Review of Dracula (1958) by Mjs M — 15 May 2009

This is actually the first time I?ve seen this or any other Hammer horror film for that matter. Perhaps the film would have seemed a bit more interesting to me if it wasn?t the 50th version of this same story that I?ve seen.

The film is basically just another adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel, albeit a particularly condensed version that?s being done on a pretty low budget. As the film is being done in Technicolor, it?s missing a lot of that bleak atmosphere that really carries the Todd Browing Dracula and Nosferatu.

All this version really adds is some bloodier violence, which is pretty tame by modern standards. I had heard an awful lot about Christopher Lee?s acting as Dracula and I expected a lot, I thought he was pretty good in the role? at least when he wasn?t talking, the absence of a weird Eastern European accent sort of takes away a lot from the role.

The film really wasn?t working for me for a lot of its running time, but it really picked up during the third act, I loved the effects they used when Dracula is killed and turns to dust. All in all this is a decent B-movie, but it doesn?t live up to some of the classic versions of the story that are out there.

I suppose I would have had more affection for it if I?d grown up on this.