Dracula 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Dracula 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 24, 2021

Universal has released the classic 1931 Bela Lugosi classic 'Dracula' to the UHD format. New specifications include 2160p/HDR video. Universal ports all extras from the 2013 Blu-ray (included in this set) to the UHD disc. The same is true of the primary audio soundtrack. Note that this release is currently available in a four-film UHD Classic Monsters Collection with 'Frankenstein,' 'The Invisible Man,' and 'The Wolf Man' and individually in collectible SteelBook packaging.

For a full film review, please see Kenneth Brown's writing accompanying the 2013 Blu-ray here.

Dracula 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

Universal brings the classic 1931 version of Dracula to the UHD format with a highly impressive 2160p/HDR presentation. From the opening title card the UHD's superiority compared to the Blu-ray is in plain evidence. The titles, while not perfectly white, appear richer, brighter, healthier, and more pronounced, whereas the original Blu-ray, itself still looking quite excellent in sum all these years later, has something of a flat, pale, and creamy look to the whites. The overall grayscale is improved for accuracy and definition throughout, obvious from the title where the viewer sees a fairly nice spread of content, including those white titles, the black animated bat, and the surrounding gray borders.

As the blood is the life, so are the blacks and shadows the life – and death – of Dracula. The new HDR grayscale grading renders the picture significantly darker overall. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. The mood in the scene that introduces Lugosi's Dracula – his first appearance comes at about the six-minute mark – is rendered looking moodier, less hospitable, less welcoming: and that's a good thing for this scene. Blacks here and across the board are deeper and the ambient brightness is reduced but shadow details hold strong. There's less brightness and visibility, but such a presentation adds more authenticity to the scene. It's a fairly radical alteration. It appears to stabilize the scene, technically and dramatically alike, and such holds true for the duration. Less intensely and necessarily dark scenes are not presented with such overwhelming shadow, but as necessary the HDR grading allows that moodier and dramatically meatier depth to define the presentation. A carriage carrying Jonathan Harker emerges from dense fog a few moments later and the sense of suffocating density and nighttime chill are amplified on the UHD in one of the best looking shots in the film and a fine example of both the grading's success and the encode's strength to handle that dense fog without any visible artifacts.

The movie is texturally graceful as well. Grain is a bit sharper and more pronounced here compared to the Blu-ray, but the result is a gorgeously crisp and cinematic feel for the image. It's healthy in vitality and firm in consistency. A few softer shots and elements remain, inherent to the source it would seem, but the UHD's 2160p resolution certainly brings out a sense of improved sharpness and textural accuracy missing from 1080p, including, of course, faces but all of the fine Castle Dracula details seen even in shadow. The period settings are rich with opportunity for the UHD to breathe new life into them, and never does it disappoint. The picture is razor sharp and highly pleasing. Within the 4x3 original aspect ratio frame, with no print issues of note or encode anomalies to distract, this is absolutely the best the film has ever looked at home, and by a wide margin. What a delight!

Dracula 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rather than reconfigure the film's soundtrack to the Dolby Atmos or DTS:X configuration, Universal has simply recycled the existing 2.0 lossless mono soundtrack, which holds up just fine for a movie of this age and sound design. For a full audio review, please click here.

Dracula 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Dracula's UHD disc contains all of the supplements -- including the Spanish version in 2160p/HDR -- from the 2013 Blu-ray. That 2013 disc is also included with purchase. See below for a list of what's included and please click here for full coverage. As it ships within the 4K Classic Monsters Collection a Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included.

• The Road to Dracula
• Lugosi: The Dark Prince
• Dracula: The Restoration
• Dracula Archives
• Trailer Gallery
• Monster Tracks
• Alternate Score
• Audio Commentary: Film Historian David J. Skal.
• Audio Commentary: With Steve Haberman.
• Dracula Spanish Version (2160p/HDR, DTS-HD MA 2.0, 1:43:16): With optional Introduction by Lupita Tovar Kohner (1080p, 4:15).

Dracula 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Universal has done a wonderful job bringing this 90-year-old classic into the modern world with a beautiful 2160p/HDR UHD presentation. The classic film's UHD disc includes no new primary audio track or new supplements, but these are just fine as they carry over from the 2013 Blu-ray. As it ships in the Universal Classic Monsters Collection, and in its SteelBook packaging, Dracula earns my highest recommendation.