Dracula (1931)

Finally saw this and was struck by how quiet it was. For whatever reason, I expected to hear a lot of dark, gloomy music during the Transylvania scenes and really creepy stuff for when Dracula bites necks. But no, just about every scene without dialogue just plays out silently, and sometimes all you hear is wind, and maybe the floorboards creaking as Dracula slowly walks across a room staring at someone, which seemed to be happening constantly in this movie. This lack of music was really chilling.

Even though it's a total cinematic cliche by now, Bela Lugosi's performance truly is great. There's no need to describe it. He's the Count from Sesame Street, only scarier, less purple, and has his OCD under control. There's not much dialogue in this movie, but Dracula talks less than anyone, he just sort of lurks behind people while they're chatting at a table or something. And then when he does talk, it's always something about being an undead vampire, like "there are far worse things awaiting man than death.", and everyone looks at each other awkwardly. A lot of this movie is about how hanging out with Dracula is a huge buzzkill.

Anyway, this was filmed simultaneously alongside a Spanish version: same sets and production crew, different actors and language. I'll have to look out for that sometime. I've heard more than once that it's actually better than the Lugosi version. For me, though, I don't think anything tops Nosferatu in terms of classic vampire films.