THE HORROR OF DRACULA
1958

Monsters are handled visually in many ways in monster movies - in part depending on what the monster actually is. There are several ways in which the monsters are depicted:

Dracula is almost invariably a live actor in make up when need be.

Vampires are counted among monsters who have been human but have been altered in some way. Werewoves, Zombies and Mummies are other members of the class. In general, something opf their humanity has been lost in the transformation.

Tales about vampires (or the undead) as they are sometimes referred to) are found in almost all cultures. Some people have held that there is a recognition everywhere of blood as a life force, hence it relevance in terms like “blood oaths” and the like. So it would not be surprising to discover that creatures would appear that thrive on the blood of others. Mosiquitos and some “vampire bars” are known to draw blood from their bites.

The Vampire, like the werewolf is a contagious disease which is transmitted by bite and in this regard can be seen as potentially related to rabies. .

The idea of sucking a life force out of someone is also found in beliefs that cats can kill sleeping persons by stealing their breath.

Vampires were known in Europe, but it isn’t until the 18th century that they become more commonly discussed or believed in. At this time, the vampire was seen – not as gaunt pale creatures – but rather as plump ruddy characters, This influx of “information about vampires lead to a kind of hysteria in Europe in which people thought to have been vampires were exhumed and they exhibited all the signs we now associated with vampire lore. Bodies were found with blood around the noce and mouth indicating they had left their graves and were traveling about at night feasting on the blood of the living. Their ruddy color indicated a kind of life after death for the body.

Much of what was described can be explained easily, but the intimate knowledge held by people in those days held about vampires implies that the people were actually digging up bodies.

Bodies in those days were not embalmed and so post mortem changes were not understood. As the body begins to decompose gasses form in the body often rupturing The blood around the mouth and nose result from these gasses expanding and rupturing the small blood vessels in and around the nose and mouth.

The fact that the bodies were staked and screamed is also accurate since gas build up in the cheat cavity would have been forced out with the blow through the mouth causing the body to “scream”!

It has also been postulated that an illness called porphyria which causes an increased sensitivity to light might have had a part in both werewolf and vampire mythology.. When the skin Is exposed to sunlight it results in scarring, disfiguring and hair growth, thus eying it to both vampirism and werewolvery.

This aversion to sunlight however is a recent acquisition to the mythology starting with the film Nosferatu.. Neither John Polidori’s influential vampire novel The Vampyre (1819) Nor Bram Stoker’s 1895 novel contain the idea of sunlighth being dangerous to the vampire.

The garlic connection seems to result from people using garlic to kill the smell of the decomposing body.

The Vampire has continued in the horror genre until today

The vampires status as monster can at least be held on the grounds that it is a dangerous supernatural being, holding that one possible definition would indicate that the mosters have as a requirement they be dangerous and at least “non-natural”

Hammer Studios

Hammer Studios is a British studio which became known finally as “The House that Dripped Blood”. .Founded in 1934 the company made films until it declared bankruptcy in 1937. It recovered enough to make films again.

From 1939 until 1955 the studio produced typical films and did a science fiction film in 1952. Their first real attempt in science fiction/horror was based on a TV series called The Quatermass Experiment. The film was called The Quatermass Xperiment to cash in

on the new “x” ratings. Reviewers were appropriate shocked and appalled by the film’s “pulsating obscenity” The film was followed yet another Quatermass film and ultimately another.

THhe company was virtually a repertory company with people become extremely used to working with each other and knowing each others style. As a result, despite its low budgets the films had remarkable production design.. They made use of high quality British actors and cleverly designed sets which belied the inexpensive budgets.

The first major horror film to appear was The Curse of Frankenstein which had an incredible number of problems not the least of which was the fear that the preoccupation with violence and gore that Hammer had already a reputation for, was now going to appear for the first time in color! It was in fact filled with gore with the camera lingering over every bloody detail. It was an instant success in Britain, the rest of Europe and the USA where it inspired Roger Corman and American International Pictures to produce their own series. It also made something of a household name out of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee who would be come as associated with the Dracula role as did Lugosi. He did 6 more Dracula films:

Unlike the suave vampire played by Bela Lugosi, Lee’s Dracula is tall, physically powerful and athletic. Lee is 6’4.5” as compared to Lugosi’s 6’1”

AFTER THE FILM

What scenes would be likely to be “set pieces”?

Almost everyone has seen the Lugosi Dracula (or the Spanish version). This is a different one, but some vampire film is needed before Blacula.

The vampire is no longer the suave urbane count of the Universal films

Use of color