Quote: "Interesting take on it, but good luck trying to convince the rest of the cinematic world. I don't know about your "American idolatry of Bela Lugosi" thing -- is there any idolatry of Carlos Villarias -- either Spanish, American, French, or otherwise? I think not. You don't have to prefer Lugosi's performance, but Bela's effectiveness goes far beyond just the "biased Lugosian Fan Club" group. "

But "the rest of the cinematic world" is already convinced at 85% at least that the Hispanic Dracula is better than the US version. As I already wrote, America is not the center of the universe and I really don't know anybody preferring the Browning version among all the people I personnally know and who are not Americans. And, no - we haven't any "idolatry" for Carlos Villarias just because we don't have idolatry for anybody. We can admire an actor for his body of work, but the US quasi-religious devotion for Bela is not only absurd but unhealthy and often close to hysteria, reminding the pre-puberty fans of a pop star. Anything made by Bela is systematically put to pinnacle. The truth being that he was only passable in "Dracula" - but was much better in "Return of the Vampire" or "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein". Nothing hysterical in my appreciation of Villarias, I just think he was better and more convincing than Lugosi, and a more impressive vampire.