My Images of Fright Film Festival began today for the ninth straight year.  The firs screening wa sthe gem above and after hearing how much better it was than the classic Lugosi version, I have to agree, kind of.  Truth be told, I have never seen the entire Lugosi version straight through in one sitting.  Dracula has always been my least favorite monster and I have never had much of an interest in him.  The reasoning behind this lies behind the fact that he just looks like an ordinary guy and not a monster.  Personally, I like my monsters to look and act animalistic or dead or something to really stand out from humans.  Additionally, films like Monster Squad and that abomination that Stephen Sommers vomited a couple years back with Hugh Jackman have made Dracula the "main villain" as if he was smarter or better than the other monsters.  I think this is due to stupidity on the studio's part thinking that if moviegoers see a villain that looks like them (human) it will be more believable which is ridiculous if those same patrons are paying to see a horror movie.  I remember going to watch the Lloyd Webber version of The Phantom of the Opera as a teenager and coming out angry that it was just some handsome guy with a burn.  That's not a monster or something to make you hide from society. Lon Chaney will forever be the real Phantom (sorry Claude). 
All this is to say that Dracula has always seemed bland to me.  From what I have seen from the Lugosi version, it is just ok and is a slightly glamorized version of the stage adaptation. I did notice that the the character of Dracula in the Spanish version is scarier because of his facial expressions, reminiscent of a lunatic or serial killer.  When Renfield first arrives at Castle Dracula, the viewer cannot help but be freaked out as well.  I have heard that the costuming was more lax in the Spanish version and I agree to an extent, after all the Hays code was in full effect and it is not very noticeable unless contrasted with the Lugosi version. The Universal horror movies form the time are also known for the great over dramatic acting (with the trophy going to Gloria Stewart in The Invisible Man, geez).  I did notice  a bit of overacting in this film which is atypical from the rest of the Latin American movies I have seen form the same time frame.  This could be that this was one of if not the first talking horror film, having been released only four years after the first "talkie" film. 
Overall, the film was decent, beautifully remastered and restored and I did like this Van Helsing better than it's English counterpart.  I also liked that Carlos Villarias has a strong resemblance t Bela Lugosi in this film. I would recommend this as a jumping point to anyone who is not familiar with the "old" horror movies