Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a 1992 romantic horror, documenting the life and loves of Vlad The Impaler. When Jonathan Harker is sent to investigate the mythic vampire after the last solicitor came back acting strange, he finds that what goes on in Transylvania isn’t what it seems. With a star studded cast including Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves, it was generally well received and became a box office hit.

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The movie begins in 1462, as Vlad goes to war against the Ottoman Empire, his wife Elisabeta fearful for his life. When it’s falsely reported he perished in the battle she throws herself from a balcony, and this urges her husband to renounce his faith and vow to return from the grave to enact his vengeance, plunging his sword into the chapel’s stone cross and drinking the blood that pours out, which begins his transition.

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Fast forward to 1897, Jonathan becomes Dracula’s solicitor after the last, Mr R.M. Renfield returns greatly disturbed by the experience. Harker arrives in Transylvania and stays with the Count to arrange his real estate in London, including Carfax Abbey. Dracula sees a photo of Jonathan’s fiancee Mina, her likeness unmistakably that of his dead wife, and this sets a plan in motion. Harker is advised not to leave his room, though he can’t resist, coming across Dracula’s brides who seduce and feed from him. This is the perfect opportunity to keep him distracted and weak, as Dracula travels to London with crates of Transylvanian soil, ready to ensnare Mina.

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They first meet in passing, as Dracula disguises his old façade with a more youthful look, approaching Mina in the street. She finds him too forthcoming at first, but soon warms to him. He seduces and subsequently bites her best friend Lucy Westenra, affecting her health and behaviour, which prompts Dr Abraham Van Helsing to be summoned, mentor of Dr Seward who has been attending to her.

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Meanwhile Mina begins to fall for Dracula, until back in Transylvania Jonathan manages to escape and find help at a convent, and she travels to Romania to be wed to him. Heartbroken and alone, Dracula completes Lucy’s transformation, but she’s killed the next day by Helsing and company. Mina and Jonathan arrive home, and he leads a crusade to destroy the boxes of earth, leaving just one. Dracula kills Renfield at the asylum, as he’d previously warned Mina about the Count, and he then visits her, revealing that he’d killed Lucy and terrorised her friends.

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She is initially angry with him, but remembers her past life as Elisabeta and is enthralled by him once more, urging him to make her immortal too. He obliges and begins the process of making her his bride, just as he’s chased out of her room by the hunters. While he travels back to Transylvania in the remaining crate, Van Helsing is able to hypnotise Mina and learn about his journey using their mental link, as they set off with Jonathan and Seward to intercept the Count in Bulgaria.

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A chase ensues, Dracula using his psychic connection with Mina to evade capture. The group is split up, Van Helsing with Mina while Jonathan, Seward and their entourage continue to follow the Count. Come nightfall, Mina is influenced by Dracula’s brides to seduce Van Helsing, until she remembers Lucy’s fate and attempts to attack him, resulting in him placing a Communion Wafer on her forehead which slows her transformation.

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Van Helsing manages to ward the Brides off until the next morning when he kills them, whilst Dracula arrives at his castle, closely tailed by Jonathan and Dr Seward. A fight breaks out that leaves Seward fatally wounded, but when Dracula bursts out of his coffin at sunset he’s able to deliver the same fate with Jonathan’s help, as the injured Count retreats into the chapel with Mina.

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She stands beside his deathbed as the cross he damaged centuries ago repairs itself, the curse finally lifted. He reverts to his younger self and begs for peace, as Mina drives a blade through his heart. The mark disappears from her own forehead, revealing she’s human once more, and she decapitates him for good measure, looking up at a fresco of the Dracula and his long lost bride, knowing they’re finally together again.

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This isn’t a movie I’d seen before, though I knew of it and that it was one of my Mum’s favourites. What’s special about Bram Stokers Dracula is that it moves past the caricatures we’ve seen of the infamous vampire over the years, instead giving us a character inflicted by grief and longing for love again. I thought cinematically the film was absolutely beautiful, especially the first half when Jonathan embarked on his travels - I loved how elements were overlapped and combined to create very artistic transitions.

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Gary Oldman’s performance is brilliant, especially in his ancient form; there’s something so unsettling about his mannerisms, and this is furthered by the the makeup design and the way he slithers when he moves. I’ve never thought much to Keanu Reeves acting, and it seems the general consensus agrees. Winona Ryder gives a good performance, but the standout for me was Sadie Frost as Lucy. I thought her delivery was really great, and Anthony Hopkins didn’t disappoint as Helsing either.

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It’s one of those films I’d need to watch again to fully grasp, and I must admit this isn’t the easiest review I’ve written, perhaps because some moments were a bit forgettable. One element I thought cheapened the movie was the green mist Dracula travels by - perhaps this is just a symptom of how restricted CGI was at the time, but I didn’t find it very convincing. I must take a moment to mention the song Annie Lennox offered to the film though, ‘Love Song For A Vampire’, because I think it’s lovely and a reason to stay for the credit roll.