Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) Review

“They say you are a man of good taste”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

The more you do it, the more it can be done right. Hollywood has proven so with Bram Stoker’s Dracula and have arguably got the most accurate adaptation in 1992.


PLOT


Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the film shows Vlad Dracula in 14962 achieve a victorious campaign against the Ottoman Empire, only to find his beloved wife Elisabeta commit suicide after reading a false letter from the enemy that reported him dead. His heartbreak would inspire him to renounce God and vowing to avenge her with the power of darkness as he drives his sword into the chapel's stone and drink its blood that would turn him into a vampire. Fast forward to 1897, he would invite solicitor Jonathan Harker to arrange real estate acquisitions in London. Dracula knew of Harker thanks to a shared colleague, HM Renfield, who has now gone insane and is an inmate in an asylum ran by Doctor Jack Seward. During Harker's stay does the Count see a picture of his fiance Mina Murray and mistakes her to be Elisabeta reincarnated. He soon goes to take up residence at Carfax Abbey as he leaves his solicitor to have his blood fed upon by his group of brides. In London, he first targets Mina's friend Lucy Westerna who intends to marry Arthur Holmwood. One night, he is able to hypnotically seduce Lucy and bite her before setting his sights on Mina. This would cause Lucy's health to deteriorate and various changes of his behavior. Noticing this, Arthur and Seward would reach out to the latter's mentor Abraham Van Helsing who would quickly deduce she is the victim of a vampire. Within daylight, Dracula would appear younger & handsome in his efforts to seduce Mina. She would slowly feel the same whenever she accompanied him in various outings, but her heart was still with Harker. It was proven when she quickly goes to Romania to marry him once she finds out he escaped the castle. His new generation of heartbreak would anger him into officially turning Lucy into a vampire. When that happens, Van Helsing would have to kill her via beheading, shortly after Arthur stabs her with a stake. When returning to London, Harker takes Abraham to Carfax Abbey where they can destroy the Count's crates of Transylvanian soil, as they are essential for the vampire to regenerate in foreign land. Vlad would kill Renfield for warning Mina of him and after this does he confront her in Seward's quarters to confess he killed Lucy. She expresses disappointment at first, only to admit she still loves him and insists to be turned into a vampire. As he starts the transformation process does Van Helsing's group interrupt, causing him to escape. With Mina changing, Abraham is able to hypnotize her and learnt through their new connection that the vampire will be sailing home in his remaining box. With Dracula still reading her mind though, he is able to evade the hunters' plan to intercept him in Varna. When splitting up with the others trying to stop the Romani transport, Mina goes with Van Helsing to the Brogo Pass where lies the same castle where he first changed. By night, Mina is approached by the brides but Van Helsing further slows down the transformation by placing communion water on her forehead and surrounding themselves with a ring of fire. He then kills all the brides by decapitating them while sleeping. With Dracula's carriage reaching the castle, the hunters take on the Romani which leads to the death of Quincey Morris (Billy Campbell), one of Van Helsing's proteges that participated as a hunter. In the midst of it, Dracula breaks out of the coffin at sunset but is stabbed by Harker with a kukri knife. He and Abraham let Mina go with Vlad to the chapel, knowing he is out of time. There, Vlad reverts to his younger self again and asks Mina to give him peace. She does so by stabbing his heart and decapitating him which frees her from the curse. The film ends with the fresco of Vlad and Elisabeta reuniting as they ascend to heaven together.


THOUGHTS


With each decade passing by, you would think audiences would gain fatigue of such a villainous character. Ironically, we just haven’t gotten enough because we appreciate how each iteration has very creative aspects to differentiate from one another. In this case, this one is still intriguing because Coppola is able to make this one the most immersive. With elevated production design and a stunning combo of Oscar winning makeup & costume design, Coppola is able to make the whole experience the definition of unforgettable goth. Dracula truly was the backbone of such an atmosphere due to how he can more things than one and the performance of Gary Oldman feels most palpable to see. The way he is able to be suave & sophisticated before showing his true colors was incredible to witness. Surprisingly, it is writer James V Hart that gave a new layer we never thought we’d understand until the time of this version’s release. The basis of this story has always been about the balance of good and evil, but this is also a tragic love story like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein because we see firsthand how temptation is what leads to downfall. Dracula’s desire for power due to a personal loss led to being a monstrosity and everyone around him became a victim off of being enamored with him. That is where you see the likes of Tom Waits make a deranged scoundrel out of Renfield, whereas Sadie Frost showed Kucy one to be one too playful for her own good despite being recognized as kind hearted. And that is where Winona Ryder gets to make a big difference as Mina because she is more passive than submissive. She becomes attracted to Dracula because she’s never met anyone that is so consistent in what he wants, thus emphasizing an old connection. She’s still more in love with Harker because despite naive, he’s a brave guy. When you ignore the poor London accent of Keanu Reeves, you can respect his efforts to stick up for himself because Cary Elwes made Arthur the polar opposite who basically followed those who took action first. At the same time though, I don’t think Harker would’ve been encouraged to fight on long enough without Van Helsing. Anthony Hopkins was awesome as this protagonist because while arbitrary, he is able to have his ideas well thought out since he knows what everyone is up against and doesn’t take too long in the absolute. If no one listens to him, everyone dies. Richard E Grant was also interesting as Seward because while skeptic, he was smart enough to get his mentor involved knowing the odds would be better. Looking back, we know it’s the right thing for Mina to kill Dracula personally but she did so because she understood how bad he wanted the suffering to end for him. He knew it was his doing that made him what he became, thus begging to be put out of misery. While it doesn’t matter his conclusion was in vein, what matters is that he is free from his own torment and can regain all the happiness that was left behind in his past. And in the end, John and Mina will look at Vlad’s downfall as an example on how to maintain whatever morality that would be left should their time abruptly end. This movie is quite captivating when you’re not comparing it to other adaptations, but this one still has questionable moments where you would reasonably consider the predecessors. Like from the top, Elisabeta gave up without seeing Dracula’s body? I know that era is outdated, but it’s kinda crazy she didn’t think of that at all. It’s even messed up her body is brought back in the church just for Dracula to grieve. And if I gotta get into continuity errors, her letter shouldn’t be covered in blood if it wasn’t on her when she jumped. And Harker’s shirt is suddenly buttoned up after Dracula freaks out over the cross, when he had just unbuttoned for shaving. Moving on, why doesn’t Dracula remove the mirrors? If he knows they’re worthless in his predicament and didn’t want people like Harker to know what he is, there’s no reason to have it around. And how come we don’t see Mina ask Harker what happened to him before the wedding? Sure he does tell her when Van Helsing asks, but this conversation could’ve happened before the wedding and I don’t see a reason why not. It’s even dumb for Arthur to ask on it being a god idea to desecrate Lucy’s grave upon arrival. You could’ve asked that way before you got there man. Other than that, you can appreciate everything this movie is going for. In conclusion, 1992’s Dracula is one of the top tier adaptations for having the chance to let out every detail possible in a respectful manner. If vampires are still your thing thanks to the original monster, see this now.