First Gasp: Dracula (1931) + Frankenstein (1931)

Paramount and Stateside Theatres are bringing together two of the most famous horror movies ever made for a double bill on Wednesday, October 14. Dracula and Frankenstein both came out in 1931, and they're being shown back-to-back as part of the First Gasp series. These are the 95th-anniversary editions, so you're seeing them as they were meant to be seen on a big screen rather than on a TV at home.

Dracula runs 74 minutes in black and white, directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi. Lugosi's performance is widely considered the definitive screen version of Count Dracula, the one that set the image for every version that followed. Frankenstein follows at 70 minutes, also in black and white, directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff as the monster. Karloff's turn is just as iconic—the heavy makeup, the lumbering walk, the whole thing. Both movies are short enough that you can sit through both in one night without it feeling like a marathon.

It's a particular kind of pleasure to see these two together. They both came from the same studio in the same year, and they basically built the blueprint for the horror movie as we know it. Dracula is the gothic, atmospheric side of things; Frankenstein is the science-gone-wrong side. Seeing them back-to-back lets you see where the genre started, and since they're both under an hour and a half, the whole evening fits into a single sitting.

Doors open at 6 PM, with Dracula starting at 7 PM and Frankenstein following at 8:30 PM. If you've only ever seen clips of these two on YouTube or late-night TV, this is your chance to catch them in full, one after the other, at the Paramount and Stateside.