Technicolor Dracula

Should classic black-and-white films be colorized? My answer is no, under no circumstances (save one, which we’ll get to in a second). There is a beauty to a black-and-white picture, a mystique, a glamour, that can’t be achieved with a color film. Not that I’m advocating that moviemakers ought to go back to doing everything in black-and-white. Not at all. In fact, when modern movies *are* filmed in black-and-white—Tim Burton’s ED WOOD comes first to mind—the effect isn’t the same anyway. The mystique isn’t achieved. I don’t know why that is. Maybe a patina of time is required for it to develop on its own. But even as filming modern movies in black-and-white fails to achieve the enchantment of a classic older film, so too does an attempt to colorize a black-and-white classic destroy it.

Classic black-and-white movies should be colorized only for the sake of satisfying curiosity, and this should be done on a limited basis. Colorize a segment of a movie, just to give an idea of what said movie would have looked like in color, but don’t tamper with the whole. I submit to you, then, this colorized clip of 1931’s DRACULA. As a curiosity, nothing more.

Just isn’t the same, is it?

By TheCheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS, specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced, and directed (and occasionally acted in) over two dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and True Crime genres. He obtained a doctorate in Occult Studies from Miskatonic University and is an active paranormal investigator. Is frequently told he resembles Anton Lavey. And Ming the Merciless. Denn die totden reiten schnell!

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