Dracula in popular culture Balderston (see below); it starred Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing, both of whom had originated their respective roles on the stage in the aforementioned play, along with Helen Chandler as Mina and Dwight Frye as Renfield. Directed by Tod Browning, it is one of the most famous versions of the story and is widely credited with initiating the Universal horror film series of the 1930s and ‘40s. The 1931 Dracula film was an inductee of the 2000 National Film Registry list. The films had music only during the opening (the famous main theme from
The Brides of Dracula is nothing new or imaginative about it." "Variety" called the film "technically well-made" but thought the script "adds little to the Dracula legend and follows formula horror gimmicks," and that "it would have been considerably more scary if it had been filmed in old-fashioned black and white." "Harrison's Reports" wrote that Martita Hunt and Freda Jackson were "excellent" in the film and the direction and photography were "first class," but that it was "not overly frightening." "The Brides of Dracula" holds a score of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. The famous Spanish cult film director Jesus Franco credits this film as