Son of Dracula

[Type3Toys]

I recently rediscoverd this film myself. I never used to like it, but now it is one of my faves. I used to take this as Alucard was the son of Dracula, now I see it as Dracula himself. Chaney REALLY does Dracula well, strong and confident. I also dig the staple Universal moments that some many others since imitate. The opening swamp scene, the gypsy queen. I mean come on, you CANT make a good monster movie without a swamp or a gypsy in it.
I cant understand why Chaney did not appear as the count more often after this film.

[Zombiology]

I cant understand why Chaney did not appear as the count more often after this film.

I'm wondering if the Wolfman role proved more lucrative for Universal.  I can only think of one more movie after the Wolfman where Lon Chaney appeared without playing Talbot, besides Son of Dracula, and in it, he played Frankenstein.  By the time the House movies came along, Lon had played all three of the major roles, yet it was as the Wolfman Universal cast him in.  They went out and got Glenn Strange and John Caradine to play the other two.  Interesting thought though.  Of the two, I would have rather seen him reprise Dracula rather than Frankenstein.

[Type3Toys]

I'm wondering if the Wolfman role proved more lucrative for Universal.  I can only think of one more movie after the Wolfman where Lon Chaney appeared without playing Talbot, besides Son of Dracula, and in it, he played Frankenstein.  By the time the House movies came along, Lon had played all three of the major roles, yet it was as the Wolfman Universal cast him in.  They went out and got Glenn Strange and John Caradine to play the other two.  Interesting thought though.  Of the two, I would have rather seen him reprise Dracula rather than Frankenstein.

I agree. He was a VERY convincing Count Dracula and should have played him more. I never liked the way Caradine played the part. He seemed more like someone's frale grandfather then lord of the undead to me.

[MDG]

...I never liked the way Caradine played the part. He seemed more like someone's frale grandfather then lord of the undead to me.

Which might explain why he barely made it through one night in HOF.

[Opera Ghost]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I just typed out a long (winded) theory based on a thought posed by Invisible Woman, only to have it not post at the same time as another! I'll try again later!


OG

[Count_Zirock]

Chaney was always very proud of the fact that Talbot/The Wolf Man was his, and his alone. Since there weren't any stand-alone sequels to "Son of Dracula" and "Ghost of Frankenstein," Chaney never got the chance to reprise the characters. Although the studio originally wanted him to play both titular characters in "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man," Chaney was unwilling to do it because Universal refused to pay him extra for playing two roles. After FMTWM, it was on to the monster rallies, and Chaney's chance to reprise Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster was gone. Although he was meant to reprise Count Alucard in "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein," it ended up not happening. One character Chaney did reprise quite often was Kharis the Mummy, a role he grew to detest.

[Zombiology]

I never liked the way Caradine played the part. He seemed more like someone's frale grandfather then lord of the undead to me.

This made me laugh because it was so true   I still liked Caradine but more in the later movies where he seemed to grow into that typecast.  He was much more suited for the wizened figure rather than the action role.  I loved him in House of Long Shadows because he played the patriarch to Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

[Memphremagog]

I'm wondering if the Wolfman role proved more lucrative for Universal.  I can only think of one more movie after the Wolfman where Lon Chaney appeared without playing Talbot, besides Son of Dracula, and in it, he played Frankenstein.  By the time the House movies came along, Lon had played all three of the major roles, yet it was as the Wolfman Universal cast him in.  They went out and got Glenn Strange and John Caradine to play the other two.  Interesting thought though.  Of the two, I would have rather seen him reprise Dracula rather than Frankenstein.

In fact, Chaney played in CALLING DR.DEATH, WEIRD WOMAN, DEAD MAN'S EYES, FROZEN GHOST, STRANGE CONFESSION and PILLOW OF DEATH all after playing in the original Wolf Man. These were the Inner Sanctum films and, for all intents, he had his own mystery series at Universal.

[Rich]

Lon also played The Mummy three times.

[Count_Zirock]

Lon also played The Mummy three times.

Did he now?

One character Chaney did reprise quite often was Kharis the Mummy, a role he grew to detest.

[ridulus]

Can't have been Dracula's son as Dracula died without issue " in the accepted sense of the word"

Klove.

[Count_Zirock]

Can't have been Dracula's son as Dracula died without issue " in the accepted sense of the word"
Klove.

Vlad Dracula actually had four legitimate heirs: Radu and Vlad IV from his first marriage, and Mihnea and Mihail from his second marriage. The vampire Count Dracula would have selected an heir from those he "turned," although it's unlikely he would've bothered, as he would never have thought it conceivable that he'd be destroyed.

[Zombiology]

Vlad Dracula actually had four legitimate heirs: Radu and Vlad IV from his first marriage, and Mihnea and Mihail from his second marriage. The vampire Count Dracula would have selected an heir from those he "turned," although it's unlikely he would've bothered, as he would never have thought it conceivable that he'd be destroyed.

That brought an interesting thought.  Has Dracula ever turned a male?  I've seen wives and daughters but Lon is the only son I have heard of.  My ignorance does not know what to think of Renfield.

[zombiehorror]

That brought an interesting thought.  Has Dracula ever turned a male?  I've seen wives and daughters but Lon is the only son I have heard of.  My ignorance does not know what to think of Renfield.

Although Renfield is not fully turned Dracula has given him the vampire's "kiss", one can assume that his biting of Renfield is more to have a controllable (at least in theory) henchmen than it is to have the accompaniment of women as his brides may provide.

[Count_Zirock]

Although Renfield is not fully turned Dracula has given him the vampire's "kiss", one can assume that his biting of Renfield is more to have a controllable (at least in theory) henchmen than it is to have the accompaniment of women as his brides may provide.

In the novel, it's unclear whether Dracula has bitten Renfield or not. He is already insane and eating insects before Dracula ever arrives in England. His condition seems to leave him open to the vampire's mental control, however. In the play and '31 film, Renfield apparently doesn't want human lives. He talks of birds and kittens. The scene was cut where we see that Renfield was stalking the unconscious maid because a fly had landed on her! But, Dracula has promised Renfield that, upon his natural death, he would rise as one of the undead. Apparently, strangling Renfield negates the process.
 
Based on what we know of Dracula, he would only turn men he deemed in some way inferior to himself. That way, they could never successfully challenge him. In Kim Newman's "Anno Dracula" series, there are no males turned by Dracula, except Baron Meinster. Arthur Holmwood is turned by Lord Ruthven, the new Prime Minister. General Iorga claims to have been turned by Dracula, yet he has none of Dracula's shapeshifting abilities. (Neither does Meinster, which casts doubt on his claims, as well.) Only Queen Victoria and Mina Harker are known to be the true "get" (the term used amongst vampires in the series for vampiric offspring) of Dracula, and he has both firmly under his control.
 
It is conceivable that Dracula would have turned one of his legitimate heirs. Vlad IV (know as Vlad Tepelus), his first-born, would have been the prime candidate. He was killed in battle in 1500, trying to reclaim the Wallachian voevodeship. A true case of "like father, like son"! However, the only one of Vlad Dracula's sons to ever regain the throne was Mihnea cel Rau (1508-'09). Descendants wrested the Wallachian throne back and forth from members of the Danesti family for another 100+ years. House Draculesti (as the family was known) was absorbed into Hungarian nobility when Transylvania became part of Hungary in 1600 AD. The last known Voevode was Mihai Viteazul, of House Draculesti, from 1593-1600. Interestingly enough, both the Draculesti and the Danesti clans were offshoots of House Basarab, which Vlad II's father, Vlad, had been a member of.