Dracula's Cape Anchors Academy Museum's Horror Film Show

Bela Lugosi's original cape from Tod Browning's Dracula (1931) anchors The Horror Show, now on view through July at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. The exhibition takes a broad look at the history of horror cinema and asks why scary movies have held audiences for so long.

Horror has often been relegated to second-class status in the cinematic canon. Some critics dismissed the genre as vulgar fright fests lacking the gravitas of "serious" filmmaking. The Academy Museum show pushes back on that hierarchy. It argues that horror channels our deepest fears about life, death, the world around us, and the unknown onto the silver screen, and it prompts a reconsideration of the genre's place in the filmic pantheon.

How did the exhibition begin?

It started with a single object: Dracula's cape. The Academy acquired the cape — worn by Lugosi in the 1931 Universal classic — from the Lugosi family in 2019, four years before it became the centerpiece of this show.

"It's been a family heirloom for several generations," Jessica Niebel, senior curator at the museum, told Hyperallergic. "We knew we wanted to highlight it in a special way."

That acquisition became the cornerstone around which the curators built the exhibition.

What is on display?

With the cape secured, curators assembled a wide range of material:

• costumes
• props
• concept art
• film posters
• scripts

The objects come from horror classics such as The Shining and Psycho, contemporary works including Midsommar and Get Out, and underrated gems like Tales From the Hood and The Stuff.

The show centers both visual and narrative artistry. Curators drew heavily on the Academy Museum's own collection, supplemented by objects and archival materials borrowed from dozens of lenders.

Among the works on view is Utagawa Kuniyoshi's 1844 print "Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre," signaling that the exhibition reaches beyond Hollywood to situate horror imagery in a broader visual tradition.

Why does it matter?

The exhibition runs through July, giving Los Angeles audiences months to see the material firsthand. By pairing a prized artifact like Lugosi's cape with loans from dozens of institutions, the Academy Museum positions horror not as a fringe genre but as a subject worthy of serious institutional attention — and of a place in the canon it has long been denied.