Rating: 
Summary: "House of Dracula is the 1# most enjoyable of Universal B's
Review: My FAVORITE 40's Universal Guilty Pleasure Horror. It's the most fascinating and innovative of the 40's portfolio. Superstition takes a back seat to scientific experimentation conducted to "cure" the famous monsters of Universaland. It anticipates the surgical horrors of Franju, Franco's ORLOFF series, Cronenberg. It is, in a way, the first "modern" horror film as chemistry and bio-pathology replace peasant hokum. Larry Talbot is just great, no whining in this one; he's a rather dashing werewolf and we have the supreme satisfaction of seeing him finally cured. The real masters are Robinson and Fulton who create a visual liquidity of hynotic travelling shots often following the poetic morphing of the DRACULA bat. Yes, the DRACULA bat. Carradine is undoubtedly the most poised, elegant and articulate DRACULA in the cinema history of that character. It's also satisfying to see the Frankenstein monster put out of his lugubrious rage. It's that rare thing, a horror movie about ideas, about what a horror movie really can be and what it can mean to us in a real time technological-historical context--encompassing World War II, Freud, Hitler and the development of psychotropic medication. When I see those credits melt onto the view of the oceanside castle I know I am in the HOUSE OF DRACULA. (Only for Guilty Pleasure viewing) Rating: 2-1/2 out of 5 Grade: C 79%
Rating: 
Summary: There are far worse things awaiting man than death.
Review: Ok, if you like classic horror this is your collection. If not you may want to rent the original Dracula and see if you want to get sucked into it the rest of the way. I mean getting sucked into three sequels and one parallel version of the original made with the same sets with Spanish actors.
Dracula 4/5
Very atmospheric. No music makes it sort of eerie. It's hard to hear the actors in some parts. Bela Lugosi has a great face for Dracula.
Dracula: Spanish Cast 3/5
Some people think it's better, but without Bela Lugosi it's not the same. The Spanish cast set out to make improvements over the English version and the did suceede in some places, but not overall.
Dracula's Daughter 3/5
The music never stops. It's really depressing. Van Helsing is Von Helsing for some reason. At least he's played by the same actor. The couple from the end of the original Dracula has disappeared somehow leaving Van (Von) Helsing as the only witness. It's bizzar.
Son of Dracula 3/5
The best of the sequels. Count "Alucard" (Dracula backwards) comes to America. I guess he's the son, due to the title, but no one ever refers to him that way. There's some awsome transformation effects. I.E. bat to human and cloud of vapor to human. Good effects.
House of Dracula 2/5
Ok... This is a strange movie. It's only a little over an hour long actually. Dracula, The Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's Monster all meet for the second team up of the classic monsters. The Wolf Man is cures, Dracula dies, and Frankenstein's monster dies in a fire after he is randomly discovered under a cliff in a cave.
This set is worth the money. Good movies. Haven't watched the commentary yet, but there's a documentary of it and a short with Steven Sommers talking about how Dracula inspired him to make Van Helsing.
Rating: 
Summary: Saturday morning Blood-sucking Creatures!
Review: THE DRACULA LEGACY collection is a nice package including the original DRACULA starring Bela Lugosi in an iconic movie that endures on. Also included are the Spainish version of DRACULA (shot on the same sets at night as Bela's version!), the sequels -- DRACULA'S DAUGHTER, SON OF DRACULA, and HOUSE OF DRACULA (all three monsters show up for the finale). You get five movies, and some great extras. Like many reviewers I found one disc rolling around the inside of the package. Fortunately it was not scratched! That's the only downside to these collections I have found. You get the 1931 original appearance of a cinematic DRACULA! With two soundtrack options - listen to it in its original almost silent version, or chose the revamped Phillip Glass soundtrack version. Todd Browning who directed this classic was foremost a silent film maker, and DRACULA was designed to be shown in theatres with and without sound. So its almost creepier and more effective to see it with its long spooky silences intact. But Glass is a great musician, and I appreciate his soundtrack as well. It really depends on mood. And for fun check out the SPAINISH version which used the same sets. Beautifully shot, and considered by some technically superior to Browning's film! It uses more camera moves and visual effects. The other films are a string of B sequels that are still a lot of fun. Gloria Holden as DRACULA'S DAUGHTER is surprisingly creepy and troublingly lesbian in tone. She only attacks women! SON OF DRACULA is campy fun with Lon Chaney Jr. sailing through smokey swamps. HOUSE OF DRACULA is the ultimate monster mash with Frankenstein, the Wolfman, and Dracula making appearances in this last sequel to the Universal monster franchise before they all appeared in an Abbot and Costello movie that killed them for a while. But they live on! My only beef with the extras is one where Stephen Sommers talks about how DRACULA influenced VAN HELSING. I don't want to tie my 1931 version of a classic to this year's Summer Hit. But in a way it proves ...
legends never die.
Rating: 
Summary: It Stunk but I loved it.
Review: The late sequels in Universal Studios Monster line up were turkeys. As a rule the later the sequel, the bigger the turkey that came out. We all know that. We know it every time we rent one of them and we know it before buying any of them. But, they're fun to watch. They're so bad they're beautiful (or something like that). But, when you pull out the last of the sequels you do it knowing it should be something that "gobble, gobbles" its way around the yard a time or ten. Let's qualify this. Abbott and Costello's outing with Universal's group of "creepies" wasn't really a sequel. For one thing it didn't have any continuity with the rest of the pictures (not that some of the sequels did either). Unlike the sequels it was played for laughs, deliberately that is; some of the sequels had plenty of laughs but most of them weren't intentional. It was also a pretty good film. The later sequels weren't good films. House of Dracula was the last of the real sequels and only one thing can be said about it. The film is utterly ridiculous. It features a bad script, bad acting and some lousy effects. The "plot" (use this term very loosely) has more holes than a strainer. The only iota of continuity is with Edelman's discovery of the Monster. Then he ends up doing so little all you can do is wonder why the character was used at all. Dracula and the Werewolf are just around and well, despite having been "killed" before. No explanation is ever given. Writer Edward T Lowe Jr. couldn't think of any reasonable ways to kill off the heavies so they lead themselves to their executions (though to be fair Lowe may not have been given much choice; his name appears on the credits of some much better films). Dracula's finish is particularly dumb. As the Count John Carradine turns in what has to be the best performance from any of the cast. He manages a fair degree of subtlety and avoids excesses even when the script(?) creates them. Unfortunately, the character he was given to play was a moron. When Dracula succeeded in getting himself killed all I could wonder was how he'd survived two days as one of the undead let alone five hundred years. Lon Chaney, reprising his role as the Wolfman fares even worse. As always he delivers his performance with conviction and feeling. This script kills him though. Any time he succeeds in creating sympathy for the character there's a line that nobody could deliver (not sober anyway) that follows. It's too bad. He was a better actor than that. It's no wonder he walked through a lot of his pictures drunk. The rest of this cast fares even worse. Onslow Stevens is reasonably palatable (if annoyingly patronizing) when his character is good. His "bad" state comes across like a pantomime that wouldn't have been convincing in a silent film. It's amazing the producers didn't decide to send him right over the top with shaving cream foaming from his mouth or something like that. The pair of women here play their parts as if made of wood. To be fair that's about all they were given to work with. Some of dialogue the "beautiful" assistant (Martha O'Driscoll) had would have made Lawrence Olivier struggle for credibility. Ultimately she's only believable when she's hypnotized; then she's supposed to act like a piece of cardboard. As the disfigured assistant the lovely Jane Adams could have been great. She captures the kindness and humility of the tragic "Nina" well. She wasn't given anything to work with either. As a result her character has the emotional range of a kazoo. The special effects range between fair and lousy. Most of them had been used before (and with better execution). Chaney's transformation from man to beast is solid but that's where quality ends. The animated transformation from bat to human or vice versa is one example. In other features (such as "Son of Dracula" three years earlier) the effect was obvious, but not bad. In this film the effect is so shoddy the producers may just as well have used a bat from a "Looney Tunes" feature. The sequences with the bat are even worse. In at least one of them the wires are visible. Flashbacks involving the monster are pathetic. Most are from other films (featuring other actors in the role) and it shows. Karloff and Strange didn't even walk the same way when portraying the creature. Where maintaining credibility is concerned this film emerges as a lesson in how to shoot yourself in the foot, several times. It is fun to watch though, so much so that it's impossible to hate or even dislike it. In fact, it's hard not to love it. The transfer to DVD is stellar. The print used appears to be in good shape which is good. Sound and picture quality were, by the 1940's, very good. Granted, the tracks were mono but recording technology had already reached a level which still stands well today. Photography had reached a similar plateau. Some of what's in this film is excellent. The sets are spooky in a way only the old classics managed. The lighting which was an art form unto itself in black and white films is great. It's due to this that this film manages to remain spooky despite its absurdity. The bottom line: it stunk but I loved it. This text refers to the DVD transfer in the Legacy Collection
Rating:
Summary: Spooky fun for everyone
Review: The one and only Bela Lugosi. Universal Pictures. Dracula. Need I say more?
If only they had Bela play Dracula in all of the sequels.....that would have been perfect. Universal messed up there.
Rating:
Summary: packaging
Review: The transfers are as good as I would hope for. However, all the discs were loose in their container and rattling about. The first disc had a crack at the center hole. It doesn't seem to hurt the viewing, but since it was opened I have no recourse. All of the collections purchased, Frankenstein, Wolfman,and The Sherlock Holmes sets arrived the same way. It is really appalling at this slipshod manner of selling merchandise. Individuel DVDs are tight in their packaging, but the collections are, pardon the expression, the pits. One wonders what I will find as I go through these movies over the months. I hope I find no more surprises. These classics deserve better treatment. Again I do like the transfer on the Dracula disc and the rest will probably be the same. At least I hope so. Who knows how many scratches and bumps have been added to the pristine originals by the packaging? Only the the Shadow...
Rating:
Summary: Glad to see you again!
Review: These wonderful old movies, except House of Dracula, have all been on good Universal DVDs before in single or two-movie editions, along with the Frankenstein, Wolf Man, and Mummy collections. So, these sets constitute rereleases and that's just fine. Glad to keep them in the catalog. BUT, what's missing here is 1) a similar box for all the Mummy movies and 2) the set that Universal continues to give the short hand to: The Creature from the Black Lagoon. The original Creature movie is on a fine Universal DVD, but the sequels - Revenge of the Creature and The Creature Walks Among Us - have never had DVD releases though they are available on Universal VHS tapes. So, come on, Universal. Glad as we are for these new boxes, let's get the whole family out there. Give us our three Creature movies and all the Mummy movies in matching sets. Please.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful horror clash!!
Review: This film has a great pace and fabulous monsters appearing once again. Dracula and the wolf man appear in Dr.Edelman's lab to find a cure for their deadly instincts. After wolfman is getting cured (finally), Edelman is poisoned by Dracula, who dies from sun exposure by the doctor,and turns ino a Jekyll Hyde monster. Dr.Edelman finds the body of the Frankenstein monster and brings it back to life. At the unforgettable conclusion, we get a murder and close view actions of the still living and powerful Frankenstein monster, who appears in the sequel again in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. View the film to get more info about it. Don't view it as a serious critic. Other reviews posted on Amazon as "John Connor" or from "Palm Desert California.."
Rating:
Summary: Mummy and Creature box sets????
Review: To respond to the reviewer looking for Mummy and Creature sets to match the Dracula, Wolf Man and Frankenstein sets just released by Universal.....I wouldn't hold my breath. These three new sets are tied in to the release of the new Universal film Von Helsing. This new movie is about Dracula principally - and it looks just great - can't wait to see it - but it brings in the Wolf Man as you've never seen him before and Frankenstein, with a heart this time. These new DVD sets all have some kind of bonus to tempt you to see Von Helsing. That's fine as far as it goes, but doesn't bode well for getting the Mummy and Creature movies with all their sequels into matching box sets any time soon. If you want The Mummy (orginal Karloff, not the new stuff with Brendan Fraser) and Creature From the Black Lagoon, well, get them while you can. They are out of the catalog and there's no word on if or when they'll be back. Revenge of the Creature and Creature Walks Among Us are VHS only so far. So, a word to the wise for collectors of these delicious old horror classics.
Rating:
Summary: Again, It is about time!
Review: What can I say about this one that I did not already say in my review of the Frankenstein collection. Long OVERDUE UNIVERSAL! God bless the Laemmle's! They must be looking down with sheer joy to see their productions in all of this digital glory! The Count(and Countess Zaleska) does his thing to ladies of the evening until he meets his match in good ol' Edward Van"WE MUST DESTROY IT!!" Sloan. They might as well have included the 1932 Karl Fruend Mummy on here because it is essentially the same story as the very stagy 1931 Dracula with 2 of the actors reprising characters under different names(Manners and Sloan as the romantic and scientist respectively), but I feel that the Mummy collection is coming so lets move on.
Superior(maybe technically) Spanish version is on here and so is English version with the Kronos score. I, personally, can do without the Kronos score but there are those who were enchanted by this addition. Son of Dracula was a cut above the other WW2 era Universal monster vehicles as was Frank Meets Wolf!
Dracula's daughter could have been a Whale. One does wonder what James Whale would have done to this one. Actually, I feel that Dracula's Daughter(1936), which by the way was the last of its type from Universal before the slick assembly line productions came into being(starting with Son of Frank), is superior to the original. The score is superb, the acting far above the 1931 film, and well, lets face it how do you top Vampire lesbianism in the 1930's post flapper era??
House of Dracula and House of Frankenstein almost seem to resemble what would become the staple of the blood-curdling technicolor productions from Hammer, and that was the BRAIN TRANSPLANTS. A deady body here and there, a brain pickled in a jar , a transplant to this one and this one, a suspicous burgomaster, a little decay and blood, you know the deal!
By the way, do you know how to tell when the first era of Universal horror ended?
ANSWER:Dracula's Daughter was the last Universal horror flick to utilize the pre-titles Earth-Globe with the old bi-plane circling. The slicker assembly line Universal horror began with the orbiting black and transluscent Earth-Globe to the 'Buy Bonds-support the troops' music in the background.
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