Sex and the Victorians-a heady combination

Rating: Null/10 (15 September 2002)

The incomparable direction of Francis Ford Coppola combines well with Bram Stoker's vampire potboiler in this millionth retelling of the Dracula story. Featuring a mostly outstanding and delightfully surprising cast (note Tom Waits' role as Renfield), it serves up a touching story of a love condemned to live past death in a swirl of ornate costumes and a shower of blood. Yet it is more than a basic sex-and-blood vampire romp; Coppola's script, which is fairly closely based on Stoker's 1898 book, subtly explores Victorian ideas about class, religion, and sexuality while still presenting enough of a symbolic spectacle to keep intelligent viewers interested. After all, Stoker's "Dracula" was a popular novel that only recently gained academic respect, and its leap from book to stage, and then stage to screen, was an entirely popular and natural one. How refreshing to see amidst the puerile carnage of vampire flicks one that reflects and enhances the respect "Dracula" richly deserves.