Drácula

Made simultaneously to the famous Bela Lugosi Dracula using the same sets but filmed at night, this is the Spanish language version of Dracula. Back in 1931 at the dawn of the talkie era you couldn't overdub a film into a different language, to service a different market - you had to make another film! And I guess, with the large Spanish audience in not only the States but the world in general, this was a commercially viable idea. To this end, we have a film which often looks very similar to its more famous English language equivalent but there are numerous differences as well. For a start, its 28 minutes longer, so fills in a few areas where the English variant was sketchy. It also allowed for a far more sensual presentation of its female vampires and included a few more horror moments too. It seemed to be unseen for decades, only resurfacing again in the late 70's, adding to its mystical reputation. So, is it better? Many people think it is and aspects of it are an improvement but for me, the English language version pips it to the post. For one thing, the latter version has far better pacing - those extra 28 minutes aren't necessarily all stellar stuff and it is still quite stagey like the English version. Secondly, Lugosi is better as the count than Carlos Villarías - the latter is solid enough but Lugosi is so brilliantly over-the-top, he was made for the role. This is still a very worthwhile movie though, especially for Dracula completists and fans of vampire cinema.