This year marks the 100th Anniversary of Universal Pictures, and the Film Forum in NYC is well aware of the studio's status as the finest purveyor of horrors in cinema history. This July and August, the Forum will be rolling out the very best of Universal Horror, both golden-age monster movies and later classics from heavyweights like Hitchcock, Spielberg, and Carpenter. The program also offers some non-horror greats like
The Incredible Shrinking Man,
Cape Fear,
Touch of Evil,
Shadow of a Doubt, and
E.T., so the
entire schedule is worth a look. For those of you who demand horror, horror, and nothing more, here's the run down of all the creature features scheduled:
Frankenstein (July 12)
Dracula (July 12)
The Phantom of the Opera (July 12)
The Birds (July 20)
Jaws (July 21)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (July 22)
John Carpenter's The Thing (July 23)
The Man Who Laughs (July 24)
Bride of Frankenstein (July 27)
The Black Cat (July 27)
It Came from Outer Space (July 27)
The Wolf Man (July 29, 30)
The Invisible Man (July 29, 30)
The Mummy (July 29, 30)
Son of Dracula (August 3)
Jurassic Park (August 4)
Dracula (Spanish Language Version) (August 8)
Learn more about tickets and showtimes at
Film Forum.org.
Please check out this re-cut of Dracula when you get a chance. It is totally superior to the version we've seen for years (of which Browning supposedly wasn't so fond). It incorporates just a few cutaways from the spanish version (glass shot of Carfax Abbey, cemetery where Van Helsing destroys Lucy, and a C/U of bite marks on a victim's neck). The second half makes much more sense now. - Kenny
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--njW1W38Jw&feature=youtu.be
I must admit that aside from the few, very brief shots floated in from the Spanish language version, and a few scenes that seemed to cut away too early, I didn't notice any difference. What am I missing?
DeleteThe first half is the same other than a cutaway or two. But the second half is re-structured. I found out about this cut on the Classic Horror Message Board a while back. If I can find the thread on it, I'll post it here.
ReplyDeleteFor example, Van Helsing and Dracula's stand off is a little later in the film and it is intercut with Harker and Mina's conversation. This builds the two scenes much better since the second one particularly is slow on its' own. The scene of Dracula stalking Mina comes later in the film. And the way Renfield's scenes line up, his character now makes a lot more sense in terms of the "things" Dracula asks him to do. The best part for me is that Lugosi's scenes are spread out more in the second half and it makes Dracula consistently have more impact. In the standard version, Lugosi only has two real scenes in the final 30 minutes and next to no dialogue. The editor of it, if I'm not mistaken, said he based the continuity on the Spanish version. I thought Tom Weaver said it best when he said it was the first time he actually enjoyed watching Dracula in years. - Kenny
Thanks for the clarification. I always enjoy 'Dracula', but I must say I haven't watched it so attentively in years, since I was looking for the changes. Obviously, not attentive enough since I still wasn't able to recognize all of them.
Delete