Although I like Chaney as an actor, he’s the primary reason I’ve always avoided this movie. As great as he is, if there was any actor that was the polar opposite of Bela Lugosi, it’d be Chaney. Chaney’s great in lots of roles but he’s definitely not the right fit for a suave, gentlemanly, exotic vampire. He’s more of a… I dunno, shlub, maybe?
This time Dracula hits the states in a convoluted plot to sneak a New Orleans plantation out from under a Colonel (George Irving) by knocking him off vampire-style and then hypnotizing and marrying his daughter (Louise Allbritton). Her suitor (Robert Paige), the family doctor (Frank Craven) and her sister (Evelyn Ankers) have different ideas, however, and go to war against the vampire.
If you could somehow mix this movie up with DRACULA’S DAUGHTER and make a hybrid, what you’d want to do is take the heroes of this movie and the villains of the other one, and put them together. Unlike the last DRACULA movie, this one has some good guys who are actually likable and, as a result, an ending that is bittersweet and tragic. Unfortunately it’s all centered around a big lug who has no business taking on Lugosi’s duties.
One cool thing about this movie: its special effects. Where the earlier Universal films would shy away from things like transformations, this one revels in them, with Dracula going from bat form to human form right in front of our very eyes, thanks to some animation. There’s even scenes of Dracula turning into mist. The effects are rudimentary but they’re refreshing after several movies with cut aways in place of effects. After all, aside from a few of the opening establishing swamp shots, the movie is light on atmosphere, so why not liven things up a little with effects.
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