I first saw Bram Stoker’s Dracula when it was initially released in theaters in November of 1992, and I recall expecting to see a serious, solemn drama that was based on the classic horror novel that was written in the 19th century by Stoker. But I also remember being pleasantly surprised by the luscious, imaginative cinematic dark fairy tale that was weaved onscreen by Francis Ford Coppola, the visionary director of the Godfather trilogy, along with The Conversation, and Apocalypse Now (the latter being my all-time favorite Coppola film). Um, Coppola also gave us the lame Jack, with Robin Williams as a boy who pre-maturely grew into a man, but nobody's perfect.
While Coppola presented the Dracula story with complete seriousness, he also seemed to have a great deal of fun with the subject matter, as well, presenting the movie as a lurid fever dream by using every in-camera movie trick in the book (even a few from the silent film era), with the lone exception being optical effects used for the eerie blue rings seen on the desolate roads in Transylvania. Coppola also assembled a great cast to tell his then-updated tale of the legendary Count Dracula, and the dark horrors he brought to an unsuspecting London.
Gary Oldman played Dracula with great passion and zeal, immersing himself into the part just as much as he immersed himself into the still-impressive make up effects. Winona Ryder, who had previously dropped out of Coppola’s third Godfather film, thankfully rejoined the maestro here as Mina Harker, an innocent young woman who is personally targeted by the Count. Anthony Hopkins--just a year after his success as Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs--gleefully chews the scenery as Van Helsing, Dracula’s adversary.
Even the supporting cast was filled with superb actors: Sadie Frost as Lucy Westenra, and as the three men who are her suitors: Richard E. Grant as a psychiatrist in charge of an asylum, Cary Elwes, as Lord Holmwood, and Billy Campbell as Quincy P. Morris. And Renfield, Dracula’s bug-eating, wild-eyed servant, is played in an inspired and perfect bit of casting by actor/singer Tom Waits. The only casting misstep would be Keanu Reeves, as Jonathan Harker, whose performance is so stilted, he feels like he’s in a different movie--and Reeves freely admitted later that he was exhausted and suffering from low energy while shooting this film.
However, even thirty years later, Bram Stoker’s Dracula still holds up very well, thanks to Coppola treating its soapy shadowy horror story with complete conviction, and framing it within such a scrumptious and bold tapestry that makes it great eye candy to watch even now. If you can’t catch it in a revival house, then try to watch it on the biggest TV you have, and turn off all of the lights in the room, in order to best appreciate this bloody, visually stunning valentine to the timeless Count Dracula. --SF
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