Lugosi: The Dark Prince (2006)

Really Surprised!

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Brilliant and touching

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Lugosi, The Dark Prince (2006) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Too short but incredibly entertaining documentary on the career of Bela Lugosi. Film historians, directors and friends all comment on Lugosi's work from his breakthrough success in Dracula to ending his career in the films of Ed Wood. People like Gregory Mank, Joe Dante, Kim Newman, Jimmy Sangster, Richard Gordon and Steve Haberman are several others show up to discuss the films of Lugosi and what makes him such a horror legend.At just 36-minutes there's certainly not enough time to get fully into Lugosi's career but fans of his are still going to enjoy this, although they're certainly not going to learn anything new. As with most documentaries on Lugosi, this one covers the familiar stuff from him not getting the monster role in FRANKENSTEIN to him becoming second tier to Karloff and then struggling to make a living while appearing in Poverty Row films. Everyone interviewed share some great thoughts on the films in question and they certainly help keep this entertaining throughout.There are several very good documentaries out there on Lugosi and several that have a lot more detail in them. This here would still be perfect to show someone who might not be all that familiar with the actor.

Very nice featurette about legendary horror actor Bela Lugosi. It makes great use of its short runtime and moves along briskly. They bounce from one talking head to another, offering opinions and anecdotes about the man and his films. They spend the first ten minutes or so on Dracula before moving on to his other films. Much is made about his Karloff rivalry and the exceptional films that they made together. It ends with a look at the sad final years when Bela was making the wretched stuff he did in the '50s, such as the Ed Wood movies. But at all times the tone is respectful towards Lugosi, although some gentle ribbing does take place. The talking heads featured here include Joe Dante, Jimmy Sangster, Kim Newman, Steve Haberman, and Richard Gordon, among others.There is one amusing off-topic note about one of these gentlemen. If you have watched many other classic film DVD featurettes or read any of his books, you will recognize Gregory W. Mank. I just recently rewatched the Mummy DVD featurette from 1999 and it's obvious Mr. Mank underwent quite the makeover between then and his 2006 appearance here. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it gave me a chuckle. Watch both and see what you think.They don't really get into Lugosi's life before films. Part of me didn't mind as I wanted to see more info on these various movies I love and I had already read biographies on Bela before. But other viewers might feel the featurette is lacking by this approach. I would recommend you also watch The Road to Dracula featurette that was on most of the Universal DVD releases of Dracula. It features some insights into pre-Dracula Lugosi, as well as more on how he got the part. That featurette, as well as this one, is informative fun that will please most fans.