Dracula (1992)

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers (WGA):

Bram Stoker (novel)
James V. Hart (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 November 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Romance

Tagline:

Beware

Plot:

The vampire comes to England to seduce a visitor's fiancée and inflict havoc in the foreign land.

Plot Keywords:

Dracula | Vampire | Seduction | Mist | Beheading

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Gary Oldman	...	Dracula
Winona Ryder	...	Mina Murray / Elisabeta
Anthony Hopkins	...	Professor Abraham Van Helsing
Keanu Reeves	...	Jonathan Harker
Richard E. Grant	...	Dr. Jack Seward
Cary Elwes	...	Lord Arthur Holmwood
Bill Campbell	...	Quincey P. Morris
Sadie Frost	...	Lucy Westenra
Tom Waits	...	R.M. Renfield
Monica Bellucci	...	Dracula's Bride
Michaela Bercu	...	Dracula's Bride
Florina Kendrick	...	Dracula's Bride
Jay Robinson	...	Mr. Hawkins
I.M. Hobson	...	Hobbs
Laurie Franks	...	Lucy's Maid

Also Known As:

Bram Stoker's Dracula (USA) (complete title)
D (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality and horror violence.

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Romanian | Greek | Bulgarian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:R(A) | Philippines:R-18 | Brazil:14 | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | Denmark:15 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Ireland:18 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:16+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Culver City, California, USA

Company:

American Zoetrope

Trivia:

Director Francis Ford Coppola was insistent that he didn't want to use any kind of elaborate special effects or computer trickery when making the movie. He initially hired a standard visual effects team, but they told him that the things he wanted to achieve were impossible without using modern digital technology. Coppola disagreed and fired them, replacing them with his 29 year old son Roman Coppola, who set about achieving some the effects by using old-school cinematic trickery. A thorough exploration of these effects can be found on the 2007 Special Edition DVD in the In Camera: The Naïve Visual Effects of 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' (2007) (V) featurette and in the 'Heart of Darkness' article from Cinefax magazine (also found on the DVD), but some of the most interesting examples include: - When sitting in the train on his way to Transylvania, Jonathan Harker is looking at a map which appears superimposed on his face. This was a live effect achieved simply by projecting the image of the map onto actor Keanu Reeves' face on set. - In the same scene, outside the window, Dracula's eyes mysteriously appear in the sky, watching Harker as he travels. This was achieved by combining three separate shots. First, the shot of Gary Oldman's eyes was done with him wearing special makeup so that only his eyes would be visible when the image was projected onto the sky backdrop. The next shot involved the projection of the eyes onto the backdrop of the Carpathian Mountain set, making it appear as if two eyes are appearing in the sky. Then, a shot was taken of Keanu Reeves sitting in the train with the combined background/eye shot rear-projected through the window. - Another shot in this sequence involves a close up of Harker's journal with the train appearing to travel along the top of the book, blowing smoke across the pages. This was a forced perspective shot using a huge book and a tiny miniature train model. - After arriving in Translyvania, Harker is met by Dracula's carriage and the driver seems to magically reach out and lift Harker into the carriage. This shot was achieved by having the rider sitting on a camera crane which reached out and brought him towards Keanu Reeves. At the same time, the camera was moved to the right, so it appeared as if the rider's hand wasn't actually stretching, but was simply defying physics. For the lift, Reeves himself was also standing on a fake floor, which was in fact a movable rostrum which raised him up into the carriage. - As the carriage approaches the castle, there is a shot of the castle in the background as the carriage speeds along a narrow driveway. This was achieved by painting the image of the castle onto a piece of glass, and then positioning the glass in front of the camera whilst the scene of the carriage was shot on the sound stage. - The scene when Harker is shaving and Dracula approaches him from behind without a reflection in the mirror was shot by a classic technique as old as cinema itself. The actor with his back to the camera is actually Keanu Reeves double, not Reeves himself, and the 'mirror' is simply a hole in the wall, with the real Keanu Reeves standing on the other side in a portion of the set - hence when the hand touches the shoulder of the double there is no reflection to be seen because there is literally no mirror. - When Harker is exploring the castle, there is a shot of some rats walking on the ceiling upside-down whilst Keanu Reeves descends a staircase right-way-up. This was achieved by using a double exposure. First, the shot of the rats was done with the camera upside-down. Then the film was rewound and a matte box was placed in front of the lens so as to ensure only the correct portion of the image would be exposed. The camera was then turned right way up and the scene of Harker going down the stairs was shot. Due to the matte box, it appears as if the beam with the rats is above Reeves, and because it was shot upside-down, the rats appear to be defying gravity. - The first scenes in London after Dracula's arrival were shot with a real Pathé camera that was being hand cranked. It was also shot on a special Kodak stock to enhance the grain. There were no post-production effects added for this scene. - The scene when Dracula seems to magically catch Mina's bottle was shot by simply having two men and two bottles. On set Winona Ryder drops the bottle and Gary Oldman scoops down and catches it. The camera then pans up to reveal he is already holding it out to Mina seemingly without having raised his hand. In reality, the hand holding the bottle out is a double standing just behind Oldman, wearing identical gloves, and holding a completely different bottle. - For the scenes involving Dracula's POV, Francis Ford Coppola wanted to achieve something unusual, and it was ultimately decided to try to create something of staccato effect. These shots were created using a old piece of equipment rarely used today called an intervalometer. When shooting at 24fps, an intervalometer trims the end of certain frames, and prevents the exposure of certain frames here and there, creating the 'jumpy' effect seen in the scene. Again, this was all accomplished in-camera, no post-production effects were added to the scenes.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Harker hands Dracula the letters he has requested, Dracula has them in his hand as he moves around behind him. The shot instantly switches to an overhead shot of the scene and the letters have disappeared.

Quotes:

Dracula: [to Jonathan Harker] They say you are a man of good... taste.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Comedy Central Presents: Frank Caliendo (#8.4)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

LOVE SONG FOR A VAMPIRE (From 'BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA')

One of the most romantic stories ever told

The background of this story is the myth / legend of Count Vlad Dracula (son of count Dracul) ‘nicknamed' Vlad Tepes (Vlad the impaler). Vlad was, as the film tells us a warlord in the 15th century who fought the Turks. According to the myth he drank the blood of his victims and impaled them. This is a real myth, as it was and maybe even is still believed in Rumania. A lot of information about Vlad Dracula was later gathered by Irish writer Bram Stoker, who, combined it with myths of vampires into this tale of the well known blood -–sucking Vampire. Another thing that is real in this film are the pictures in the book Vampyr, which is read by van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins) in this movie. The pictures you find there are also to be found in history and school books, complete with ancient writings beside them.

I will not reveal to you the nature of the plot, but I must say this bloody horror film is one of the most sad and romantic stories ever told. It is about a man who loses his wife and cannot rejoin her in another life. So he turns against anything people in the 15th century believed in and is punished by god to wander the earth as the undead. He is cursed to be feared and hunted, for he needs to drink the blood of man to keep alive. He is nosferatu (vamyr), he is Count Dracula.

He lives miserably for about 400 years until he falls in love again. And by doing so we are dragged into the fortune and misery of a creature who lives eternally. He is alive, but lifeless on the inside. He is rich, gentle and loving, yet he must feast on humans to survive. He is damned forever, whilst he did not do anything wrong.

The settings of this great story is late 19th century Europe (England and Karpathia). Karpathia is not well known to man, the wild side of Europe. All this bears with it the mysticism of this story and the epic and tragic background. As for Dracula (Gary Oldman) himself, he drags us into a world of blood, lust and erotica. He seems only to be driven by his great love for Mina (Winona Ryder) and the need of being together with her. TRUE LOVE

There are some great (and famous) actors in this film: Anthony Hopkins, Winona Ryder, Gary Oldman, Cary Elwes and Keanu Reeves. They all contribute greatly to this film, although I must say that the best acting comes from Gary Oldman (Dracula), Sadie Frost (Lucy), Sir Anthony Hopkins (van Helsing) and music legend Tom Waits (Renfield). Do not get me wrong the rest is good to and do their job's well, but these four really put the dot on the i.

Besides the actors there are a lot of things that stand out (look at the list of prizes and nominations at the Oscars), but I must say two people are left unaccounted for there. The director Francis Ford Copolla and the genius behind the haunting and touching music Wojciech Kilar. They both bring so much to the greatness of this film, I would have felt like an idiot if I had left them out.

This does not only make an excellent horror / epic / romantic film, but surely is (in my opinion) a great date flick, about love everlasting and the tragedy of a man who is cursed to live forever and roam the world alone, for he is feared and hunted.

9 out of 10