May 8 — The castle is a veritable prison! And I am its prisoner!
In the 1931 Universal classic "Dracula," many details of Bram Stoker's horror classic are shuffled around to limit the cost of the blockbuster production. (It was Bela Lugosi, fresh from playing The Count on Broadway, who helped negotiate with Stoker's widow for the rights to the work for $40,000 (around 700k today.) While they correct this with a Borgo Pass/Brides of Dracula segment in 1992's "Bram Stoker's Dracula" by Francis Ford Coppola, it is moved to the film's last act. In Stoker's original work, the first portion concludes with a chilling series of journal entries regarding Jonathan Harker's loss of hope and day-to-day dread of abandonment at the hands of the sinister Count who seems to control everything.
To mimic the stage play and ramp up the tension, 1931's "Dracula" must control its release of the most obvious statement. So director Tod Browning (in what he billed as his only true horror film,) lets Lugosi introduce himself immediately with the immortal words, "I am Dracula." Given that the film is also the first horror "talkie," it must have sent shrieks through the theatre.
What is missing from both is the sense of peril of one man against what he is steadily realizing is a force of nature. In the beginning (shortly after our epigraph,) Harker runs around the giant castle looking for doors, windows, and any way to get out. His conviction in this process easily gets the better of him leading him to the horrifying conclusion that he is not able to escape. What makes it more riveting (especially in a modern reading,) is how carefully Dracula attends to Harker's needs. He may be a prisoner, but his life is somewhat comfortable. Stoker uses this bit of cognitive dissonance to an early advantage. Much like trying doors, rattling windows, and frantically searching for keys, Harker can only give in and make the best of what he suspects will be his final days.
The other distinct advantage that Stoker gives us in writing Harker's manic entries is they are mostly small, internal monologues made to feel claustrophobic in this giant castle. Left to his own devices, Harker cannot help but want to explore this dusty old mansion. Every discovery he makes brings Harker a mixture of comfort and dread. When Harker cracks open the unhinged door of the upstairs room, he is taken with the castle's history and basks in the glowing moonlight. As readers, we know this is not going to end well. Harker is "obstinate" about sleeping there and disregarding The Count's advice. So, when he awakens to giggling young women twirling around, it is made to feel like a dream quickly becoming a nightmare through heavy, barely opened lids. The symbolism of opening one forbidden door and defying the only stated rule of protection becomes a palette for Stoker to fill Harker with lust, shame, fear, loathing, and cowardice.
At this point, we are sure that Harker is not leaving Castle Dracula and possibly no longer our hero. Stoker even does a masterful job of filling us with the implication that he will not write Mina anymore "coded" letters almost out of guilt over the wash of feelings those three "voluptuous" women unleashed. So, Stoker sets about earning our respect for Harker by having him try to outwit Dracula by portraying full compliance while teeming with ideas for an inner rebellion. After smuggling a pair of letters to the Szgany (foreshadowed by an earlier industrious session with the Count where he left his letters behind,) it is almost as if a disappointed Count has given up on him. Like Rosemary's cracking the code of her elderly patrons, the Castevets, feeding her tannis root to ensure her docility, Harker's extended free time and obsessive following of Dracula opens his eyes to several truly terrifying facts about his host.
In the most frightening segment of Harker's journal, we realize that Dracula has a "lizard" like prowess at crawling out of his window down to a hidden portion of the castle. As Harker describes these incidents, they are made to feel supernatural. In today's modern film technology, this would be a tough sell so as to not cross that CGI uncanny valley. In Stoker's words, this ability becomes more revealing about Dracula's motives - namely that he is wearing Harker's suit. Amid this confusion and wrecked by having his days numbered, Harker becomes brave. Crawling out of the window and down the castle's crumbling walls, Harker finds Dracula has his own false front. With that Stoker reveals another smart twist, leaving us to think "What is he hiding down there?"
The point of Jonathan Harker's journals is to establish Count Dracula as a sinister being with strange powers. However, in his interactions with people, even Stoker knows that Dracula must appear charming and gracious - yet always experienced enough to turn it off or take control. What Harker presents to us as readers is a thrilling opening gambit for a horror novel. Much like the first act of Hitchcock's "Psycho" or Argento's "Suspiria," it must roll out with growing intensity and an almost balletic rhythm. Stoker's "Dracula" quickly presents us with a character who may know more about Count Dracula than most - perhaps too much.
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Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Cafe in Hattiesburg.
NEW MUSIC This Week
ROLLING STONES - Hackney Diamonds [CLEAR LP/CD] (Polydor/ Geffen/Universal) • Just in case you need to know, in the 61st year of the World's Greatest Rock N'Roll band, 80-year-old Mick Jagger and 79-year-old Keith Richards (with help from 76-year-old Ronnie Wood,) took a break from touring to write their first album of original material in 18 years. While it boasts guest spots from Stevie Wonder and Lady Gaga (on the "Exile on Main Street"-ish Gospel-infused "Sweet Sounds of Heaven") as well as Elton John and Paul McCartney, The Stones are the stars of this one. With Grammy-winner Andrew Watt kicking them into high gear, Jagger and Richards write inspired riffs (the Watt-assisted "Angry" sounds like it would fit well on 1981's "Tattoo You") and manage to sound like they refuse to grow any older. The final sales pitch: Jagger, Richards, and Wood managed to bring back Bill Wyman to play bass on the last Charlie Watts recording "Live By The Sword."
BLINK-182 - One More Time [LP/CD](Columbia) • On the flip side of returning, Blink-182 does not exactly help their legacy celebrating their 30th anniversary with a return to the original lineup of DeLonge, Hoppus, and Barker. Despite having world-class mixer Șerban Ghenea onboard, Travis Barker's production does not do enough to emphasize their Punk/Pop lineage. Hearing DeLonge and Hoppus sing about having sex and/or dancing all night feels a little too much like Weezer still trying to desperately fit in. Still, in lieu of its ridiculously loud drum mix, only "Edging" weaves its way into "Enema of the State" territory.
GLEN HANSARD - All That Is East Is West of Me Now [LP/CD](Plateau/ANTI/AMPED) • The Irish singer/songwriter decided not to sit and write/refine his songs for a new record alone or in the studio. Instead, Glen Hansard took his unrefined/still unworked songs to unannounced gigs in local pubs. As he says, "We set up in the corner and played for the locals." Not a hostile room but still a surprised audience, Hansard quickly was able to determine which ones would soar and which ones fell to the floor. With help from Nick Cave collaborator Warren Ellis, Hansard has constructed a series of tracks that sound like Neil Young playing Irish Folk songs.
DYLAN LEBLANC - Coyote [LP/CD](ATO) • Somewhere between his childhood homes of Shreveport and Muscle Shoals, Dylan LeBlanc absorbed the ability of Southern singer/songwriters to be storytellers with a hint of Soul. Now that his voice has grown a little rougher around its edges, "Coyote" proves that LeBlanc can write moody meditations on the mysteries of life (the string-laden title track) as well as Steve Earle-esque crunchy Country-Rock ("No Promises Broken.")
REISSUES OF THE WEEK
KING CRIMSON - Larks' Tongue In Aspic: Complete Recording Sessions [4CD/4LP](Panegyric) • In the capable hands of producer/mixer Steven Wilson, King Crimson's most difficult and rewarding album gets an entirely new focus. Broken down into its parts, you can now hear how painstakingly Crimson worked to record just the right performance of the tracks for the album. With nearly every available rehearsal, solo track, or take, their ability to play too much is quite literally sanded down to its final product. More than any previous Crimson album, "Larks' Tongue" is a real tension builder. As they shape the pieces, especially when violinist David Cross is incorporated, this all-encompassing version of "Larks' Tongue" is a dazzling education pursuing perfection. In addition, brand new mixes for ATMOS and other audiophiles from Wilson and the "Elemental" mixes of David Singleton, open the entire period up for further study.
THE SHINS - Chutes Too Narrow [LP](SubPop/AMPED) • Following the surprise success of their debut "Oh! Inverted World," James Mercer and The Shins turned Indie Rock upside down on their second album. Boasting smart production from Phil Ek, Shins songs took on an anthemic pulse ("Kissing The Lipless") while still making good on the Sixties Pop promise of their first album (the minor verse/major chorus genius of "So Says I.") With access to more instrumentation and longer production time (what will soon come to define the band,) songs like "Saint Simon" remain a wonderful example of how to use space and augment your compositions to sound both fanciful and slightly bittersweet. Just one year after its release, the appearance of Shins songs in Zach Braff's film "Garden State" changed their lives completely. The Grammy-winning cover art has been newly redesigned to dazzle even more.
U2 - Zooropa [2 YELLOW LP](Island/UME) • Once the also-ran from the U2 catalog, 1993's "Zooropa" earned its stature for introducing the band to Electronics and Dance music while other Eighties stalwarts were continuing in the same direction. With the worldwide success of 1991's "Achtung Baby" in their sails, U2 felt the need to experiment with new sounds via producer Brian Eno. What was designed as a pre-tour EP grew into an album. What was once just another U2 album morphed into a spectacle thanks to the ongoing series of Vegas shows in the spectacular Sphere.
