Soooo fellow geek classic monster collectors, remark me, does this sound familiar? You are perusing various sites and store DVD racks and you stumble across these 75th Anniversary editions of DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN and your geek heart starts palpitating at the notion of digitally restored version of these films and you gather all wrathful and you initiate deciding which silly books you’ll give up this month to take these instead…….but then you remember you’ve bought the last TWO previously released DVD versions of these films and now you wonder if these are worth it? OK….well…maybe this is kind of an exaggeration, but you know what I mean. I bowed to temptation because, well….Universal has me with their monster releases from diagram assist….period.
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Soooo…..as it is obligatory when one has bought three releases of the same d@mn film, I sat down with them all and ran them through to settle which was the best of them. It is without interrogate IMO, that the DRACULA 75th DVD is the best transfer when compared to the 90’s (poster art), and the first LEGACY (green box art) releases. Picture-wise, the amount of speckles, noise and whatnot has been sever quite a bit. This is most apparent in the darker scenes. So on a suitable tag, seeing less snowy junk pop up is nice. Some of the scenes also see less jittery. For example, in the previous releases, the scene when Frye first comes into Drac’s home and Lugosi is descending the staircase gradual him, the film image is really disquieted…like watching a abominable bootleg. In this 75th release it looks stable and doesn’t have that funky aliasing peep. The overall portray quality unprejudiced feels cleaner in this release. But there is smooth a splendid amount of junk throughout the film that this cannot possibly be considered the definitive restoration. Only some making the leap from VHS to DVD will acquire their socks knocked of with this release. If you bought the other two, then you might be delighted, but probably underwhelmed despite the well-behaved points. Like the FRANKENSTEIN release, this calm feels like a money making thing than an anniversary homage to this film especially after the promise of something recent from a third dip. Some people may say that we can’t examine considerable because the film is so used. But sorry, after THREE RELEASES, and most especially since this one is clearly the supposed icing-on-the-cake release so far, well, I assume Universal could have done even better than this, Distinguished BETTER. Technology as it stands nowadays is very forgiving when cleaning up feeble films…..but companies need to be willing to place the money into using said technololgy. I would consider that even if the buying public of an older film such as this is shrimp and Universal wasn’t going to pour a ton of cash into it, well, being the third time releasing the same d@mn movie, would it be scandalous to rob they’d have enough saved in the piggy bank to do a definitve restoration instead of this continued fleecing, but hey, guess that’s business. I reflect if they DID do noteworthy better and THEY knew it, we would have gotten Novel SPECIAL FEATURES and none of the stuff that was already on the other two releases keep for the one Lugos bit that is recent here.
Sound-wise, I have to agree with other reviews that I have read that mention that the 90’s release had better sound. It did seem a bit crisper. But like the FRANKENSTEIN releases, picking the better sound with DRACULA is like picking the lesser o two evils…….do you want Niagra Falls somewhere in the background or do you want gentle rapids? To me, all of the background hissing and popping and rustling sounds funky on all of the releases, but they eventually honest become fragment of the film. I don’t really have remarkable of a preference as none have ever been so spruce that I could compose myself care THAT powerful.
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VALUE: Hmmmmmm……..if you have the money, this is the best DRACULA to gain in terms of report and such. But one has to ask themselves how great they care about this film to fork over the cash for fair one film. If you are only marginally fervent in this DRACULA, but serene want a copy, I’d go for the LEGACY location as that comes with other films and is the better value overall. This release is truly for the purists and gluttons for finacial punishment such as myself. Even though I have now three copies of this film, I have calm only managed to explore it less than ten times since the first 90’s release since, even though a classic, I glean DRACULA mostly a plain affair when watched repeatedly so I hafta consume it in like wine….humdrum…and over time. So my point is, one has to ask themselves, how great do you care to descend the cash for yet another copy of this if you already have it?
PACKAGING: For the most piece, identical to the green LEGACY sets. That is, the faux hardback book case that opens up to negate two DVD’s. Only here, there is NO launch window slipcover to protect the case. This seems kinda cheap since the case is a cold, leather-ish ‘grained’ mask printed in matte sepia, which is nice. But it will succumb to scuffs and such powerful faster than the better protected LEGACY space.
OVERALL: Like the FRANKENSTEIN 75th….this is cold if you got the money to upgrade. But for what it’s touted as, this collected is gets 50/50 from me. Fair withhold in mind that the ‘definitve’ HD/BLUE RAY versions will approach at some point ……..or at least the first versions of -those- definitve versions…so we ain’t outta the woods yet.
This DVD is the “Jewel in the Crown” of the classic Universal awe films released in that format. It includes a quality print of the Bella Lugosi DRACULA, with options to play the film with Philip Glass’ original soundtrack; the so-called “Spanish” DRACULA starring Carlos Villarias; and a appealing documentary hosted by Carla Laemmle, who has a bit role in the Lugosi DRACULA and who was niece to Universal studio head Carl Laemmle. There is also an audio track by David J. Skal, production notes, and the like.
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The Lugosi DRACULA is somewhat problematic. DRACULA had been previously (and illegally) filmed as the peaceful NOSFERATU, and a later stage adaptation proved a staple of the British theatre. When the stage play at last arrived in Fresh York, the title role fell to Bela Lugosi. Although Universal optioned the material, studio head Carl Laemmle was not keen about it; although European films were comfortable with the supernatural, American films were not, and Laemmle did not fill the public would rep such an irrational record. Nor was Laemmle eager in Lugosi; if DRACULA was to be filmed, it would be filmed with Lon Chaney.
When Chaney died the camouflage role went to Lugosi by default, but there were further issues. Originally planned as a big-budget production, the deeping Titanic Depression made the film’s box office possibilities seem even slighter than before and its budget was slice to the bone. And Todd Browning, who had been such a successful director of the macabre in the restful era, proved clumsy with sound. The resulting film was more than a small clunky–but it had two things going for it: a advantageous first thirty minutes and Lugosi. Although Lugosi’s performance may seem excessively mannered by today’s standards, audiences of the 1930s found it terrifying–and even today, when the character of Dracula comes to mind, we are more likely to judge of Lugosi than other actor that later played the role.
For a brief time after the advent of sound, several studios made foreign language versions of their productions. The “Spanish” DRACULA was one such film, and when the English language company wrapped for the day the Spanish speaking cast arrived and filmed through the night using the same sets. This gave the Spanish company the relieve of hindsight: they were perfectly aware of what the English language company was doing, and they deliberately status out to best it. The result is a somewhat longer, more cohesive film with some of the most exciting visuals and camera work of the early sound era. But unfortunately, star Carlos Villarias was no Bella Lugosi: although grand of his performance was more subtle than Lugosi’s, it was also less intimidating, and where today Lugosi seems mannered, Villarias seems unfortunately silly. In a perfect world, we would be able to insert the Lugosi performance into the “Spanish” Dracula. As it is, we are left with two deeply flawed but nonetheless gripping films.
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In their maintain ways, both films proved incredibly influential, and it is difficult to imagine the evolution of the classic-style dismay film without reference to both the Lugosi and the “Spanish” DRACULA. The Lugosi film is not perfectly restored, but the print is very, very pleasant, easily the best I have seen. The “Spanish” DRACULA has more problematic elements, partly due the fact that the film borrowed some scenic footage from the Lugosi version and snips of footage from earlier films (there even appears to be a brief clip of the ballet from the still PHANTOM OF THE OPERA in the film) ; the film is sometimes dusky, sometimes very spotted, but short of a cgi restoration this is probably as ample as it gets.
The Philip Glass soundtrack, which is optional, tends to divide viewers. The Lugosi DRACULA had virtually nothing in the device of soundtrack; the “Spanish” DRACULA former music to a greater degree, but even so that degree is comparative. The Glass collect is often quite bright, but it is also as often intrusive as it is effective. Some feel it adds quite a bit to the film; others collect it distracts. Whatever one’s reaction to the film, either English or Spanish language, or with or without the Glass bag, this is a powerful DVD package, and fans of classic awe will fetch it an almost inexhaustible pleasure. I cannot recommend it too strongly.
Gary Taylor (gft)
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Correct, they did release the”Best Of” series but those are honest a few of the many hilarious episodes of the prove. Now with the release of the “Complete Season” ones, we can really delight in the amusing day-to-day lives of Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe.
. The cast also recognize completly different then than how they peek now, and it’s bewitching to glimpse how the indicate first hit off.