"Son of Dracula" Review

 

by Daniel White

I'm sure I'm not the first film enthusiast to notice the similarities between Universal Horror flicks from the thirties and forties and film noir from the same era. They can both trace their origins to the cinema of German Expressionism, and many of the artists who worked in that environment emigrated to Hollywood after the Nazis rose to power and took over control of the German film industry in 1933.

However, I may be the first to coin the phrase, horror-noir, a combination of fright film and noir, which is an intoxicating hybrid, ideally showcased in Universal's, Son of Dracula (1943). Lon Chaney Jr. plays the title bloodsucker, Count Alucard (Dracula backwards), an Hungarian count who has been summoned to a Southern plantation by a student of the occult he met in Budapest, Kay Caldwell (the wonderfully morbid Louise Allbritton). Upon his arrival, Alucard kills Kay's father and soon the two are married, much to the consternation of her fiancee, Frank (Robert Paige).

Directed by Robert Siodmak, based on a story by his brother, Curt (both began their film careers in Germany, prior to the Nazi takeover), Son of Dracula is an extremely well made fright flick with an unusually high production value, for Universal studios. Saturated in atmospheric shadows, touting an above average screenplay and decent special effects, the movie is a horror-noir (hey, I'm trying to get used to it myself) that will please anyone who is an aficionado of such flicks.

A favorite of mine from childhood, this was my first return to the film since then and it left me as creepily satisfied now as it did when I was a 10 year old boy. The image of Alucard's coffin rising to the surface of the swamp, then his gliding across the dank waters triggered spooky yet affectionate memories from my youth.

Chaney makes for an adequate vampire but it's understandable why this is the only time he enacted the role. Heavily made up, cumbersome, even a bit oafish, he has none of the devilish grace of a Lugosi, Carradine, or Lee. He is much better suited to howl at the moon, and shuffle around as Kharis or the Frankenstein monster. But at least by tackling Alucard, the iconic actor is the only performer who has played all four of Universal's monster money makers - an admirable feat for a stalwart of the horror film genre.

In fact, in Son of Dracula, Alucard's presence is almost secondary to the relationship between Kay and Frank, a relationship that reinforces the movie's noirish elements. Distraught and baffled by her dalliance with the mysterious count, Frank is a film noir Everyman caught up in dangerous circumstances beyond his control. And Kay is a formidable femme fatale, using Alucard so she can entice Frank to live an eternally damned life with her. When she visits her hapless ex-lover in jail, demanding he kill the cunning count for her, the movie enters true film noir territory.

Not everyone will agree with me, and there will be strong resistance (especially among the film noir purists) to my claim that horror-noir is legitimate film noir. To test my theory, I'll attempt to post this in sites that honor movies considered legitimate film noir. It will be interesting to observe how this review will be greeted - or if it's accepted at all, for that matter.

Streaming on Tubi and including a crackerjack supporting cast that includes scream queen Evelyn Ankers, Frank Craven, J. Edward Bromberg, Samuel Hinds, Adeline de Walt Reynolds as Queen Zimba, and Etta McDaniel (Hattie's sister), Son of Dracula is a great ghoulfest of a film. A first rate horror-noir!