Although the viewers of Dracula are more than well aware of the danger that is clearly prevalent throughout the entirety of the film, it is only in the hidden moments of Dracula's attacks that the audience becomes connected to that very same vulnerability and threat. This occurs because the use of perspective shots, editing, and the positioning of the characters alerts and involves the viewers. It draws them in and inflicts on them a horror meant for Dracula's victims. It is through the brilliance of these directorial efforts that the actual revulsion of the scenes are hidden, while the audience is manipulated and controlled into feeling helpless, similar to the way Dracula's victims feel.
The attack scenes of the movie are shot in such a way that forces the viewers to put the pieces of the puzzle together for themselves. The audience is fed a series of images that give barely anything away. Then, they must use the feelings that that particular scene evoked from them and the implications that were involved to decipher what did in fact happen. This is used in the scene that involves the crying children. The audience is blind to what is happening in the cemetery, they only hear the crying sound. It is immediately up to them to put together that it sounds as if it is a young child crying. From there they can add together all of the pieces such as the earlier attacks, the fact that children usually aren't in the cemetery late at night, and the desperate frightened crying. This all adds up to the fact that the vampire is attacking a child. Putting every piece together from these scenes and having the sudden realization that helpless innocent children are now forced to be victims of the attacks weighs on the viewer. The maternal or paternal instincts kick in from the sounds, and make them want to reach out and save the children. By this point the viewer is emotionally taken advantage of and exposed, similar to the state that every one of Dracula's victims are in.
