31 Days of Horror Reviews 2018: Son of Dracula

Son of Dracula sees Lon Chaney Jr shed his wolf hair and don the cape of the Count.

REVIEW

At first I thought the idea of Lon Chaney Jr. playing a vampire was laughable because he’s most famous for being Larry Talbot/ The Wolf Man, but I was pleasantly surprised. LCJ plays a different kind of Dracula, Count Alucard. Yeah, this film was the start of Dracula’s famous pseudonym. He’s still charismatic and intense, but appears less sinister than Bela Lugosi.

This is the first and only Dracula-solo film to take place in (film) present-America and not Europe. The entire film takes place at a plantation called Dark Oaks in the South, so do keep in mind there are a few scenes of black servants in a room full of white people during the beginning. If you can get through the entirety of Blazing Saddles, you can get through the first 15 minutes of Son of Dracula.

Without a doubt, the most interesting characters are Dr. Brewster and Professor Lazlo, who kind of takes on the Van Helsing role for this film. Brewster is the first one to notice that “Alucard” is “Dracula” spelled backwards and phones Lazlo of Hungary of his suspicions. The whole film plays like a mystery which is a really good direction that fits with this genre.

If you’ve followed this blog than it’s pretty clear that I’m a fan of low-key lighting and there’s plenty of it in this film. One thing that this film does differently with it’s lighting is actually change it in the same shot making it more dramatic when Alucard or any vampiric activity is involved.

It may have ideas that are frowned upon nowadays, but for what it’s worth Son of Dracula is a rather underrated film and does end the Dracula Trilogy in a satisfactory way.