Dracula is a film series of horror films from Universal Pictures based on the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker and its 1927 play adaptation. Film historians have had various interpretations over which projects constitute being in the film series; academics and historians finding narrative continuation between Dracula (1931) and Dracula's Daughter (1936), while holding varying opinions on whether Son of Dracula (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944) and House of Dracula (1945) are part of the series. Author and academic Gary Don Rhodes stated the all the mentioned films would require an audience to be familiar with Count Dracula, portrayed by Bela Lugosi, and the various character traits the actor established in the original 1931 film.
The only actor from Dracula to return as a character in any sequel is Edward Van Sloan who returned as Van Helsing in Dracula's Daughter; here renamed Von Helsing. The films following Dracula's Daughter do not continue the narrative set-up by the first two films. House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula feature a Count Dracula who only makes brief appearances in the film with a different appearance and character. Film academics and historians have commented that the narrative inconsistencies were made for commercial reasons, such as Universal wanting to name their new horror films after family members, as was done for Son of Dracula, as they had done with films like Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939). Academic Megan De Bruin-Molé has contested that the inclusion of Count Dracula in House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula was part of Universal's approach to combine their horror characters as they had done with films like Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), to establish themselves as the "real" home of horror in the film market.[1] Following the success of the 1931 film and several horror sequels made in the 1940s, various Dracula remakes and follow-ups were announced that never went into production, such as Wolf Man vs. Dracula.
While Dracula (1931) was critically well received on its release, retrospective critical analysis of the film since the 1950s have often criticized the film for being "plodding", "stagebound" and "talkative".[2][3] The sequels have continued to receive mixed reception with the authors of the book Universal Horrors writing that "by the mid-40s they were on their last legs anyways."[4] The first two films in the series helped establish the tropes and image of classical screen vampire. This take on the cinematic vampire is defined by an unreflecting figure driven by a craving for both the young woman of his desire and for human blood as sustenance. The image of Count Dracula in the first film would not only influence the look of the character in Universal's series, but the look of the character across several films, comic books, and television presentations.