Dracula (1931) - Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection – Universal Pictures (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1931 (Both Versions)
Directors: Tod Browning (English Version), George Melford (Spanish Version)
Cast: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Herbert Bunston, Frances Dade, Joan Standing, Charles K. Gerrard (English Version), Carlos Villarías, Lupita Tovar, Barry Norton, Pablo Álvarez Rubio, Eduardo Arozamena, José Soriano Viosca, Carmen Guerrero, Amelia Senisterra, Manuel Arbó (Spanish Version)

Release Date: October 5th, 2021
Approximate Running Times: 74 Minutes 27 Seconds (English Version), 103 Minutes 16 Seconds (Spanish Version)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10 (Both Versions)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English, DTS-HD Mono French, DTS-HD Mono Spanish (Castilian), DTS-HD Mono German, DTS-HD Mono Italian (English Version), DTS-HD Mono Spanish (Spanish Version)
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish, Japanese, German, Dutch, Italian, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Chinese (English Version), English SDH, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Dutch, Italian, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Chinese (Spanish Version)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $79.99 (Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection)

"Towering ominously among the shadows of the Carpathian Mountains, Castle Dracula strikes fear in the hearts of the Transylvanian villagers below. After a naïve real estate agent succumbs to the will of Count Dracula, the two head to London where the vampire sleeps in his coffin by day and searches for potential victims by night. " - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (English Version), 4.5/5 (Spanish Version)

Dracula (1931) comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 92.1 GB

Feature: 32.3 GB (English Version), 42 GB (Spanish Version)

When Universal Pictures released the English and the Spanish versions of Dracula on Blu-ray in 2012 for Universal Pictures 100th anniversary. The transfers used for that 2012 Blu-ray release look fantastic. For this new release Universal uses those solid masters.

It’s hard to imagine that these two films could look better than they do here. The sources look flawless, all source related debris was removed. Contrast, black levels and image clarity look solid throughout. I did not see any compression related issues and there are no issues related to noise reduction, these transfers retain an organic look. 

Audio: 5/5 (English Version - DTS-HD Mono English), 4.5/5 (DTS-HD Mono Spanish - Spanish Version)

The English version comes with five audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in English, a DTS-HD mono mix in French, a DTS-HD mono mix in Spanish (Castilian), a DTS-HD mono mix in Dutch and a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian. For this review I listened to the DTS-HD mono English track. There are no issues with distortion or background hiss, dialog always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced and ambient sounds/the score are well-represented. That said, for a film that’s ninety-years old, this audio track sounds excellent. The English version comes with thirteen subtitles options, English SDH, French, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish, Japanese, German, Dutch, Italian, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish and Chinese.

The Spanish version comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Spanish. This audio mix is in great shape, there are no issues with distortion or background hiss, dialog comes through clearly and everything sounds balanced. The Spanish version comes with twelve subtitles options, English SDH, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Dutch, Italian, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish and Chinese.

Extras:

Extras for Dracula (1931) include an image gallery with music from the film playing in the background titled Dracula Archives (posters/lobby cards/stills), a trailer gallery: Dracula (1 minute 50 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable English SDH, French, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Chinese subtitles), Dracula’s Daughter (1 minute 24 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable English SDH, French, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Chinese subtitles), Son of Dracula (1 minute 37 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable English SDH, French, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Chinese subtitles), House of Dracula (1 minute 27 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable English SDH, French, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Chinese subtitles), House of Frankenstein (1 minute 41 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable English SDH, French, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Chinese subtitles) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1 minute 38 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable English SDH, French, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Chinese subtitles), a featurette titled Dracula The Restoration (8 minutes 46 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH, French, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Chinese subtitles), a featurette titled Lugosi: The Dark Prince (36 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH, French, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Chinese subtitles), a featurette titled The Road to Dracula (35 minutes 2 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH, French, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Chinese subtitles), a fact track titled Monster Tracks, an alternate Score by Philip Glass - performed by the Kronos Quartet, two audio commentaries’ - the first audio commentary is with film historian David J. Skal, and the second audio commentary is with Steve Haberman, screenwriter of Dracula: Dead and Loving It and the Spanish version comes with an optional introduction to that version by actress Lupita Tovar (4 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH, French, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, Chinese subtitles).

Included with this release is a Blu-ray that has all the content on the 4K UHD except  House of Frankenstein and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein trailers. Also, the Blu-ray only comes with two audio options, DTS-HD mono English and DTS-HD mono French. There are only two subtitles options, English SDH and French, and the Spanish version only comes with English subtitles.

Also, the Blu-ray is the same as Universal’s 2012 Blu-ray.

Dracula (1931) is part of Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection, a box set that also has Frankenstein (1931), The Invisible Man (1933) and The Wolf Man (1941).

Summary:

Though horror cinema firmly established itself as one of the more durable genres in the silent film era. It was not until a film like Tod Browning’s Dracula came along that the genre fully reached its potential after adding sound. That said, there’s no denying the influence that Tod Browning’s Dracula had and continues to have over all horror films that followed it.

When discussing Dracula film adaptations, though there are many elements Tod Browning’s Dracula introduced to vampire cinema that are still used today. It was not the first film adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Nine years before Tod Browning’s Dracula, F. W. Murnau directed an authorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula titled Nosferatu.

From its opening moments Tod Browning’s Dracula sets a forbidding tone that seduces you with its gothic horror imagery that’s overflowing with atmosphere. And though Tod Browning’s Dracula is not as flashy as George Melford’s Spanish version of Dracula, both films were shot simultaneously. That’s not to say that Tod Browning’s Dracula does not have its fair share of ironic imagery. Most notably, the scene where Dracula meets Renfield or the scene where Dracula’s wives rise from their coffin’s.

From a production standpoint, there’s not an area where Tod Browning’s Dracula is not impressive. The well-executed narrative does a superb job maintaining a mounting tension that builds to a fever pitch by the time it reaches the finale and the impeccable set design makes the story at hand all the more believable. Also, the special effects for their time are very effective. Another strength is the score or the lack of a score. Though music is only used sparingly, ultimately this works in this film’s favor.

Not too be overlooked, when discussing Tod Browning’s Dracula is Bela Lugosi’s (Murders in the Rue Morgue, Plan 9 from Outer Space) mesmerizing portrayal of Count Dracula. He delivers a tour-de-force performance that he was born to portray. Another performance of note is Dwight Frye’s (Frankenstein - 1931, The Bride of Frankenstein) delirious portrayal of Renfield. He perfectly captures Renfield’s fractured mind and his maniacal laugh further drives home Renfield’s insanity. Ultimately, Tod Browning’s Dracula is a flawless film that deserves its reputation as one of horror cinema’s greatest films.

Though George Melford’s Spanish version of Dracula has not received as much attention as its English version counterpart. It is an impressive film in its own right that has stylized cinematography and performances that greatly differ from its English version counterpart. That said, George Melford’s Dracula is a vastly underrated film that fans of Universal’s classic monster films should thoroughly enjoy.

Tod Browning’s Dracula gets a stunning 4K upgrade, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

                                           Tod Browning’s Dracula Screenshots.

                                           George Melford’s Dracula Screenshots.

Written by Michael Den Boer