Denn die Todten reiten schnell

Rating: Null/10 (10 December 2003)

It's strange... People either love this film or hate it utterly. Me? I liked it despite its many flaws, but I am also prejudiced where Gary Oldman is concerned.
Bram Stokers Dracula is NOT by any means faithful to the novel penned by Bram Stoker, but it tried harder to stick to the original storyline than the Lugosi version did. Combining the tale of Stokers immortal vampire with the biography of Vlad Tepes the notorious Impaler, this film is a rich, full feast of colorful visual metaphors that just about leap off the screen and slap you in the face. The sets are gorgeous; elegant manor houses, cold forsaken castles, misty woods filled with graceful wolves. The actors are slightly less effective than the scenery, I'm sorry to say. Keanu Reeves is (as he always is outside of his Bill & Ted role) stiff and lifeless, his English accent so weak it practically needed crutches. Winona Ryder irritated me very badly, emoting so hard I kept expecting her to explode as she bulged her eyeballs and gasped like a fish, clumsily stumbling through the entire movie. Anthony Hopkins was rather enjoyable as the weirded-out Van Helsing. But this movie belonged to Oldman and no one else.

Oldman's Dracula is a powerful character, complex and stunning. He is cold and cruel, sweet and sorrowful, sadistic and sexy. Oldman has always been one of my favorite actors. Always, he makes me believe in the characters he plays whether it's a despicable cop, (The Professional) a stupid junkie, (Sid & Nancy) a bumbling Shakesperean misfit (Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead) or a 400 year old vampire who has damned himself for the sake of love. Hey, anyone who can manage not to laugh during his love scenes with the ridiculous Ryder has my deepest respect.
No, this is not a flawless film, but it has its beautiful moments; absinthe and blood, sepia-toned silent films filled with lust, violence and sex hand in hand rather than one standing in for the other, and Oldman's performance is strong enough (in my humble opinion) to carry the entire film to its satisfying end.