A Beautifully Flawed Film

Rating: Null/10 (1 November 1998)

Francis Ford Coppola's BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA is, indeed, a gorgeous film. The film has a dazzling color scheme, much of it provided by the art direction and sumptuous costumes by Eiko Ishioka. The fades and special effects editing are also pure eye candy, and the use of miniatures and matte painting backgrounds gives the film a wonderfully nostalgic, Old Hollywood feel. Sadly, the attention paid to the physical details were not given to the casting and writing. The dialogue is often stilted, and some of the plot points can zip right past the viewer. And the only truly scary things to be found in what is essentially a love story with lots of fake blood are Keanu Reeves' and Winona Ryder's truly disgusting British accents. But, all said, Coppola's DRACULA makes an interesting - if not entirely enjoyable - film. Gary Oldman makes for a creepy Count Dracula who nonetheless earns the viewers' empathy, and Wojciech Kilar's score is wonderfully sonorous (it is still a mainstay of film trailers).