6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 5.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Count Alucard finds his way from Budapest to the swamps of the Deep South after meeting Katherine Caldwell, of the moneyed Caldwell clan that runs a plantation called Dark Oaks. She's obsessed with occult matters. Who better to guide her through this supernatural world than Count Alucard, whose name no one bothers to spell backwards? No one, that is, except the wily Dr. Brewster, an old family friend. He'll join Professor Lazlo, a specialist in the occult, in fighting this "Alucard" and the woman he's influenced. Or has Katherine influenced him? Meanwhile, Katherine's fiancé, Frank Stanley, will find his courage and his sanity sorely tested when he accidentally shoots Katherine to death, yet finds that she goes on living...
Starring: Lon Chaney Jr., Robert Paige (IV), Louise Allbritton, Evelyn Ankers, Frank CravenHorror | 100% |
Fantasy | 3% |
Romance | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
After dealing with one kid in 1936’s “Dracula’s Daughter,” the horror franchise finds more family trouble in 1943’s “Son of Dracula.” Of course, there’s no real connection between the “Dracula” movies, as attention to series detail isn’t valued. It’s a brand name, and one that introduces Lon Chaney Jr. as the titular vampire, preserving all the dead-eyed menace the character is known for, but now enjoying a few technical upgrades to shock audiences. And the film needs all the visual help it can get, often struggling mightily with a lukewarm screenplay filled with exposition that rarely leads to excitement.
"Son of Dracula" arrives on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded image (1.35:1 aspect ratio) presentation. The results look similar to "Dracula's Daughter," with detail best served in close-ups, getting up into faces to survey aging and make-up achievements, and some costuming retains its fibrous qualities. Delineation isn't troublesome, but a few sequences struggle with solidification. Whites are comfortably balanced. Source is largely clean.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix manages dialogue exchanges to satisfaction, delivering suspenseful surges without slipping into distortive extremes. Accents are easy to understand as well. Scoring isn't precise, but it works well, supporting the picture with hearty volume, but never steamrolling over the drama. Sound effects preserve their intended spirit, with shrieking bats and snappy gunplay. Hiss is present throughout the listening experience, but it's not distracting.
Chaney Jr. isn't an especially inspired Dracula, failing to match his intimidating looks with a disquieting performance. "Son of Dracula" fares much better with the rest of the cast, but even their commitment to the moment can't break the screenplay's inertia, with far too much time spent explaining theories and threats, and not enough time sharing macabre events with the viewer.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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Includes "Drácula"
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