See horror classics: ‘Dracula,’ ‘Frankenstein’ on Saturday

Above: Bela Lugosi stars in Tod Browning's 1931 horror film "Dracula." (Photo/Universal Pictures)

Long before horror films began to indulge in bloodbaths and faux religious references, those who made them depended on mood to move their audiences.

Today, you’re likely to see a bunch of young people struggling to escape some sort of murderous maze. Or see people of all ages try to avoid the clutches of some demon from hell.

In the day, classic moviemakers such as Tod Browning and James Whale found other ways to send collective chills up the backs of those who watched their films.

You may have already seen Browning’s 1931 adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” Same with Whale’s version of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” released the same year.

But you’ve likely never seen either on the big screen. That failing, though, can change on Saturday as the two films will be shown back-to-back at 1 p.m. at two area Regal Cinemas theaters: Northtown Mall and Coeur d’Alene’s Riverstone Stadium.

The late Roger Ebert had this to say about “Dracula”: “Certainly it is Lugosi's performance, and the cinematography of Karl Freund, that make Tod Browning's film such an influential Hollywood picture.”

Freund, of course, was the Czech-born cinematographer who worked on so many classic films, including “Metropolis,” “Key Largo” and “The Good Earth.”

Watching such films, made a full 90 years ago, is a film education all by itself. It gives you a far better means of judging the work of today.