The authors of the book "Universal Horrors" declared that "notwithstanding the discovery of a print of the director Rupert Julian's version of "The Cat Creeps" (1930), the Spanish version of ""Dracula" is the last great Universal horror discovery we're likely to see." While praising the faster pace of certain scenes, the authors found that some scenes were "disruptive to the film's sense of setting." The review also commented that Villaria's performance of Dracula was "the picture's most crucial weakness" and that "The performance underscores how much a personality piece the property is; like Sherlock Holmes, all his stage or movie renditions risk utter failure by its central casting." and that "Lugosi could convince anyone he was the King of the Vampires by simply striking a pose. For all of Villarias' mugging and facial gyrations, he looks like one of the count's foot soldiers." Mark Deming of AllMovie commented that "Melford's compositions and camera movements give his version a more fluid grace and subtly sinister mood, and, if his film's pace is a bit slower, the result has an effectively eerie undercurrent that Browning's sometimes lacks." Deming found that "most of the cast is just as good as, if not better than, their English-speaking counterparts" specifically noting Carmen Guerrero as Lucia (Lucy) and Lupita Tovar as Eva (Mina), Eduardo Arozamena as Van Helsing, and Pablo Alvarez Rubio as Renfield. Deming also found that "The Spanish-language "Dracula" (1931) suffers only when one compares Carlos Villarías' performance as Dracula to Bela Lugosi's; while Villarias is adequate, then as now, Lugosi owns the role." Paul Lenti of "Variety" also praised the female cast while finding that Villarias "lacks Lugosi's moth-to-the-flame allure and presence, his melodramatic pauses are almost comic."