Horror Movie a Day: Son Of Dracula

Not to be outdone by his whiny little sister, Dracula’s male offspring decides to get his own movie deal with the 1943 film Son Of Dracula. He’s trying to escape his families dark past, so he decided to immigrate to America, and change his name to Count Alucard. Yes, Alucard is Dracula spelled backwards. We’ve seen it countless of times before, But this movie marks the first time its ever been done. He’s played by the great Lon Chaney, jr. who uses this role to be the only actor to get a full house in classic Universal Monsters. He played the Wolfman, Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula, and a mummy.

Sadly though he is completely miscast here. Lon Chaney is just a big dumb American oaf type of guy. He’s got a simple down home charm. To have him play the charming and dark Count Dracula, or one of his offspring, is an insult to the audience.  He’s often referred to as a foreigner by the characters in the film. The only thing foreign about him is the silly ass mustache he wore to make himself look distinguished.

Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t hate the film. In fact quite the opposite. It’s the best and probably most under appreciated of the Dracula Trilogy. Surely Lugosi’s Dracula is missed here. But this movie isn’t bound to a plot derived from historical or literary world. Dracula just doesn’t bumble into town to seek out new victims. Well actually he does, but its part of a plan hatched between him Katherine Caldwell.  At first the audience is fooled into believing Alucard is the evil mastermind behind everything and is attempting a shortened version of a long con to acquire new property. He’s seduced a rich heiress into marriage and he is now the new Master Of The Dark Oaks plantation. There’s will be a murder, a reading of a will and a few double crosses before it’s all done. Even the count himself is double-crossed, which at that the point the film’s kicking into second gear. It’s no Usual Suspects, But you do get Keyser Soze’d.

Aside from the first usage of Alucard, this flick has the first Bat to Vampire on-screen transformation. Prior to this we’ve always just seen a cheesy bat float around on a string and then the Vampire enters the scene. In fact the film boasts quite a few good special effects, a decent mechanical bat, some nice floating effects and smoke the forms into the shape of a man before transforming into Lon Chaney, Jr.  Impressive even today. Oh and the count’s sole off-screen vampire victim, is a small child. Even though we don’t get to see the attack, we do see the aftermath, something beyond the standard of decency when the first film came out in 1931.  

If you’ve already seen Dracula, and the Dracula’s Daughter, then watch this and you’ll be pleasantly surprise. I recommend to anyone with an afternoon to waste, and all Dracula fans.  I give this film two Count Duckula’s.