Can't understand all the negative press this film has got over the years. It deserves way more praise than a lot of Universal's more overrated films(e.g. THE WOLF MAN). Chaney is fine in the lead role, and I must say I prefer him to John Carradine in the 2 "HOUSE OF..." films. For me, he's far more sinister and threatening than Carradine's "louche aristocratic seducer" version.<br /><br />4 reasons why this film is great:<br /><br />1. The sets. The steaming swamps and the shadowy interiors combine to create a rich Gothic landscape and atmosphere. This film is undoubtedly a hokey piece of nonsense, but it nonetheless has a flair for creating a pungent sense of the supernatural and a dark romanticism.<br /><br />2. Louise Allbritton. She steals the film from everyone, and is a deliciously sinister vamp with an agenda that provides this film with interesting plot development.<br /><br />3. J.Edward Blomberg. He plays Prof.Laszlo, an excellent "Van Helsing" type. Something of a shame that he's not given more to do.<br /><br />4. The special effects. The best of their kind in any Universal film of the 1940's. There's a really beautiful moment when Drac's coffin rises from the swamp, and the man himself materialises from misty vapour, then floats across towards Allbritton, who awaits her husband-to-be on the bank. Why didn't more of its contemporaries have the visual invention of this movie?<br /><br />In brief then, this film is a lot of fun, and one which I always revisit with pleasure. If you don't like the old Universal horrors then you probably will not like this. However, this is superior work from a studio that consistently delighted audiences with its monster mashes in the 30's and 40's.