One of the best novel adaptations of all time

Rating: 9/10 (21 November 2005)

When having read the magnificent novel by Bram Stoker, one's expectations to the film are more than sky-high. The book is written entirely in points of view; diary entries, letters, telegrams, phonographic recordings, etc. This form is what REALLY makes the book stand out from other romantic horror novels of the time.
The film attempts to integrate the book's form unto the screen, and it succeeds well. We hear voice-over comments by Van Helsing (eccentrically portrayed by Sir Anthony Hopkins), Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) and Mina Harker (Wynona Ryder). The storyline is very true to the original (with a slight exception at the end) which surprises but delights.
The visuality of the book is beautifully adapted - but Francis Ford Coppola has let his own visual picture-making influence each and every frame, and the viewer is held captivated from start to end by the colours, shadows and elegant visual effects.
The choice of mostly American actors can be questioned, but it actually works out quite well. Keanu Reeves' accent is slightly un-British in few places, but Ryder and Elwes (as many times before and since) manage the European English very eloquently - to a non-English speaker, anyway. The performance that shines over all is naturally that of Gary Oldman whose presence, intensity, eroticism and undefined Transylvanian (?) accent is simply astounding.
And the girls have wonderful breasts.