I saw the movie several times in theaters. The scene where Harker explores Dracula's dungeon and text from his diary is overlayed on top of the image stood out to me very vividly at the time. That effect is gone in the Blu-ray. The image has been so over-darkened and the black crush is so severe that all shadow detail in that scene is eradicated.

Kim Aubry may insist that the movie's interpositive was always intended to look that way, but I have a very hard time believing that the film's editor and special effects supervisor would go to the trouble of compositing that effect if they didn't want viewers to ever see it.

Agreed. There have been plenty of other threads on this subject where this has been hashed out in depth.

There are people that "vividly" remember seeing the "To Be Continued" at the end of Back to the Future in theaters as well. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying that one's memory is as reliable as we'd like to think it is, especially if it's been augmented by later home video viewings.

That the new Blu-ray transfer is different than the original theatrical release really isn't in dispute. Even Robert Harris and Kim Aubry admit that. Their argument is that the theatrical release and every previous home video edition were wrong, and only this recently-resurrected interpositive is correct.

Besides, my point still stands -- Why would that effect be composited over the frame if they didn't want anyone to see it?

You're obviously right about everything you've ever said. Now, can we please move on?

Sounds a lot like George Lucas and "Star Wars"

Since it's clear this revived discussion isn't going to go away, I answered your post in a different, more appropriate thread:
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread....40#post8936040

Yes. Thank you for acknowledging that. We may move on now.

Mod Note: Just because a poster may be critical of Blu-ray does not mean other members have the right to gainsay or attack every post that person makes. This thread was perfectly within the OP's right to post. I thought it was a good question, personally.