DVD Review HTF Review: Dracula - The Legacy Collection (1 Viewer)

[Michael Elliott]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movi...eut/index.html

Sorry if that has been posted already but it appears more classics could be released when VAN hits DVD. From the article:

Graffeo said there will be a core market of classic horror film buffs for the DVD collection now but that the bigger opportunity will arise when "Van Helsing" comes out on DVD later this year and Universal launches another major wave of promotions at retail outlets.




I'm not a fan of Tod Browning's sound films (Dracula, Freaks, Mark of the Vampire) and I've often said he was a silent director who couldn't make the jump to sound. Watching something like THE UNKNOWN makes me believe this all the more. I've often wondered if DRACULA would have been better if it were silent. I've got several problems with the film but in the end I wish it would have been silent.

I think I read somewhere that a silent version was shown at theaters back in 1931 and this here is something I'd really like to see.

 

[Steve...O]

Yesterday's USA Today also had a very nice article about the monster movies coming out. Here a link to the online version of the article.

Steve

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Years ago, I would have agreed with you. DRACULA was hailed as a masterpiece up until the late seventies, and even as a kid, I would scratch my head. FRANKENSTEIN is so much better.

But now DRACULA has been lambasted so thoroughly by film historians like David Skal and Tom Weaver that you can hardly find an article or writing on the film that's positive at all. At this point, I think DRACULA has fallen into the "underrated" category. Sure, there are lots of missed opportunities with the script and direction. But those first reels in Transylvania are just goose bump inducing. And every time Lugosi is on screen, the film comes to life like few others. I don't think DRACULA has aged particularly well, but when it works, it works in a way that few other horror films do.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Michael, I couldn't disagree with you more about DRACULA as a silent film. If you already find it dull as a talking film I should think it would strike you as even more sluggish as a silent. Besides, the main appeal for me is Lugosi's otherworldly accent and the gusto with which he delivers his juicy vampire dialogue.

And Larry - I agree about DRACULA now having fallen way down into "underrated" territory. It's no longer very revered anywhere.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Lugosi's voice is one problem I have with the film. I believe his English wasn't perfect at this time and I think it shows in the film. Of course, that voice is legendary so once again I'm in the majority. As we've talked about several times, I think his performance in A&C MEET FRANKENSTEIN is his greatest when it comes to Dracula. I'd also rate his performance in RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE as being better.

When I say it would have worked better as a silent, I don't really mean just turning the volume off. As I've said, I think Browning couldn't direct a sound as well as he would a silent so had he made this as a silent film then perhaps he would have taken care of a few problems that are here. Sure, we would have lost Lugosi's voice but perhaps (to me) the atmosphere would have been a lot richer like in THE UNKNOWN for example.

Whenever someone calls DRACULA too slow they are often asked about THE MUMMY, which has an even slower pace. The difference to me is that I find THE MUMMY slow but never boring. With DRACULA, it really just bores me. I've watched the film around ten times trying to finally "get it" but I guess the movie is just past me. I've retired the thing and I'm going to put off watching it for at least 5 years. Perhaps then I'll see what I'm missing but with those first ten viewings, something has never clicked.

 

[Mark B]

I understand what you mean about it being better as a silent, because visually I think it has a lot of interesting, atmospheric moments. And now that I look at DRACULA in this light I can see FREAKS similarly. Without the limitations of dialogue and the changes it made to the cinematography, both films could possibly have been more compelling.

Like Michael, I will continue to watch the film every once and a while. It has happened several times before that a film I didn't get the first time suddenly clicks on a subsequent viewing. And I'm sure we've all experienced the opposite, too.

Sometimes participation in a discussion like this can also bring about changes in the way I see a film. I find also that my angle of a film when viewed alone differs from the experience when shared with another or others. I tend to suddenly see the film through their eyes. Though the cellulloid and sound don't change, the experience does. Film is.....well, "It's alive! It's aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!"

Mark

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Lugosi's performance and the film itself never "clicked" for me until I saw it in a 35mm theatrical presentation about 10 years ago. His acting is hypnotic and overpowering in a way that is not able to be replicated on home video. The film itself is still creaky in the latter parts, but it, too, was better when seen this way. Seek out a theatrical screening before burying Lugosi and Dracula .

 

[John Morgan]

Concerning DRACULA

The good is they restored that bit of SCHUBERT music at the close of the theatre sequence.

The bad is they used an unrestored soundtrack that was first restored for the laser and then DVD edition. Ironically on the commentary track by David Skal you can hear the additional moans and additional stake hits during Dracula's demise, but the film's soundtrack is the unrestored single hit, single moan version.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Really? That's odd; the '99 version has the extra moans. Sigh.

 

[Matt Stieg]

On top of that, there IS a better print of Dracula. It was screened in Chicago in the late '90's. That hiss we're all so accustomed to is completely absent. In Castle Dracula, you can hear the wind howl through the windows with absolutely no hiss. Also, when the actors talk and the hiss gets louder, that's supposed to absent as well.

I'm just getting so sick of Universal, they're nothing more than incompetent idiots and they really have no idea how to treat their classic monster films. Disgusting.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Interesting about the "extra moan" not being on the new LEGACY version (I haven't screened this one yet). This is really becoming annoying. So, there IS a value to holding onto my 1999 DVD of DRACULA, then?

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Can anyone confirm that the extra moans are not on the new Legacy set? I know this seems like a small point, but it's just kind of frustrating.

So if they're not there, let me get this straight...Instead of just inserting the Schubert piece back into the soundtrack, they used a complete but old soundtrack from back before the moans were restored?

I've really made an attempt to not bash Universal just to bash them, but you almost have to try to make a mistake like that.

And the print quality doesn't bother me too much (the movie is over 70 years old, after all), unless there really is a better print that has been screened publicly. That's really disappointing.

I don't really know what's going on here. I don't think it's the whole Universal DVD department, because the supplements on even many of their recent DVDs have been pretty good. Maybe there are just various sub-departments that aren't doing their jobs very well.

At any rate, the horror films of the '30s made Universal what they are, and Dracula was the one that started it all. The supplements are nice, but you'd think they'd take a little more care with the presentation of the film.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Alright, been reading on some other boards that the moans are not the only thing missing from the unrestored soundtrack. I guess I had gotten used to the restored version and had forgotten all this. There's more sound during Renfield's death, and quite a bit of ambient sound throughout. So, is this all missing on the Legacy DVD?

If so, this is a real goof, and it should be corrected. Universal set up an exchange program for Back to the Future and Meaning of Life (although they had to do the latter a couple of times to finally get it right), so maybe they would do it for this.

What's so funny about this, is that, on the '99 disc at least, you can hear Dracula's moans and the Schubert music under Skal's commentary.

 

[Matt Stieg]

Yes this is an old soundtrack, missing the extra moan and the sound from Renfield's death.

There is not only a better print of Dracula but also of dozens of other Universal horror flicks. There's a better print of Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man without that nasty splice in the opening titles. The thing is, with a few exceptions, these are basically the same transfers we've had on video for like the past fifteen years. With many films, Universal simply takes their existing transfers and uses them for the DVD, rather than making a new transfer. Such is the genius of Universal.

 

[Thomas Newton]

Nay, seek out a sharp wooden stake before burying Dracula. Against Dracula, anything short of a stake (or an extended exposure to full sunlight) bites!

 

[Drew Salzan]

I just received the Monster Legacy Gift Set and was quite pleased except for the fact that the box for the Frankenstein set came damaged and one of the discs came loose with disc 2 of the Dracula set during shipping and got scratched (I asked for a replacement).

Otherwise,I think the set is cool. The figurines have weight to them and are not cheap or tacky at all. The transfers are good. Most importantly, The Bride of Frankenstein (which was framed incorrectly in the previous release) has been remastered and looks fine. In addition to the framing correction, it looks like it was transfered from a better print; better contrast and overall better looking. I'm very pleased with this. The rest of the set seems similar to the previous releases.

One strange audio anomaly; during the last reel or so of Dracula's Daughter there is a low frequency hum. Anyone else notice this?

 

[Anthony Clifton]

I just finished watching House of Dracula. Quite a silly film yet I enjoyed it.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

So has anyone contacted Universal about the soundtrack issue?

There's really no excuse for using an unrestored soundtrack, especially if it identifies the film as "The Restored Version" anywhere on the packaging (as it does on the '99 DVD).

Does anyone have a phone number or an e-mail address or something? Universal needs to hear about this and do something about it.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

I agree with you Bryan. In fact, I'm surprised there hasn't been a bigger outcry on this issue. For years, the altered soundtrack was the only way you could hear the film. Then the mid-1930's censor cuts were found and inserted into the track, but now they're gone again.

Ever since Mike Fitzgerald passed away, the Universal video mastering has gone to the dogs. Look at the various problems in the first A&C box: missing end titles and Realart altered titles. It's a shame.

 

[AlanP]

The best DRACULA FILM EVER MADE IS
"THE BRIDES OF DRACULA" from from HAMMER and
UNIVERSAL !!!!!!!!! WHERE IS THE DVD !!!!!!!!UNIVERSAL,
I AM ASKING YOU :??????????????????????????????
And "CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF" ??????????????