Review of Dragonwyck (1946) by Luke R — 11 Feb 2013

While the book has a more complex story, and in my opinion, better ending than the film, the film has Vincent Price. Ergo it' a hand's down victory for the film!??Basically the story follows the life of a young girl who hears word from her mother's cousin at Dragonwyck (the name of a huge gothic estate), the letter announces the cousin, VanRyan (Price) would like for his cousins daughter to come to him and see what life is like for the upper class as well as perform the duties of a carer for his daughter.

?Originally she is drawn in by the beauty of his home and by his charm. But slowly realises that VanRyan is a loveless man, wholly obsessed with his goal of having a son to carry on his name.?Price, as always, delivers a phenomenal performance, especially in one of the later scenes when we see how, due to his secret drug abuse, his mind has began to wither, leaving him fanatical and increasingly bitter.

He, as per usual in my opinion, outshines all the others who act with him. The story is interesting, and is based on some truly great literature, nowhere near as popular as it deserves to be.?I didn't care for the borderline supernatural element of the film however.

If your involving curses and ghosts etc, I find myself being in the all or nothing camp. PLus the bible bashing father was annoying, and I really didn't understand the problem everyone had with VanRyan! He owned some land and din;t want to sell it to the farmers that worked it? IT'S HIS LAND! Why the hell should he? If some one walked into your house and said, this room is my now, here's some money, you wouldn't think 'huh, guess I'll have someone to talk to all the time now' you tell them to leave!?There's little more that I can say without giving the plot away, while it isn;t the best film ever made, I think it's a lot better than some people believe, and a great movie if you want to see Vincent in one of his rare 'not cheesy' horror performances.

Four stars.