The first great Universal monster movie Dracula stars Bela Lugosi as the Count in the classic Bram Stoker tale of his trip to England, seduction of women and confrontation with Van Helsing. Directed by Tod Browning, who would go on and direct the equally impressive Freaks, Dracula is shot in such a style that it soon becomes its own entity. The film is its own style with shadow playing a huge role and the dank and dusty castles and caves soon becoming standard vampire movie fodder.
The real greatness in Dracula comes from Bela Lugosi. I own a copy of Stokers novel and who does Dracula look like on the cover? That's right. He created the role for the stage and made it an icon on the screen. No one ever filled Lugosi's shoes in the 75 + years since the release of the film. It's easy to see how Dracula scared the hell out of audiences back in the '30's. Not only was he the walking dead, he was also an erotic character to a degree. Lugosi's presence was center stage in the film.
Of the Universal monsters Dracula was the first and one of the best (I have to tie him with Frankenstein). A classic tale that never really had justice to it in the decades sine its original release.
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