I like playing "horror" parts on the screen. This may surprise you, but let me explain my point of view. There is a popular idea that portraying a monster of the Dracula type requires no acting ability. People are apt to think that anyone who likes to put on a grotesque make-up can be a fiend. That is wrong. A monster, to be convincing, must have a character and a brain.

The screen monster produced by mere tricks of make-up and lighting will never thrill an audience. It will make them laugh! It is just a machine which does not understand what it is doing.

Now, imagine this creature with a character, with reasoning power and certain human mental facilities. It is no longer a machine. It can think.

Such a monster is able to thrill an audience. It can plot against the hero and heroine. It is a menace which must be combated by brains, not by running away.

We are all more afraid of cunning than brute force. Therefore, the monster must have cunning to trap his victims - physical strength is not enough to convince an audience.

Now, perhaps, you begin to see why I find the playing of fiends interesting!

When I am given a new role in a horror film, I have a character to create just as much as if I were playing a straight part.

Whether one thinks of films like Dracula as "hokum" or not does not alter the fact; the horror actor must believe in his part. The player who portrays a film monster with his tongue in his cheek is doomed to failure.

An example of this occurred not very long ago. An actor, whose name I will not mention, played the part of a sinister foreign villain. He had been used to straight parts, and he went into this film laughing at himself. He did the correct villainous actions, but he had his tongue in his cheek all the time.

The villain was completely unconvincing and as a result the film was a flop at the box office. Later, an almost exactly similar character was played by another actor. He took it seriously. Audiences believed tin the villain and the film was a success.

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I am not saying that I personally take seriously these vampires and monsters as such. I am saying that one must take them seriously when one is portraying them.

In playing Dracula, I have to work myself up into believing that he is real, to ascribe to myself the motives and emotions that such a character would feel. For a time, I become Dracula -- not merely an actor playing at being a vampire.

A good actor will "make" a horror part. He will build up the character until it convinces him and he is carried away by it.

There are, of course, plenty of tricks of the trade to be employed, such as effective make-up, clever photography, a threatening voice and claw-like gestures with the hands. These are important in the "hokum" film and must be used. But even they must be employed with intelligence or they will fail to thrill.

To leave the theoretical discussion of so-called monsters, there is another reason why I do not mind being "typed" in eerie thrillers.

With few exceptions, there are, among actors, only two types who matter at the box office. They are heroes and villains. The men who play these parts are the only ones whose names you will see in electric lights outside the theater.

Obviously, I cannot play a juvenile part -- you will not find me competing with Clark Gable or Robert Montgomery! Therefore, I have gone to the other extreme in my search for success and public acclaim.

Every year a number of films with fantastic or supernatural characters are made, and will, it seems, continue to be made, whatever may happen to the horror "cycle" of pictures. I have deliberately specialized in such characters -- and I firmly believe there will be suitable roles for me for a long time to come!

Written by Bela Lugosi in 1935.

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Posted by Dracula's Guest Fri, 05/25/2007 - 15:03

 

Forever

Lay my hands on heaven the sun the moon and the stars.
As your blackhole eyes pull me closer until I press my lips against god.

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Refusal

I'm not really sure how to say it,
and I'm not quite positive I mean it,
but it's been resting there
in the back of my head
and I really don't know how to sleep.
My attention is just so far off,
and nothing can shake me out of it,
it's like I'm caught in here
waiting for something unknown
can you show me which way the exit is?
My existance means nothing anymore,
and you're constantly nudging my back,
I wish you would just stop it
quit trying to push me forward

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Chapter 38: Refocus

*blinks at the vividness of the memories* 'Now why would I be thinking of back then.....that was ages ago.' She looks up and sees Deadend smile and then start cleaning glasses. Koreena stands and moves over to the bar. Sitting down at one of the tall stools, she looks at him.

"Well barkeep", she grins, "Its nice to see you again. Now, what do you recommend tonight?" She spreads her pale fingers over the counter top. "And is there anything you think I should worry about?" Her gaze flickers momentarily to the room the others had been in.

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Essence of a Vampyre

First, I think it best to define the essence of the vampire (fictional) before attempting to define the Essence of the Vampyre (magical). In this way, I hope to invite discussion and/or debate on the topic, and to hear from other magicians' experience with this type of magic.

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For A Broken Heart

Tears fall slowly down my cheeks
Wet, winding rivers cutting a path of pain
I never wanted to hurt you
Never meant to fall in love so easily
Time and distance play such cruel jokes
Separated by the many miles of ocean between us
And the span of years no one could understand
Once I told you, Never love me for I’ll only bring pain
You didn’t listen, couldn’t listen
Now your heart breaks the same as mine...
I want to feel your arms around me,
Feel your breath upon my skin
Hear your voice whisper in my ear

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