Dracula: contexts, genre and narrative

Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931): Renfield travels to Transylvania and becomes the servant of Count Dracula, who sails to England, preys on Lucy and then Mina, and is tracked down and destroyed by the scientist Van Helsing.
Made by Universal in 1931, early in the Great Depression and in the first years of sound film, as a low-budget risk that became a hit and began the studio's run of horror films.
Adapted from the stage play of Bram Stoker's novel, and made before the Production Code was strictly enforced, with its violence kept off screen.
Old-world aristocracy and superstition set against the modern, scientific world of the English characters.
Horror conventions the film helped to fix: the Gothic castle, the aristocratic vampire, the expert who explains the threat, and props such as the crucifix and the mirror.
Narrative: order disrupted by Dracula's arrival and restored by his death, a villain more charismatic than the heroes, and themes of science against superstition and good triumphing over evil.
A short worked paragraph linking a context to a specific moment in the film, as the comparison question rewards.
Worked answers with their marks, and practice questions to try, each headed 'Practice question' with its marks.
Quote only short lines of dialogue you're sure of, a few words at a time, and base every point on what happens in the finished film.

What you need to know