Дом Дракулы: История и критика фильма

1945 film by Erle C. Kenton
the former ruling dynasty of Wallachia

MCA/Universal released House of Dracula on VHS in 1993. The film was released on DVD in 2004 in a set titled The Legacy Collection, which also included Dracula (1931), the Spanish language Dracula (1931), Dracula's Daughter (1936) and Son of Dracula. The film was released on Blu ray on May 16, 2017, as part of the Dracula: Complete Legacy Collection set.

In contemporary reviews, Jack D. Grant of The Hollywood Reporter reviewed the film at the Universal preview, describing it as showing "the realms of pseudo science interestingly invaded", adding, "the squeamish proceedings [were] given steady pace under the knowing direction of Erle C. Kenton". Grant noted that "the greatest burden of acting is asked of Onslow Stevens [ ] he performs his chores to excellent effects". "Brog." of Variety also reviewed the November 28th screening, commenting that the cast turn in "generally first rate work" that has "more or less become standard", and that "settings, music, photography all contribute to necessary atmospheric mood". Mank noted New York film critics disliked the film. Otis L. Guernsey Jr. of The New York Herald Tribune found that Universal was "substituting quantity for imagination", while Dorothy Masters of The New York Daily News gave the film a one and half star rating, proclaiming that it was "positively guaranteed not to scare the pants off of anybody" and adding that "unfortunately, the film hasn't the capacity of being funny either, and is often the case when synthetic horror becomes too rambunctious". More negative reviews came from Harrison's Reports, which found it "more ludicrous than terrifying" adding "much happens, but nothing that will surprise anyone". Only a review in the New York World Telegram was positive, describing the film as good fun. Outside of New York, The Motion Picture Herald gave it a lukewarm review, which declared the "film fulfills the requirements for a satisfactory horror picture", while the Motion Picture Exhibitor found the film to have "plenty of suspense, dark dungeons and satisfactory performances by the entire cast". Reviewing the double feature with The Daltons Ride Again, Lowell E. Redelings of The Hollywood Citizen News declared that the film is "not high budget film fare, nor was it meant to be. Yet both films are so nicely done that this new bill is corking good entertainment", adding "if all double bills were as good as this one, there would be few complaints". In later critical analysis, Carlos Clarens wrote about the Monster Rally films in his book An Illustrated History of the Horror Film (1967) summarizing that "the sole charm of these films resides in the very proficient contract players that populated them, portraying gypsies, mad scientists, lustful high priests, vampire killers, or mere red herrings". John Brosnan wrote in his book The Horror People (1976) that both House of Dracula and House of Frankenstein were "interesting curiosities" and that House of Dracula was "the better of the two with plenty of gothic atmosphere and some impressive moments that helped one ignore the absurd plot". Bruce Eder commented on a home video release of the film in 1994 finding that both were "great fun" but "curiously, House of Dracula which is padded with a lot of footage from earlier films is the more interesting of the two", noting its more interesting premise and that the "characterizations were interesting and the film makes excellent use of shadows". Craig Butler of the online film database AllMovie found that while the film had an interesting premise, the idea was not developed efficiently and that "coincidence runs rampant, further erasing the delicate 'believability' line that is so difficult to maintain in supernatural flics". The review noted the film had "very little horror", with one exception being the "marvelous sequence involving Dracula and his intended victim, the latter seated at the piano and playing 'Moonlight Sonata' as the good Count begins to work his spell upon her".

Mank describes House of Dracula as "the final serious entry of Universal's Frankenstein saga". On November 28, 1945, Universal joined with British entrepreneur J. Arthur Rank, who bought one fourth interest in the studio. In 1946, Universal reported a profit of only $4.6 million. They responded by dropping many actors from their contract roster. On July 31, 1946, an official merger began. The company, now called Universal–International, had only Deanna Durbin, Abbott and Costello, Maria Montez and a few other actors remaining on their payroll. House of Dracula was the final time make up artist Jack Pierce would create the make up for the Wolf Man, Dracula and Frankenstein's monster, as Universal released him in 1947. Chaney and Strange appeared in several films and television series, including reprising the roles of Larry Talbot and Frankenstein's monster in Universal International's Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). Chaney appeared again as a werewolf in the Mexican production La Casa del Terror. Carradine reprised the role of Dracula on stage, television and in several low budget feature films.