Son of Dracula

MORD39 RATING: *** out of ****

First and foremost, Lon Chaney's underrated performance in this film must be addressed. The name of the movie is "SON of Dracula," and Chaney is playing an off-shoot of the Count, not the actual King of Vampires Himself. It is true that Lon is in a tad over his head, but if you accept that he's not THE Dracula, it's a fine performance.

Who says that vampires must look or speak a certain way? Especially given the understanding as suggested above? A line in this film says that the vampire might be - quote- "a descendant of Count Dracula". And of course, we have the title itself to explain the Count's identity.

Anyway, SON OF DRACULA is one of Universal's best 40's shows, filled with mood and atmosphere. A new plotline is introduced as we have a morbid woman (played wonderfully by Louise Allbritton) who wants to use the Count for her own scheme. It's original, even by today's standards, and a good horror movie.

Katherine "Kathy" Caldwell (Louise Allbritton) is the fiancée of Frank Stanley (Robert Paige) and sister of Claire Caldwell (Evelyn Ankers) and lives in Dark Oaks farm, where her father runs a plantation. After traveling to Budapest, Kathy invites her friend Count Alucard (Lon Chaney) to visit Dark Oaks. On the day of the arrival, the count is the guest of honor of a ball in the farmhouse, but only his luggage comes in the train. During the night, Alucard that is actually Count Dracula arrives and kills Kathy's father. The family friend Dr. Harry Brewster (Frank Craven) suspects of the mysterious Alucard and asks information about his family to his friend Prof. Lazlo (J. Edward Bromberg). Meanwhile Kathy is the heiress of Dark Oaks and she secretly marries the Count Dracula. Frank follows her and accidentally shoots Kathy to death. When Dr. Brewster meets Kathy at home, he realizes that she got married to Dracula and is also a vampire.

Directed by Robert Siodmak, "Son of Dracula" has good story, atmosphere in the Louisiana swamps and special effects. However, Lon Chaney Jr. is miscast, creepy but too old to be the "romantic pair" of Louise Allbritoon and without the style of Bela Lugosi. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Filho de Drácula" ("The Son of Dracula")

Lon Chaney, Jr. makes his debut as Count Alucard as Universal Pictures sought to revive the Dracula series. That's Dracula spelled backwards.

The undead legendary count has come to America in response to Louise Allbritton who is a southern belle who dabbles in the occult to the point of morbidity. Allbritton has been acting strange lately which is concerning both her sister Evelyn Ankers and her fiancé Robert Paige. Soon after Chaney arrives both Adeline DeWalt Reynolds, a swamp spirit woman and Allbritton and Ankers father George Irving die under mysterious circumstances.

A change in Irving's will leaves Allbritton the plantation and Ankers all the cash. And then Alucard and Allbritton are married. When Paige suspects something more than an ordinary jilting the action really starts.

There are a pair of Von Helsings in this played by country doctor Frank Craven and Hungarian professor J. Edward Bromberg. As incidents similar to what ravaged his native land start to happen both Craven and Bromberg suspect the undead are alive and well.

Although no one could ever be a vampire like Bela Lugosi, Chaney does a pretty good job in the role completing a monster trifecta of playing Dracula, the Frankenstein monster, and the Wolfman for Universal. He was every bit the horror film master that his father was.

Next to Chaney and maybe in some ways better than Chaney is Paige in this film. Robert Paige who usually played light leading men in comedies and musicals gives a fine dramatic portrait of a man just shattered by the forces he's dealing with and can't comprehend. This might very well have been his career role.

Son Of Dracula has a high place in the classic Universal pantheon of horror films.

I keep shouting at sexy movie girls not to go walking alone at night in creepy forests. But they keep ignoring me-- thank goodness! In her flimsy flowing gown Allbritton (Kay) cuts a memorable figure as she traipses through the creepy studio woods on her way to a star-crossed future. Actually, the real star in terms of screen time is Frank Craven as the bloodhound doctor. As it turns out, he's got to put the plot puzzle together. Seems Alucard (Chaney) has followed the mysterious Kay to her southern home to make her his blood-supping wife. Trouble is she's already in love with homeboy Frank (Paige) who's not about to give her up, especially to a weirdo foreigner. Good thing the doc senses something is wrong and goes into action. The ending is kind of surprising and tragic, unusual for the genre.

Many of the gloomy visuals are impressive, thanks probably to director Siodmak, later to make his name in film noir (check out his distinguished list). Plus, the form-changing dissolves are well-done, adding a good spooky touch. However, I can't help feeling Chaney is miscast as the Count. His brawny presence and dialogue delivery lack the wickedly polished undertones needed for such a sinister figure. Then too he gets little screen time to possibly expand. No doubt he's top-billed for marquee value and his Wolf Man reputation. Too bad we don't see more of Madame Zimba (Reynolds). Her old lady hag is about the scariest visual in the 70- minutes.

Anyway, it's a decent horror flick with some good moments even though the central evil fails largely to gel. Plus count me now as a big fan of Louise Allbritton who can come traipse through my woody yard any time.

Well, Universal brought us Dracula's Daughter first and then felt compelled to find his lost son seven years later. One can only thank the powers to be that we didn't get movie titles like Dracula's Niece or Godfather of Dracula. This film details the story of a rich American woman, played with gusto by Louise Allbritton, who sends for Count Alucard(Dracula backwards) to make a pact with. She fears death and wants to be given the Count's knack for eternal life. She marries this Count, yet wants to be rid of him after she receives her "gift." The Count is played by none other than horror legend Lon Chaney Jr, possibly creating the huskiest Dracula ever on screen. Chaney is decent in the role, although it is clear it was a role made for another actor...like a John Carradine, slender and articulate. Chaney is forceful in some of the scenes and does an adequate job considering the muddle of a script involved. Certainly not Universal's best, but certainly watchable and entertaining.