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Bram Stoker’s Dracula Movie Review

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a 1992 Gothic horror film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder and Anthony Hopkins. It’s an over-the-top, but enjoyable flick.

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“I have crossed oceans of time to find you“

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When Elisabeta commits suicide, an enraged Vlad Dracula swears to avenge her death. Things take a turn when he meets Mina and takes her to be the reincarnation of Elisabeta. It is strange to think that a serious director like Coppola would ever tackle such a populist tale, but his involvement here led to what is the most cinematic version of this story yet and one of the best.

Thankfully, gone is the campiness here in favor of a more serious approach at storytelling. Yes, the movie is bombastic in style, but not in performances nor in humor. The film is actually quite humorless, which this time around I appreciated as that led to a better and more intense horror experience, though the horror verges more on excessive gore than on really scary moments.

The plot is solid, but far from remarkable. The film’s various plot threads sometimes make for a disorienting viewing experience as it follows way too many characters in a span of two hours. But at least it’s very entertaining throughout thanks to some stellar action sequences that are beautifully executed and a whole lot of fun.

The highlights here are the technical aspects. While the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, it is the beautiful costumes and the gorgeous sets that are most worthy of praise, both deserving their Oscar wins. The make-up effects are also terrific as are the VFX, quite advanced for their time. The movie doesn’t look dated at all. The imagery is sometimes just astonishing with so many different colors on display and such a pleasing old-fashioned look to the proceedings. The score is also thrilling and frequently even quite memorable.

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Bram Stoker’s Dracula failed at its characters unfortunately. Keanu Reeves plays the most boring man here and his British accent is quite poor. Anthony Hopkins was a somewhat odd casting choice for Van Helsing and he was over-the-top, but memorable nonetheless. Winona Ryder is actually pretty good in a rather thankless role while Gary Oldman easily stole the movie from everybody else. He was amazing in all of Dracula’s forms and he sold his emotions wonderfully. It’s a shame that whenever the film strayed from his narrative, it turned into a rather lackluster affair.