Drácula + Introduction by Justina Bonilla
- Sun, Oct 25
The Frida Cinema's seating is first-come, first-serve. For our Midnight Screenings, please plan on arriving by 11:30pm to ensure ample time for parking, picking up concessions, and securing optimal seats. Screening will begin promptly at midnight.
Director: George Melford Run Time: 104 min. Release Year: 1931 Language: Spanish
Starring: Barry Norton, Carlos Villarías, Eduardo Arozamena, Lupita Tovar, Pablo Álvarez Rubio
Just added: Latin horror expert, journalist, and former Frida volunteer Justina Bonilla will be introducing this screening!
Think you’ve seen Universal’s Dracula? Think again!
Our Universal Monster Movie Weekend kicks off its Sunday lineup with Drácula, the extraordinary Spanish-language version of the 1931 vampire classic.
While Tod Browning and Bela Lugosi were filming their English-language Dracula by day, director George Melford and an entirely different cast, including Carlos Villarías as the Count, were shooting their own Spanish-language version on the same Universal sets by night. The story is familiar: Count Dracula arrives in Transylvania, travels to London, and sets his sights on the beautiful Eva, but this version brings its own distinct style, atmosphere, and interpretation of Bram Stoker’s immortal vampire.
Long overshadowed by Lugosi’s iconic performance, Drácula has undergone a major critical reevaluation, with its inventive camerawork, striking compositions, and more expansive approach earning it a reputation as one of the most fascinating alternate versions in early horror cinema. Villarías even studied footage of Lugosi’s performance during production, but the result is anything but a copy.