Amazon.com: It was perhaps inevitable that, after playing the Wolf Man, Frankenstein's monster, and the Mummy, Lon Chaney Jr. would round out his horror resumé with a turn at the great bloodsucker himself (not, as the title would suggest, his son). Looking dapper and dignified under the cape, if not exactly threatening, Chaney plays Count Alucard (that's Dracula spelled backwards), a mysterious Carpathian summoned to America by a "morbid" heiress (Louise Allbritton). Eric Taylor's script is rather clunky, but the story (by horror specialist Curt The Wolfman Siodmak) is often quite clever, playing like a supernatural twist on a psycho-thriller. Allbritton's frustrated fiancé Robert Page accidentally "kills" her while trying to shoot Alucard (who imperiously stands up to the hail of bullets) and then goes stark raving mad as he watches the dead rise to life and the living disappear in wisps of smoke and morph into creaky stage bats.
Future film noir legend (and Curt's brother) Robert Siodmak (The Killers) does wonders with the swampy, misty Deep South setting despite his obviously threadbare budget, transforming the usual clichés into moments of inspired melodrama. Only the clumsy antics of the skeptical cops and the plodding exposition spouted by an old Carpathian doctor (he just happens to be the local MD) get in the way of this moody minor horror gem. --Sean Axmaker
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - DRACULA SPELLED BACKWARDS IS ALUCARD!
This is the third tale from Universal Studios involving Dracula or a descendant of. Though not as interesting a "Dracula's Daughter" the biggest problem with this film is getting used to Chaney Jr. as ... Read More
Rating: - It's far better than its reputation
Probably no horror film of the classic era, or its star, has been as maligned as "Son of Dracula" starring Lon Chaney, Jr. But here's the blatant truth: the film's pretty darn good, despite its dopey ... Read More
Rating: - AN OK "B" MOVIE HORROR
With 1943's "Son of Dracula" the Dracula series officially became 'b" movie fodder as most of Universals horrors of the 1940's were. The movie opens with Count Alucard (Lon Chaney) coming to stay at the ... Read More
Rating: - Entertaining vampire yarn
Dracula shows up on a southern plantation to claim his vampire bride in this enjoyable slice of horror from Universal Studios. Surprisingly, the special effects are pretty good for the era, and Lon Chaney, ... Read More
Rating: - His Father's Son
Universal's 1943 "Son Of Dracula" is a great contribution to it's stable of gothic horror films. Universal departed in several ways in the creation of this film. Firstly, the story is placed in a contemporary ... Read More
- DRACULA SPELLED BACKWARDS IS ALUCARD!
- His Father's Son