Son Of Dracula movie review

Son Of Dracula released in 1943 is the third in the original Dracula series, and the last of the original Dracula cycle, before the Universal Monster Movies became monster fests featuring many of the monsters on screen together. For this movie we have the amazing Lon Cheny Jr stepping in for the role of Dracula's son. This movie is the first of many things, first of all it is the first to use the name Count Alucard, which would be reused in other vampire works in the future, it is also the first to show an on screen transformation of a Dracula from his bat form, and also from his mist form, previously this had always been done off screen. This movie also introduces the idea that if you destroy Dracula's coffin while he is not in it, then we would die, because he must return to his coffin which contains soil of his homeland, before the sun rises. This movie is about the mysterious Count Alucard who is invited to the USA by the Beautiful Kathrine (Kay) Caldwell, who met him on her travels through Hungary. The two are secretly dating, to the chagrin of her long-time boyfriend Frank. Kay is one of the daughters of the wealthy Colonel Caldwell, who when he dies early in the movie wills the Dark Oaks plantation to Kay. Family friend Dr Brewster becomes suspicious of the mysterious Count Alucard, and starts researching him, discovering that his name spelled backwards is in fact Dracula, and enlists the help of a Hungarian professor by the name of Lazlo. Kay and Alucard are married in the middle of the night, and a jealous Frank tries to shoot Alucard, but instead the bullets go right through him "killing" Kay. Frank delirious runs to Dr. Brewster's house to tell him what he did, and then later turns himself into the police. Meanwhile Dr. Brewster goes to see for himself what Frank was raving about, and finds Kay alive and well in he bed, and is told by her and Alucard that they will be busy doing research on Alucard's work, and shall not be disturbed during the day under any circumstances. Kay then enters Frank's cell, and informs him that she still loves him, and only married Alucard so that she could gain immortality, and now that she has become immortal, she wants to share it with Frank. She then instructs Frank on how to destroy Alucard, and this leads up to the climax of the movie, which for some reason the ending of this movie stuck out in my memory from childhood more than any of the scenes of the other Dracula movies, and I am not sure why that is, but I always remembered seeing this ending while watching this with my mom as a kid. From a technical perspective this movie is beautifully done, there are some amazing ground breaking special effects, for example Alucard gliding across the water, is beautifully done as are the scenes where he transitions from a bat and in and out of his mist form. The settings are absolutely beautiful, and set a dark beautiful tone, the characters are all perfectly cast, especially with Lon Cheny Jr. as Count Alucard, and Louise Allbritton as Kathrine (Kay) Caldwell. This is really a beautiful movie, and though the critics gave it mediocre reviews, it is actually a great classic horror movie, that is really well done, and definitely worth viewing and appreciating. Would I recommend this movie? Yes, absolutely, Son Of Dracula is definitely a must-see classic, especially for anyone who is a fan of vampire movies, and classic horror movies. Such a beautiful movie, and one that I will happily re-watch regularly. I highly recommend picking up a copy of all of the Universal Monsters Legacy Collections. I am having so much re-watching these for these reviews, and it helps me to feel closer to my mom, who I lost in 2005 to breast cancer, as we loved watching these classic movies together when I was growing up.