts, and many changes in cast & crew before Universal finally brought out a follow-up to their legendary original DRACULA, but all things considered, it came out very well. Gloria Holden brings plenty of moody screen presence in the title role, and she's also decades ahead of her time in portraying a sympathetic vampire who is searching for a release from her gruesome existence. Director Lambert Hillyer gets almost no attention from old monster movie fans, but he did an excellent job here. What prevents this film from being one of the all-time Universal classics is the far too frequent attempts at humor. 

3. DRACULA (1931)

I must admit that the major reason I have this rated at #3 is due to its overall importance to the entire horror film genre. It's Universal's first true sound horror film....but it's also very slow, and for whatever reason director Tod Browning lets a lot of enticing opportunities slip by. Bela is absolutely iconic, and he always will be, as will Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing and Dwight Frye as Renfield. In the end this is a film that will be remembered for what it could have been instead of what it is. 

4. ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948)

In the monster rallies HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and HOUSE OF DRACULA, the Count never got to fully interact with the other creatures. Here he does--and he's played again by Bela Lugosi, in only his second official time playing Dracula in a full-length theatrical film. (You can win a lot of bar bets with that info.) Bela's Count isn't as alien or as creepy here as he was in 1931--but it's great to see him in the cape. Unfortunately this would be the very last time Bela had a decent role in a movie produced by a major American studio. 

5. HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1944)

John Carradine takes over the role of Dracula for this entry, and his take on the Count is more subtle and restrained than one would expect from an actor of his reputation (some fans would say he's too restrained in the role). The Count is only in the first part of the story, trying to vamp the lovely Anne Gwynne. 

6. HOUSE OF DRACULA (1945) 

Most of what I said above for HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN can also go here as well. Carradine is once again a low-key Dracula; he's only in the first part of the film; and he sets his sights on a pretty Universal starlet, this time Martha O'Driscoll. One wonders what Carradine could have done if he had been able to play the Count in a 1940s Universal film dedicated solely to the character. 

* I decided not to include Universal's 1931 Spanish version of DRACULA in these rankings--but if I did, it would rank near the bottom. If you think the Lugosi DRACULA is slow--and it is--consider that the Spanish DRACULA is about a half-hour longer, and it's no improvement. It has some notable camera setups, but that's about it.