Happy Birthday to probably the most memorable cinematic Dracula ever, the Prince of Darkness himself, Bela Lugosi! One of the original kings of horror, along with Lon Chaney Sr. and Boris Karloff! My earliest memories of him before I became a horror fan was merely seeing an advert for the classic Universal horror movies on the VHS tape of The Mummy (1999) we had. And that little bit of him where he greets Renfield, either saying, I am Dracula! or I bid you welcome! haunted me for days. Id see him in my nightmares, and would often imagine him coming into my house and turning my parents into vampires, who would then gang up on me while I was asleep! Hahaha!!! But from then, I was always fascinated with the actor who portrayed him, and would slowly start my journey into loving horror. Anyways, I think thats why Bela is one of my top ten favorite actors of all time! While he may not have had the opportunity to showcase his versatility as he did on the stages in Budapest (he played Jesus Christ for Christ sake!!!), he still had an unforgettable presence on screen. I mean you can take a look at Dracula, and despite some of the technical flaws, or the flaws with some of the actors, when he appears on screen, your eyes are directly and immediately navigated towards him. Youre horrified, yet entranced, which is I think the essence for all horror film fans. Were frightened, but intrigued at the same time. And with every favorite actor of mine, no matter what role hes given, be it Dracula, Igor/Ygor in Son of Frankenstein, or Dr. Eric Vornoff in Bride of the Monster, he never half-asses anything. He never gives oh, 50% of himself, and then is waiting for the paycheck at the end of the day. No, you see his passion for acting in every single role hes in, which is more than a lot of actors nowadays have. It was a tragedy the way he went out: nearly broke, addicted to prescription medications, and with very few friends who had his back. I can only wonder what would happen if he was somehow living today. Would he have the same acclaim and reverence that we all hold for him? Id like to think so, and hopefully, somewhere, he recognizes that, and is pleased with his cinematic immortality. Watch one of his films today (like Dracula) to celebrate his outstanding legacy! And to Bauhaus, Bela Lugosi is not dead (good song though)! Happy B-Day Mr. Blasko!
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 02:38:53 +0000
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