dracula frankenstein legacy

THE FLICKS: Leonard Maltin, watch your ass! Pardon my language, but Universal’s Legacy Series, featuring all-new transfers of the original Dracula and Frankenstein are comprehensive enough to make anyone feel cocky. After sitting though two-discs worth of material for each film, I consider myself qualified to teach a class on the early years of Universal Studios. Which I suppose is exactly the point of these special editions, which follow last Halloween’s bargain-priced collection of most of the studios monster pantheon. Here we get a much more in-depth look at the creation of two films that shaped Hollywood, spawning sequel after sequel within their own studio and inspiring an entire genre within cinema itself. And although some of the extras are making a repeat appearance, there’s enough new material (not to mention stunning restoration work) to make each release a safe investment for horror collectors. Tod Browning’s Dracula often gets a bum rap, burdened with the director’s stage-bound style and lacking the weight and wit of James Whale’s Frankenstein. However, after two commentaries, three documentaries and the concurrently filmed Spanish version, one develops a new appreciation for what Browning’s film gets right: groundbreaking gothic photography, stunning sets and a mesmerizing performance by both Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye as the vampire’s insect-eating manservant, Renfield. The remastered set includes an optional new score by Phillip Glass that works remarkably well to fill in the uncomfortable gaps in the film’s soundtrack, but can be a bit intrusive. And it’s also great fun to compare director Ed ? Spanish version, which is often more competently filmed than the more famous English-speaking counterpart, however is saddled with a ridiculous looking Dracula. Special features The Road to Dracula, Lugosi: The Dark Prince, Monster Tracks (pop-up facts on the feature) and two commentaries serve to round out your education on the genesis of the film and Stoker’s original novel. The documentary Universal Horror narrated by Kenneth Branagh is included on both the Dracula and Frankenstein legacy sets and is almost worth the purchase price on its own, barreling through a brief history of Universal’s innovations and inspirations for its featured monsters. Clips and quips get equal time with priceless stories from folks who contributed to movie history. Whale’s Frankenstein upstages Dracula in many respects, being much more mature in execution and style despite the fact that it was released only four months later. Credit much of that to Whale himself who seemed to know exactly how to milk Karloff’s flat-headed monstrosity for maximum scares and sympathy. Although much of the heralded humor was saved up for the sequel, the original Frankenstein is a masterpiece of German expressionism (witness the opening graveyard sequence) and a uniquely American emphasis on emotion. The legacy set once again showcases restored picture and sound along with another set of monster tracks. Much of this info is double-covered by the two featurettes, Karloff: The Gentle Monster and The Frankenstein Files, not to mention another two commentaries (Historian Christopher Frayling’s being the new addition). But the end result is the same, a truly astounding collection of information about one of the most influential films ever made.