A Gothic romance

Rating: 8/10 (15 June 2017)

The prologue tells us how Dracula came to become a fiendish creature; having gone to fight against the invading Turks he secures an unexpected victory; however escaping Turks have told his beloved wife Elisabeta that he died so she took her own life. His clergy say that she is damned for her actions so he renounces his faith. Four hundred years later young lawyer Jonathan Harker is sent to Transylvania to finalise Dracula's land purchases in London of course nobody realises that he is so old! Dracula sees a photograph of Harker's fiancée, Mina, and notices that she looks just like his Elisabeta. He keeps Harker in Transylvania with his 'brides' while he heads to London. Once there he bites Mina's friend Lucy before befriending Mina. Lucy soon gets ill and her friend and doctor summons his mentor, the great Dr Abraham Van Helsing. Harker manages to escape and summons Mina to Ronania, where they are married, they then return to England but Mina is still in great danger. Ultimately in a bid to save her they all head to Dracula's home where they must battle for her soul.
This is an interesting telling of the Dracula story; as one would expect there are plenty of gory moments and some horrific moments however at its heart it is a romance as Dracula seduces Mina. This manages to be quite erotic at times without slipping over to being sleazy. Gary Oldman dominates proceedings as Dracula and Winona Ryder impresses as Mina. There are also notable performances from Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing and Richard E. Grant as Dr Seward. Then there is Keanu Reeves's performance as Harker, usually I enjoy his performances but here he doesn't feel right; most notably his accent is pretty terrible. The special effects are really good not because they are modern CGI but because they are deliberately old fashioned; this adds to the film's atmosphere. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anybody wanting a horror film that isn't just about the horror.