From: HADCRJAM@admin.uh.edu (MILLER, JIMMY A.)
Newsgroups: alt.vampyres
Subject: Review of FFC'c _Dracula_ (small spoilers)
Date: 16 Nov 1992 17:54:38 GMT
Organization: University of Houston Administrative Computing
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  This is a review for Francis Ford Coppola's _Dracula_.  There are a few
spoilers, so bail out now.
.

  Hrmm.  This film has some *MAJOR* problems during the first act.  I honestly
felt like getting up and walking out for a while.  Keanau (sp) Reeves was pain-
ful to watch as the proper Englishman Jonathan Harker, and the usually engaging
Winona Ryder seemed quite stilted as Mina.  There were bizarre effects invol-
ving shadows, movements, and visuals which seemed not only out of place but
frankly quite stupid.  Many of the visual effects also seemed so utterly cheesy
as to elicit laughter.  The use of diary-style narration was jarring in the
early going, and the movie was quite slow to develop (Let's leave out the
bizarre armor they hung on Vlad Dracul going out to battle the Turks).  The
only characters worth watching at all were Vlad himself and Mina's friend Lucy,
who were both interesting, engaging, and even sympathetic (especially as the
movie wore on). 

  Then Vlad come to England, leaving Reeves to the tender mercies of his vamp-
iric harem (no joke, and I wish I had a bed like that).  Slowly, an entirely 
different movie begins to appear.  Ryder's Mia becomes much more real, and the
young version of Vlad manages to be both menacing and seductive.  The other
characters, though still lacking much depth, at least begin to seem real in
their words and deeds, and quit acting like they just memorized their lines
ten minutes beforehand.  Lucy, in fact, almost steals the show from Ryder (who
in all truth doesn't have much to do) in her portrayal of the girl being
tranformed into a vampire.  Her seductiveness, sudden fears and fits made her
real and sympathetic, and made her eventual death(s) that much more emotionally
engaging. 

  Before Lucy finally fades, however, Antony Hopkins enters as Otto Van 
Helsing, and quite thoroughly takes command of the screen.  His very enjoy-
able, sometimes campy, sometimes foreboding performance lifts the entire movie.
Reeve's reappearance after his escape from Vlad's castle (why he is left alive
is not really explained) seems to take heart from Hopkins, and he actually 
turns in a credible performance after this point. 

  The focus now on her character, Ryder does fine, though I honestly felt some-
thing lacking.  This I found dissappointing, as I'm a fan of Ryder, and felt 
she could have done a better job.  Still, it suffices.

  Things really start to move at the end, which a chase scene and fight, plus
a wry twist on things when Vlad chooses to be slain rather than condemn Mina
to life of the damned.

  The sets and costuming (with some jarring exceptions) were very nice, and
added to the feel of the film.  This movie has its problems, most of which I'm
tempted to plop into Coppola's lap.  Ridley Scott could have done much better.
That this movie succeeds at all would seem to me to be in spite of FFC, not
due to any great vision of his.

  I would not pay full price for this movie.  The first 1/3 is pretty much
drek.  Then things get fairly enjoybale.  Try a matinee or some other cut-rate
time (and try not to squirm too much for the first 30 minutes or so), or wait
for video and fast-forward to the point where Reeves is seduced by the female
vampires.  You'll be happy you did. 

  This flick is rated R for nudity and some gore.


semper fi,

Jammer Jim Miller 
Texas A&M University '89 and '91
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