"I am Dracula..." And So Much More

Even in today's Hollywood, few stars can say they hold an iconic or cult position in mainstream culture. When you first hear the word "Dracula" or "vampire", most do not think of the hideous creature of Nosferatu. Modern followers of vampire lore think of the suave, well-dressed sophisticate who mixes his lust for blood with an almost romantic aura about himself. The idea of the romantic vampire comes to us not from literature, but from one man who will forever be identified as the creator of the modern vampire ideal: Bela Lugosi. The Lugosi version of the famed vampire has penetrated our culture in the way the way the vampire Dracula's own fangs penetrated his victims. Ironically, Lugosi's Dracula bit no one on camera and left no bite marks on any necks.

Born in what was at the time Austria-Hungary and now Romania, Bela had an unusual rise to stardom. He served in the army during World War I for the Austro-Hungarian army and then branched into Shakespeare on stage and films in Hungary and Germany. He illegally immigrated to the US in 1920 and then legally gained entrance in 1921. He married a San Franciscan socialite only to be divorced three weeks later after an affair with famed silent film flapper and "It" girl, Clara Bow. Bela received his studio contract with MGM after the death of Lon Chaney and had his first commercial success with Dracula.

The original Dracula was billed with the slogan: "The story of the strangest passion the world has ever known". The film itself was released on Valentine's Day of 1931, which some might consider a little ironic for a horror film. Lugosi delivers his lines in the movie with a wonderful accent that portrays the foreignness of the creature in a way no American-born actor could have. So many of his famous phrases such as "Listen to them, the children of the night, what music they make" and "I never drink wine" have become so intertwined with our culture that we know them before many of us even know Lugosi was the famed actor who created the modern version of Dracula. Unfortunately, many people know little of Lugosi past his infamous role as the vampire defeated by Van Helsing.

Accent and appearance type cast Bela into the mysterious European, usually of some sort of supernatural or otherworldly origin. Because of changes in Hollywood, Bela's success wavered and he was soon resigned to doing B-movies and taking roles less than suited to a man of his talents. He delved into drug use and became so obscure, many thought he was already dead. His last major motion picture was Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, where he recreated the role that made him famous. After this, he began doing less and less work in film.

However, Bela's career was reserected by notoriously strange cult director Ed Wood, a major fan of Bela's, hired him to do work in his famous B-movies. In 1959, Bela died of a heart attack in the midst of filming Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space, causing Wood to replace him with a thinner, non-accented lookalike. The brave or mildly curious of you can watch Plan 9 here if you like, though it is often listed among the worst films ever made due to Bela's untimely death and replacement, not to mention Wood's directorial... skills... On request of his wife, Bela was buried wearing his vampire costume, further adding to his legend.

In addition, two other public domain movies of Bela's are available online for those who want to watch as well. The 1932 White Zombie is a great horror film and one of Bela's last "A" pictures. It can be found here. The full length version of the 1939 serial The Phantom Creeps, is more on the B-movie side and you can decide for yourself whether it is good or bad, since opinions tend to vary on this picture. It was featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000, if that gives you any indications about anything at all. Those of you who want to see The Phantom Creeps can view it here. I highly recommend checking out Bela's other films if you have time, good, bad, and ugly, just to get a broad sense of his acting spectrum.

Creating an icon like Bela Lugosi's Dracula is something very few can claim to have done. Our modern image of the vampire comes directly from this character he created and he has influenced more popular culture in America than perhaps he ever intended to. The man was even given his own stamp by the US Postal Service as part of the monster movie collection, a honor few people have ever had. We owe a lot to this Eastern European actor who spawned not only a cult following but a culture.

A Symphony of Horror

I had the pleasure of discovering that Google Video has the complete silent film of Noseferatu posted for viewers to see in its enterity. The film itself is short compared to most modern day features, running at around an hour and twenty-four minutes. Officially titled in English Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, the 1922 German film, directed by F.W. Murnau, is the closest any film interpretation has come to recreating Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula on the silver screen. Before Bela Lugosi turned Dracula into a sauve, sophisticated, man about town, Nosferatu was the terrifyingly devilish impression people had of vampires.

The film was actually made in Germany, but since it is silent, the title cards were easily translated into English for a wider audience. This translation is a true testament to how the art of film can transcend the language barrier. More than reading the title cards, though, you find yourself relying on the expressions and actions of the characters to propel you through the story. Without the added music in the background, you can still understand completely what is going on. However, I would recommend keeping the music on and turned up since the score, done by the Silent Orchestra, is particularly haunting. Several scores for the film exist and are widely available, even fragments from the original score by Hans Erdmann remain and can be heard, thanks to the Phoenix Wind Project.
Now, I know a lot of people are not big fans of silent movies and they would much rather hear the lines from the actors than read the title cards on the screen, but this film is definitely a classic and any film buff, lover of horror or vampires, or just someone looking for a little culture and exploration can get into this film. Sure, the dreaded Count Orlok may not be as terrifying to modern audiences as he was to the first generation of movie-goers, but he is still the closest to Stoker's description of Dracula and terrifying in his own, silent right. And yes, the "werewolf" towards the beginning is in fact a hyena.

Some of the scenes you might fine a little cheesy since we're used to a word of modern filming techniques, CGI, and computers, but you have to learn to appreciate the abilities they had in the time period. And even if some scenes are a little dated, there are scenes, such as the entrance of the Nosferatu himself that will still chill you to the bone, especially if its after midnight and all the lights are off. For its day, the film is wonderfully acted. The hauntingly talented Max Schreck takes the title role of Nosferatu/Count Orlock in stage makeup that rivals modern horrof film costuming. The other stars of the film are the angelically handsome Gustav von Wangenheim as Jonathan Harker and Greta Schröder as his tragically beautiful wife, Mina.

At any rate, Nosferatu is not only a classic film but a classic horror film, one of the must haves on any ultimate horror movie list.

Fright Fest Begins

The month of October is upon us and this month I have decided to celebrate some of the shocks, screams, thrills, and chills Old Hollywood had to offer. From the terrifying long nails of Nosferatu to the hair-tingling transformation of Lon Chaney, Jr. into The Wolfman to The Master of Suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock, Hollywood had us on the edge of our seats with fright and anticipation.

Unlike the horror movies of today, which rely more on straightforward gore, violence, and sexuality to draw in viewers to the box office, this movies relied more on suspense, drama, and a creation of a frightening realm through makeup, costuming, scenery, and spectacular acting to keep audiences paralyzed with fear. Though many see these films as outdated and their horror not quite as petrifying as the modern films that push all the limits and sometimes manage to desensitize us to the truly horrible, many are still relevant and still relevantly spooky if you watch them at the right time of night with the lights off. I dare you to stay up late and watch one of the old movies where Vincent Price interprets the works of Edgar Allan Poe then have pleasant dreams that night.

Of course, there are some films whose once innovative and frightening special effects now emit laughter and certain films that missed the mark, becoming more horrible than horrifying. Still, we need to explore what it was that once made these movies so terrifying to audiences, what about audiences have changed, and the major innovations these first frightening films made that allowed for modern advancement in the movies. I like to think that even the bad films did some good, even if the only good is giving us something to laugh at.

So I invite you, if you dare, to join me this month in celebrating what is scary and what is scarily funny about Old Hollywood. Who knows? We might all get a good scream out of it.