Dracula (1931) - Parting Words

For one who has not lived even a single lifetime, you're a wise man, Van Helsing.

You know there was something I never noticed before until watching “Dracula” (1931) tonight when Renfield is at the table preparing Dracula’s papers for the manifest and Carfax Abbey, a rundown castle and estate in London not far from the Steward premises and institution for the insane…after he cuts his finger accidentally and Dracula eyeballs the blood, drawing near like a lion for a vulnerable animal, and the crucifix conveniently drops to send him back, watch Lugosi in the scene while pouring the wind. Renfield has something he wants…and it isn’t wine. Notice how Lugosi barely takes his eyes off of him unless he’s looking at the papers or pouring the wine…it’s intense and I don’t even think he blinks. Always in his mind, I think you can see the vampire just biding his time, waiting, until he finally sinks his teeth in Renfield’s neck. Despite later when it does seem Director Browning isn’t as inspired, in the early going that lighting on Lugosi’s face and eyes is impeccable. We as viewers are led to understand that Dracula yearns as a predator always for the next meal. Renfield arrives without much concern for his safety. This is a business trip, and everything is supposed to be arranging for a client to have the documents available to lease Carfax Abbey…never was this supposed to be Renfield rendered a helpless weakling, a cursed foil for Dracula, trying to help keep Mina safe later but powerless to save himself. The Brides hope to help themselves to this fresh meat but Dracula isn’t about to let that happen…with a wave of his hand, they back off. And what a scene it is. You don’t see the bite itself. You see the fog behind Dracula, the large window open, the gowns of the Brides open and dragging on the floor. It is quite a sight indeed. God, I hate that we leave Transylvania, although I know that the film must move to London…

Anyone that visits the blog at the right times of the year know that I hold Peter Cushing quite high in opinion. He’s my favorite actor, and his Van Helsing, the crusader against the predators of the night in search of human blood, I hold in high esteem. But I still always want to credit Edward Van Sloan as the preeminent Van Helsing, the sure and steady scientist and researcher of the occult, his life’s studies dedicated to the “things that go bump in the night” and species that provide him with the authority to offer his expertise and advice when the time comes to deal with vampires. I do wish we had gotten the chance to see Van Helsing stake Lucy, Mina’s best friend who is one of Dracula’s early victims. Lucy, the eerie “Lady in White” who isn’t above luring children into her midst in the dark of night to bleed, doesn’t quite get the sendoff I think the film could have benefited from. Seeing someone turned by Dracula staked and freed of the vampire curse would have prepared us for perhaps something similar happening to Mina that really would have added further suspense to the finale—if I had to choose the film’s weakest scene it is the ending which is abrupt and anticlimactic—but that was just never to be. As Van Helsing, Van Sloan is never in doubt, confident in his knowledge, surefooted and unwavering. While David Manners (*yawn*) as Jonathan Harker is always willing to argue about the absurdities of vampires and the supernatural, Van Sloan’s performance of Van Helsing really gives credibility to a scientist who has seen a lot more than many living in London, having ventured out into the world. He has knowledge in what vampires are capable of, how to hurt and kill them, and understands that the fight against them is never easy. That the disbelief in vampires is their greatest strength Van Helsing tries to tell anyone who will listen. But it isn’t until Mina is a victim of Dracula, and her father, the head of the institution, worries for her safety that Van Helsing’s advice and warnings are truly taken under advisement and adhered to.

“You know too much to live, Van Helsing!” - Renfield

I like how the film posits the idea that Renfield perhaps doesn’t just live on “tiny, puny things” but perhaps escapes from his cell and maybe has claimed humans before. Van Helsing, in his very distinctive bottle-cap shaped glasses, questions whether or not Renfield might be quite close to the vampire situation plaguing London. Seward is having an obviously hard time accepting the idea that vampires are in London, until Van Helsing’s proof begins to prove him wrong.

• *At the 36 minute mark, one of the creepiest scenes in all of Universal Horror’s golden age, Renfield, agonizing in bed, a tortured soul, senses Dracula on the grounds. His face and the cell are quite dark but Renfield’s eyes are so white they pop on screen bright. At first he seems quite elated that his master is near but when he realizes Mina is to be Dracula’s next victim (and chosen bride), Renfield tries to protect her by begging for her life…to no avail. 

• *In the scene where Dracula and Van Helsing meet for the first time, there is a brilliant connective tissue where Van Helsing asks Mina who caused the marks on her throat with Harker and Dr. Seward showing definite concern for her safety. Harker asks Van Helsing what caused the bite marks and as soon as the question leaves his lips, Dracula is announced. Comedies do that all the time, as conversations have an interrupting punchline. This is actually the beginning of Dracula’s undoing. Mina has the bite on her neck, Dracula visits when Van Helsing is in the room, Van Helsing sees no reflection cast in the mirror of a cigar case (Harker doesn’t seem to see what Van Helsing does which has always bothered me), Van Helsing shows Dracula that he knows his true nature, Van Helsing has the look of “I gotcha!” on his face, Dracula admits that Van Helsing is quite wise considering his age, and Dracula leaves as Harker looks out in the lawn seeing a wolf.

• *One of my least favorite moments has the maid just faint and collapse when seeing Renfield giving her the lunatic laugh. However, I think the moment when Renfield is on all fours crawling towards her is effectively creepy. And right after a brief glimpse of Lucy walking in the woods like a spectre haunting the area, with the sound of a weeping child telling us that Dracula leaves not only victims behind but additional predators. Mina admits as much with Van Helsing promising her he would save Lucy’s soul..

• *To me what makes the faceoff between Dracula and Van Helsing so memorable is that Van Helsing, quite balsy despite knowing who (or what) he’s facing, tells the vampire he’ll have Carfax Abbey torn down stone by stone and drive a stake through his heart. And Dracula tries one last time to come at him with the cross sending him away. Again, that Glass/Kronos score builds the scene to great epic grandiosity. The film, for me, never quite matches that the rest of the way.

• *While the final scene has Dracula a bit too easy prey for Van Helsing, risking his well being by going for Mina, and not making sure Renfield was out of the way as to not give up his coffin’s location, I do love the grand concrete stairs that Dracula has Mina walk down before Renfield reveals himself. Dracula, not too pleased that Renfield has led Harker and Van Helsing to his location, decides to put an end to his servant once and for all. The tragic fate of Renfield, a victim of circumstance, not heeding the advice of the Hungarian innkeeper and his wife, decided to meet Dracula anyway, strangled and dropped down the stairs to the floor below.

• *Regardless of how underwhelmed I am of Mina and Harker, they never were the characters in the Dracula films that truly stood out. What mattered was the good piece of casting in the roles of Dracula, Renfield, and Van Helsing. That, for me, was certainly enough.

• *Martin, the busy institution guard always baffled at how Renfield frees himself from restraints and his cell (even finding the bars bent), is the film’s key comic relief. While many might feel he takes away from the serious tone of the film, I never actually minded him. And he’s quite a team with Renfield, who is always upset Martin keeps big, juicy spiders from him. Martin is a lot like many of us…he’s thrust into this same bizarre series of events as everyone else, trying to make sense of what is quite extraordinary.

Count Dracula: There are far worse things awaiting man than death.

Thank you, Bela, for the legacy you left behind. Although you perhaps felt as if you never were respected as you should have been, for those generations since you breathed your final breath much too soon, I think I speak for many when I say your work, in Dracula and others, left an indelible mark that continues to live on. Despite the poverty row films that many snarled their elitist noses at and the studios that failed to believe in your abilities to do anything else, you nonetheless left a resume of roles I cherish and appreciate. You haven’t been forgotten.

  With great admiration as a horror fan,

--Brian