Quote: "TodMichel, you are becoming hysterical about this."

If "hysterical" is the modern London slang for "realistic", I agree. Speaking of my "admiration" for Villarias is perhaps an exaggeration. I just said that I consider him as better than Lugosi in the role, maybe because I like more modern vampires, and it's a fact that his characterization - including the semi-comical touches - is (relatively) more in the Chris Lee way than Lugosi's. And for the movie itself, being 30mns longer than the Browning version, it seems shorter to me, as the mise-en-scene and editing is more fluid. And I don't need any magazine article to fully understand this - I have seen the Browing version at least ten times since 1963, and I got the Melford version first on a bootleg VHS (with one reel missing), then on DVD, and also watched it at least ten times. And IT'S better, even "without Lugosi" - and for me it's also better "with" Villarias.
In fact, I even worked on my PC to make a very special edition of the movie. I took every important scene in the Browning and immediately followed with the Hispanic equivalent. And the winner was... you guess it. By far, the Spanish version is the better one, technically and artistically.
Carlos vs. Bela? I'm just comparizing two characterizations. I'm not attacking Bela personally. His characterization is more "theatral" (sp?), and Villarias is a movie actor. It's just a question of personal taste in THIS movie. Generally, I love stage actors in movies. But I just prefer Carlos to Bela, in "Dracula".

"I guess it was quite cheap to make as they used the US sets and many of the rejected shots."

To date, nobody contested this fact. It's an evidence. All simultaneous phonetic versions are, by essence, cheaper to make as they use the same sets, music, etc. But you can also consider that EACH version was cheaper as you re-utilize the sets, etc., they aren't "lost" just after the shooting. It works in both directions. Dracula (Browning) finally was cheaper just as they were able to make another version!

Last Edited By: todmichel Jan 26 12 9:58 AM. Edited 2 times.