Review:
Nosferatu was made in 1922 but it's not the original adaptation cuz those German mofos didn't get stoker's approval to make that film. This is gonna be a weird review cuz this DVD has three different versions of the same film. I like to think it's only two different versions but it said three on the box so I'm sticking with that number. Now the first version is the Bela Lugosi version. I'm sure you know which one I'm talking about. Ever other Dracula has been derived from Lugosi's Dracula. The second version is just the same as the first except Philip Glass does the music for it. The last version is the Spanish version and by far the best feature of this DVD.

The Lugosi version is fine, for all the hardcore fan out there this is probably the best this film will ever look. The transfer is outstanding considering it's age. The only shit thing I found, you really can't miss it, is the fucked up musical not at the very beginning of the film. I just felt that they could make it look so good couldn't they have fixed the sound. This doesn't occur in any other place, but it's still a sour note.

This film is Bela Lugosi's best. He really does it up. But in today's standards he looks like a fool. The Spanish Dracula on this disc is a far better Dracula. I'm not gonna hold this against him. Most of the characters are better in the Spanish version; the one exception is Renfield played by Dwight Frye. He plays the best Renfield I have ever seen. It's a real tragedy that he got type casted into that kind of role. Bottom line here folks if you a fan pick dis shit up. I picked it up for the Lugosi version but I think the Spanish version is far superior.

Special Features :
This motherfucker is staked. I gotta hand it to Universal; they went all out for the "Classic Monster Collection". All the added stuff is very well done; I would recommend this DVD on the features alone. The featurette is all class running in at nearly an hour. Most of the topics covered were not touched on again in the commentary track, which is good. No one wants to hear the same thing over and over again.

The poster and photo gallery is done the same way as all the other Universal Classic Monster Collection discs. It's pretty much a video, you have no control over it but a nice score accompanies it. The theatrical trailer is good ol' 30's advertising at it's best. I still think it reveals too much.

The Production notes and cast bios are very thorough. I'm sure if they wanted they could have made all the information into another commentary track. As it stands the commentary track is fairly good. Skal does a good job of keeping you interested in what he's saying and he has a lot of feeling in his voice. The only thing bad about the commentary is that it seems to bounce all over the place. Other than that it's a good listen.

Video:
The transfer is great. This the best I've ever seen this film. The is a couple scratches once in awhile, but nothing that would ruin the film. I found it to be a little to dark on my screen but that may be a contrast problem I'm having.

Audio:
The sound is ok. Except for that intro fuck up it's all good. The best track is the Philip Glass sound track. It's not just instrumental, you can still hear the voices of the actors.

"The Blood is the life, Mr. Renfield" -Dracula

-Zorbs