The "best" Universal Horror films

[enyawd72]

It's my favorite Dracula movie. Even ahead of the Lugosi version. The desaturated color of the DVD and blu ray versions is a real thorn in my side. The movie was lit and shot specifically for vibrant Technicolor. It's absolutely ridiculous that the theatrical version is not available.

I agree on both "Counts" LOL...sorry couldn't resist!

Langella is my favorite Dracula ever. There were so many firsts in this film...Dracula scaling the walls like a giant spider, his lack of fear at the cross (the scene where he grabs it and causes it to burst into flames is fantastic) And his "dancing eyes" are far more unnerving than Lee's bloodshot contact lenses.

[Bruce Banner]

Also a big fan of the Langella Dracula.
And I agree about the colour desaturation... Badham should have okayed the inclusion of the vibrant theatrical version on the Blu-ray along with his desaturated version

[PNGwynne]

Why was it desaturated?

The first time I saw the film was when I was about 13, on HBO I think, and I don't recall the coloring specifically.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I would be falling down on the job if I didn't mention Cindy and I covered the Langella Dracula last year on Super Mates' House of Franklin-Stein.

http://fireandwaterpodcast.com/podcast/super-mates-62-house-of-franklin-stein-part-3/

Chris

[enyawd72]

You can still see the Langella version in glorious full color in this original trailer.

[Bruce Banner]

Why was it desaturated?

Apparently, John Badham originally wanted to shoot the movie in black & white, but the studio disagreed and made him shoot it in Technicolor.
When Dracula was released on Laserdisc in 1991, Badham had the colour timing altered, resulting in his preferred desaturated version.
All subsequent DVD and Blu-ray releases feature the desaturated version.

[enyawd72]

Apparently, John Badham originally wanted to shoot the movie in black & white, but the studio disagreed and made him shoot it in Technicolor.
When Dracula was released on Laserdisc in 1991, Badham had the colour timing altered, resulting in his preferred desaturated version.
All subsequent DVD and Blu-ray releases feature the desaturated version.

^Yep. What surprises me though, is that as a director, Badham should have a better understanding of film and color vs. black and white photography. You simply cannot take a film that was designed, lit and photographed in color and suck all the color out of it. The result looks like crap. Black and white cinematography must be lit in a completely different manner, with even makeup, costuming, and set colors adjusted accordingly to get the proper look on film. A perfect example of this was George Reeves gray, brown, and white Superman costume for the black and white episodes of Adventures of Superman. The red and blue color suit looks terrible in black and white.

[PNGwynne]

You make a good point. The same could be said for literature. It's easy to say in justification, "Oh, it's the author/director's creation, they can revisit it and rework it." But the result is almost always adulterated.