Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

**Bram Stoker's *Dracula*** is a 1992 American gothic horror film directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola that is based on the 1897 novel, *Dracula*, by Bram Stoker.

## Summary

The centuries-old vampire, Count Dracula, comes to England to seduce his barrister, Jonathan Harker's, fiancée, Mina Murray, and inflict havoc in the foreign land.

## Why It Rocks

1. The acting is spectacular and spot-on, especially from Gary Oldman as Dracula, Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing and Winona Ryder as Mina (and Elisabeta).
2. The setting is very eerie and chilling, which sets the tone of the movie very well.
3. Most of the movie stays loyal to the source material with some of its own creative adjustments by adding in a love story between Dracula and Mina. Many consider it to be one of the most faithful adaptations of Dracula.
4. Each and every one of the scenes are very well-executed.
5. The cinematography is beautiful, well-shot and has a creepy tone to it.
6. The tragic opening scene where Prince Dracula comes across his dead lover, Elisabeta (who committed suicide out of concern), and drinks the blood of Christ is by far one of the best opening scenes in movie history.
7. Many amazing casting choices, especially Gary Oldman who bears a strong resemblance to the real-life Vlad the Impaler (who inspired the character of Dracula) in the movie.
8. The movie has a good mixture of horror, romance and suspense.
9. Each scene and location have it's own unique style.
10. Lovely costumes.
11. The chemistry between Dracula and Mina is beautiful as it shows Dracula’s more than a blood-thirsty monster.
12. The pacing is marvelous.
13. The Annie Lennox song that plays over the end credits, *Love Song For a Vampire*, fits the tone of the plot element of Dracula and Mina's romance and became an international success.
14. The soundtrack is amazing which was composed by a man named Wojciech Kilar.
15. It gives a perfect mixture of horror, love, conflict and suspense.
16. Many of the effects on Dracula are very creepy and well-done, like his bat form and old man form.
17. An accurate representation of 18th century England.

## Bad Qualities

1. Keanu Reeves's performance as Johnathan Harker is extremely substandard, which can be a bit insulting for fans of the actor. In fact, Reeves was only chosen because the studio wanted a good looking actor to play Harker.
2. Some people (such as James Rolfe) may find the hairstyle that Dracula has in his old man form to be silly.
3. The SNES/Sega Genesis game adaptation is horrible.

## Trivia

* A score from the film called “The Beginning” will later go on to be used in *American Horror Story*.

## Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 72% based on 53 critics with an average rating of 6.5/10.

Roger Ebert awarded the film 3/4 stars, writing, "I enjoyed the movie simply for the way it looked and felt. Production designers Dante Ferretti and Thomas Sanders have outdone themselves. The cinematographer, Michael Ballhaus, gets into the spirit so completely he always seems to light with shadows." Ebert did, however, voice criticisms over the film's "narrative confusions and dead ends".

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.