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
Dracula 3D film was also criticized for its look and visual effects, with "TV Guide" opining that "despite some attractive costumes and sets, "Argento's Dracula" is a sparse, cheap-looking movie, with visual effects that would have been rejected on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"." Likewise, "Fangoria" faulted the film for containing "some of the worst visual FX for a film of this stature in recent memory." Dracula 3D Dracula 3D is a 2012 vampire horror film co-written and directed by Dario Argento and starring Thomas Kretschmann, Rutger Hauer, Marta Gastini, and Unax Ugalde. An Italian-Spanish-French co-production, the film is Argento's first 3D film.