I can pretty much understand your take on it, Casey. As I mentioned in Rick's case, he saw nothing wrong with the release version of the film, so he didn't even notice the "improvements" that many have commented on regarding the re-edits. The mind tries to find patterns in randomness, and fills in the blanks when trying to understand a story. We see faces in toasted bread, and can put a narrative together despite missing or misplaced pieces. If it works for you that way, fine. There is nothing wrong with that.

For some of us, however, these missing or misplaced pieces create a sense of unease. Perhaps our brains aren't quite as good at filling in the gaps. But for whatever reason, when the subtle clues that something might be out of place are resolved by re-editing the film, we find it more pleasing. Along with you, I see nothing wrong with that.

I think that the whole point of the experiments that Kerry and I have done with re-editing DRACULA is to give us another way to look at the film and give us some new topics to discuss. Comparing the final version of the film to the continuity of the shooting script gives us some insight into how the film was conceived and eventually released. It may not prove anything one way or the other, but some of us find it very interesting.