Dracula (1992)

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

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers:

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

Stars:

Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins

Won 3 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Billy Campbell	...	Quincey P. Morris (as Bill Campbell)
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

Storyline

This version of Dracula is closely based on Bram Stoker's classic novel of the same name. A young lawyer (Jonathan Harker) is assigned to a gloomy village in the mists of eastern Europe. He is captured and imprisoned by the undead vampire Dracula, who travels to London, inspired by a photograph of Harker's betrothed, Mina Murray. In Britain, Dracula begins a reign of seduction and terror, draining the life from Mina's closest friend, Lucy Westenra. Lucy's friends gather together to try to drive Dracula away.

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Plot Keywords:

dracula | vampire | mist | seduction | supernatural power | 

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Taglines:

Beware

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality and horror violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Romanian Greek Bulgarian Latin

Release Date:

13 November 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bram Stoker's Dracula

Filming Locations:

Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$321,659 (Argentina)

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Zoetrope, Columbia Pictures Corporation, Osiris Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene where the heroes bust in on Dracula and Mina, Dracula turns into a bat-like creature and frightens the heroes out of their wits. Gary Oldman had problems with this scene, feeling constricted in the suit and not very scary. Francis Ford Coppola told him to whisper something scary into each actor's ear, which Oldman did with relish. No one knows what he said to them, but they all look absolutely terrified in the scene.

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Goofs

The hammer and the lamp switch positions when Van Helsing is trying to open Lucy's coffin after she has died.

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Quotes

Mina: [watching Lucy flirt with possible suitors at the party, voiceover] Lucy is a pure and virtuous girl. But, I admit that her free way of speaking shocks me sometimes. Jonathan says it is a defect of the aristocracy that they say what they please. The truth is that I admire Lucy, and I'm not surprised that men flock around her. I wish I were as pretty and as adored as she.

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Connections

References Vampyr (1932)

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Soundtracks

"LOVE SONG FOR A VAMPIRE (From 'BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA')"
Produced by Stephen Lipson
Written and Performed by Annie Lennox
Courtesy of BMG Ariola Muenchen GmbH

User Reviews

A rich telling near the source material

Opening with his vow to rise from his grave and take revenge on a God who allowed his beloved to die while he defended Him on the battlefield, we see Count Dracula in the 1890's, conducting business with a London firm. When his first consultant goes mad, Jonathon Harker is sent to Dracula in his place, only to find himself trapped in the castle. Meanwhile, Dracula travels to London where he feeds on the lovely Lucy Westenra. Her various suitors try to help her and call for Professor Van Helsing to come and help – they realise that this is not a simple battle against a disease of the blood.

Although a little too long for my liking, this film is a very rich gothic telling of a story that has become watered down slightly with the many different versions of stories with the characters. Here the basic plot follows the tale from the creation of Dracula, his love and his confrontation with Van Helsing and the various suitors of the lovely Lucy. The story is told with a real respect for the source, perhaps a little too much as it can be a little to heavy and lacking in spark at times. However, for the most part the gothic telling works very well and feels very lavish and rich.

Visually the film is great – rich colours in the scenery and costumes really bring the goth out of the film. Meanwhile Coppola works well with shadows and images in the backgrounds to make the film have the feel of an old silent movie version (eyes in the storm) but with modern standards. It's not really scary, but I didn't need it to be, I was more interested in the overall story, and that worked well.

The cast suffer from a bit too much respect for the material, some of their performances are a little too hammy and heavy. Oldman is good when compared to the better known image of the `Bela Lagosi' Dracula, but I did still find him a little too hammy at times. Likewise Rider is not totally convincing. Hopkins is quite fun to watch and the three suitors (including Ewles and Grant) very much play stiff upper lipped straight men! Of course of their performances tower with majesty above the sheer miscast ineptitude of Reeves. From the start his accent is horrid, but his inability to bring out emotions and character basically kills his character off before the film has even got going.

Despite this the film is actually very enjoyable even if it is a bit too respectful and long – occasionally making it feel a little heavy going. The rich presentation and loyalty to the source material makes for a very enjoyable story even if it isn't really what we'd see now as a horror.