MovieChat Forums > Dracula (1931) Discussion > Guilty Pleasure... (The Case For Bela.....

Guilty Pleasure... (The Case For Bela...)

posted 12 years ago by PACman66
10 replies | jump to latest

OK... I GET IT....

This film didn't age that well... It's WAY too easy to quote Dracula's lines with a fake ass Romanian accent... Poor sound, rubber bats & over acting also detract from the rating... A simplistic story line, and a non-existent ending... This is one of the easiest movies to MST3K riff to... The "keeper" guy at the hospital would have better fit in a "Mary Poppins" flick...

That all said...

I LOVE THIS MOVIE!
Perhaps it's because it was my absolute favorite horror film/classic movie monster as a child... Dracula himself is so awesome... The first "monster" that can interact with "us." A monster that isn't horrifically ugly.. And has his way with the ladies. And Bela, no mater how ham-fisted his acting might have been, his portrayal has and will be forever identified as "THE" Dracula performance everyone remembers.

And remember this... Dracula always looked good & stylish... And he did that himself... ALL without seeing himself in a mirror! I have loads of mirrors in my house and I still leave the house looking crappy...

Long Live Bela!

Trust me,
Swan
My, you're nosey, aren't you?

[–] stargazer1701-1 12 years ago

All good and true (even that crack about the asylum attendant coming out of the Mary Poppins wagon)...

No matter if Christopher Lee made 20 or 50 Dracula movies, the first actor you think of when you say the Dracula is Bela Lugosi... whom only portrayed the king of Vampires just once.

Also, not to mention that Bram Stoker was airing some prejudice notions in his fantastic tale of Dracula. Dracula is a foreigner coming into England. He seduces English women with his hypnotic stare. He possessed dark habits like sleeping in coffins and shunned the cross. All nasty assumptions when racism rears its ugly old head.

Smoke me a kipper. I’ll be back for breakfast

[–] PACman66 12 years ago

That's some interesting trivia, Star...

But that's some trivia I won't retain.

Why can't I believe Dracula's propensity for "possessing dark habits like sleeping in coffins and shunning the cross" and his power to "seduce English women with his hypnotic stare..." Be simply cause he's UNDEAD and has EVIL powers?
No offense, but it's kinda like those people who say "The Wizard of Oz" was actually a tale of capitalism versus socialism or some such thing. I'm not at all doubting that's the case... It's just when I watch the WoO, I'm watching a fantasy. Nothing more, nothing less. If someone wants to view it as politically charged, cinematic propaganda, so be it. I can clue ya, young children don't view Wizard that way... At least I never did.

Dracula is simply a horror film... One of the first "blockbusters." If Stoker was race-bating in his novel, it's news to me (And I've no doubt you're telling the truth... While I have read "Dracula" numerous times, I have never made a study of the man, Stoker.)

The thought of racism never entered MY mind until today. Guess I'm too naive.

Trust me,
Swan
My, you're nosey, aren't you?

[–] kerrykop 11 years ago

Well as for the wizard of OZ to me it was just about two women fighting over a pair of shoes.

[–] richard-III 12 years ago

Two times. Bela Lugosi also played Dracula in 1948's Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein. Okay, a farce, but Lugosi was again electrifying and amazing in that movie.

"I don't discriminate between entertainment
and arthouse. A film is a goddam film."

[–] fritzfassbender 12 years ago

I mean this as dismissive to no one, but I feel absolutely no need to apologize for this film or anything in it. It is in no way a 'guilty' pleasure.

For some reason fans of Dracula seem to think it's much more disliked than it actually is. It currently has a 7.6 rating on this website, which is higher than The Wolf Man, Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Mummy and, to be just a bit petty, Bram Stoker's Dracula. This movie is a genuine classic.

There may be a number of huffy posts with double exclamation points and oh so clever spacing of the words, but as is often with the internet those posters are the real life minority. They're entitled to their opinion, but they do not have to be catered to.

No movie can not be MST3K'd. Not one. Dracula...actually....rocks(!!)

[–] PACman66 11 years ago

Amen, Fritz....
Truth to power.
>:o)

[–] Wolfbrother1983 11 years ago

Bela doesn't need a case. He's freaking awesome. Even in some of the skid row garbage he did later "The Gorilla", the Ed Wood films, etc....He's still fun to watch in those.

"America isn't ready for a gay, mexican chicken sandwich"

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ElectricWarlock 11 years ago

Despite what many people see as flaws, I love the film anyways. I will agree that the first half is better than the second. I think they could've added 20 or 30 minutes because it seems everything happened so quickly towards the end, but I still think this is one of the best black and white horror films I've seen. The creepy, Gothic atmosphere is incredible and as you said Bela's performance is incredible. This is my second favorite Dracula film I've seen. The best is still Horror of Dracula for me.

Burn, witch! Burn, witch! Burn! Burn! Burn!

[–] sage2112 9 years ago

A guilty pleasure would be something like that crap show Glee. Being a fan of an iconic classic horror film shouldn't be associated with a guilty pleasure. Moron.