Bram Stoker’s Dracula Review
The blood is life.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Producer: Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Fuchs, Charles Mulvehill, James V. Hart, John Veitch
Writers: James V. Hart
Editor: Glen Scantlebury, Anne Goursaud, Nicholas C. Smith
Cinematographer: Michael Ballhaus
Production Design: Thomas E. Sanders
Composer: Wojciech Kilar
Costume Design: Eiko Ishioka
Cast: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins, Sadie Frost, Cary Elwes, Richard E. Grant, Billy Campbell, Tom Waits
Runtime: 128 minutes
Country of Origin: USA
US Release: November 13, 1992 | Theatrical
Love it or hate it, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a gorgeously shot piece of gothic cinema.
Vampires have fascinated and terrified people from around a thousand years ago to modern times. Partially inspired by a real-life 15th-century governor named Vlad the Impaler, Dracula, is a creature that has haunted us since his inception in 1897, when Bram Stoker released his long-beloved epistolary novel.
It’s been a while since I’ve read Dracula, but there’s a feeling of forbiddenness in those pages. I remember being scared of, not only the violence but the sexuality in the story.
More than any other adaptation, Bram Stoker’s Dracula captures that feeling of when I first read the novel.
Coppola is a little all over the place as far as narrative goes. Some plot details never play out—why is Drac buying the specific locations in London? But in the end, I’m not bothered by that. This is a vibes movie, not a details movie.
The design of the film is a perfect Halloween feast for the eyes. The colors are bloody and bright, the costumes are stunningly intricate, the sets are massive and brooding, and the creature design can be genuinely frightening—plus the lack of CGI helps make it seem real even 30+ years later.
The lack of concern about the narrative is more than made up for by the spectacle and the comprehensive set-pieces. Production designer Thomas Sanders has expertly crafted a mood that pulls me in. It’s an orgy of visual delight.
Performances range from Keanu Reeves’ unfortunately British-accented Jonathan Harker to the operatic camp of Gary Oldman’s Dracula. Anthony Hopkins’ is there to act toe-to-toe with Oldman, giving a wonderfully grand performance as Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Winona Ryder—Mina Murray—and Sadie Frost—Lucy Westenra—are both very fun as Dracula’s obsession and victim, respectively. The supporting cast is there to fill in the valley between Reeves and Oldman—Cary Elwes as Lucy’s would-be husband, Lord Arthur Holmwood, Tom Waits as Drac’s crazed assistant Renfield, The Rocketeer himself, Billy Campbell as Quincy P. Morris, and Richard E. Grant as Dr. Jack Seward.
I also want to raise a glass to someone I just realized was in this movie on this watch—Monica Bellucci as the dark-haired Bride of Dracula. She doesn’t get to do much, but what she does do is excellent.
Coppola directs this with no reserve. It is abashedly excessive in everything it does, and that’s why I enjoy it so much.
- Colton