Like the son of another famous Universal monster, this third entry in the series (not counting the 1931 Spanish Dracula) is a solid film all round: marvelous atmosphere, gripping narrative, superb handling. Watching this soon after THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE (1943), it is easy to discern the difference a talented film-maker can do (as Robert Siodmak certainly was) as opposed to a journeyman director like Lew Landers. Siodmak gives the film a distinctly noir-ish feel, as opposed to the more traditional Gothic look: apart from the standard shadowy lighting, we get Louise Albritton as a femme fatale and Robert Paige as the brooding hero! The film's musty Southern setting ought not to work but it does somehow, for how can one deny the effectiveness of Dracula Jr.'s coffin rising from the depth of a swamp; indeed, substituting his castle in Transylvania with an equally gloomy and mysterious Southern mansion was an inspired touch.
Much has been said of Chaney's inappropriateness for the part: well, I liked him overall and he was quite effective in his various confrontations with Paige (particularly during the climax, one of the best in the Universal canon) or vampire hunters J. Edward Bromberg and Frank Craven; he may not look like a ladies' man but then Lugosi himself was past his prime in THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE! The rest of the cast is ably filled as well: Paige and Albritton are unusually animated although, admittedly, their roles aren't those of the typical Universal leads; Bromberg makes a fine Van Helsing surrogate and Craven is equally good as the practical town doctor suddenly coming face to face with the supernatural; Evelyn Ankers and Samuel S. Hinds' roles are subsidiary ones and certainly straightforward in comparison but their presence in such films is always welcome.
Much has been said of Chaney's inappropriateness for the part: well, I liked him overall and he was quite effective in his various confrontations with Paige (particularly during the climax, one of the best in the Universal canon) or vampire hunters J. Edward Bromberg and Frank Craven; he may not look like a ladies' man but then Lugosi himself was past his prime in THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE! The rest of the cast is ably filled as well: Paige and Albritton are unusually animated although, admittedly, their roles aren't those of the typical Universal leads; Bromberg makes a fine Van Helsing surrogate and Craven is equally good as the practical town doctor suddenly coming face to face with the supernatural; Evelyn Ankers and Samuel S. Hinds' roles are subsidiary ones and certainly straightforward in comparison but their presence in such films is always welcome.