TodMichel, you are becoming hysterical about this. You are of course entitled to your view and I respect that. However, I believe you to be completely wrong. I watched Melford's version of Dracula and I found it a complete bore. It is full of bloopers and the acting is even worse than in the US version (with the exception of Bela and Van Sloan) and it's much, much, much longer. Carlos Villerias is badly cast in the part, he is comedic most of the time, not demonic. They might as well have got Joe E Brown fo the part. Lupita Tovar(!) is very good though although Helen Chandler is more ethereal.

I guess it was quite cheap to make as they used the US sets and many of the rejected shots. If you read the Monsters in the Vault article you will be surprised to learn that the camera isn't more fluent, there are more ambitious shots in the Browning/Freund version.

I won't even pretend that the US Dracula doesn't drag for most of its running time (The Mummy is even more draggy, the worst of the early Universals by a long mark and let's face it most of them have unfortunate flaws, Una Merkel in Whale's movies, terrible comedy relief (Murders in the Rue Morgue, Frankenstein), but it has made Bela an iconic figure and I hate to point it out to you but he is popular in Europe ( or as popular as some old horror star can be) and it is not some American thing. Who has heard of Carlos except for you?

We should be grateful that at least one of our horror icons is still vaguely remembered amongst the larger (younger) populace, even if it is only for Ed Wood and his classic Hollywood downfall which everyone loves!

I'm with you on A&C and Return (and Mark), he's on top form in these and not so theatrical.

Final point. For me the opening reels of Dracula with the coach journey and the meeting with Renfield in the castle (to the castle!) are the best moments in any vintage horror movie for me. But hey, everyone's tastes differ and there is no definitive view.