And seasonal. I wrote ages ago on the original spooky movies we watched as part of our annual Fall and Halloween viewing. Most of the movies were not an every year occurrence, but a few became annual traditions right along with The Great Pumpkin and Halloween Haunts. And one of those is often the 'kick-off' movie of the season, Universal's 1931 production of Dracula. It was a favorite of my mom (released the year she was born), and I suppose that's one reason I have a fondness for it. Plus, it's just an excellent production, with sets and atmosphere that shame most modern attempts to capture the same feel. And, as my sons like to point out, it helped teach the world that at least part of the classic ballet Swan Lake really belongs in the realm of horror.
Well, it turns out that there was an epilogue for the movie that hasn't been shown in decades. And it isn't part of any version of the movie I know. Prologues weren't uncommon back then, having them from the original Frankenstein to DeMille's Ten Commandments in 1956. But an epilogue? I wonder how common those were.
Anyway, here it is. A fitting post for the first day of that Month of spooky. If the epilogue ran with the original release or was added later, I also don't know. Again, this has only recently come to my attention because I think it was only recently unearthed. It's Edward Van Sloan, who played Dr. Van Helsing in the movie, giving a final warning to the audience about, well, you know:
