Bram Stoker's Dracula:
In England in the 1800s, young Jonathan Harker leaves his fiancee, Mina, to go on a quick business trip to Romania to make a rela estate deal with an old count at an ancient castle. He is taken prisoner by the count of his blood-thirsty, youthful brides, and the count recognzies Mina from a picture Jonathan had in a his pockets. She is the reincarantion of his lover form centuries ago, as he is an immortal, demonic vampire. The count, Dracul, travels to England, transforming into a youthful bachelor, and woos Mina, attempting to get his long lost lover back from the dead. Jonathan enlists the help of Professor Abraham Van Helsing, who is also a vampire expert, to help him hunt down the count and his minions, and get Mina back. The cast are great, except for the two lovers. Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves are wooden as Mina and Jonathan Harker, and they have very fake British accents. Gary Oldman, on the other hand, is amazing as Dracula. You don't know whether to despise him or sympathize with him. He, at point, feed an infant to his demonic brides, to Jonathan's horror, and he appears as a fucked-up, evil bastard. But later, he appears as a solemn, tragic figure, who just wants the love of his life back. Anthony Hopkins (fresh off his role as Hannibal Lector in the previous year's The Silence of the Lambs) is fantastic as Van Helsing. Much better than Hugh Jackman's performance 12 years later in Van Helsing. He is intelligent, but also very superstitous. He has this oura of mysteriousness and authority about him, which makes him complex and interesting. Richard E. Grant plays Dr. John Seward, the caretaker of the Seward Sanitarium (mental asylum). He is a troubled, disturbed young man who cares little for the patients he cares for. He is also a compelx, mysterious figure who you try to figure out during the movie. Cary Elwes (star of The Princess Bride, later in the horror film Saw) plays Sir Arthur Holmwood, a young British socialite who becomes Lucy Westenra's lover. He is less complex, but still interesting. The scene where he must kill his now vampiric lover is made more effectvie by the fact he can abrel bring himself to relieve Lucy of her demonic state. Sadie Frost plays Lucy, a beautiful, funny girl who likes to hang around and woo the rich young men. She is Mina's best friend, and both are fascinated by sex, being sheltered form it in their Victorian society. Billy Campbell plays Quincey Morris, a rich Texan aristocrat who becomes involved in the supernatural happenings surrounding Lucy and Mina. He along with Seward and Holmwood propose to Lucy on the same day, but Holmwood gets accepted. Finally, musician turned actor Tom Waits is amazing in a small supporting role as R.M. Renfield. Played much different from the classic Dwight Frye, he plays it more like an actually crazy person. He speaks to his "master" Dracula and eats flies, thanking Dracula for his gifts. The film does not show the opeing scene from the 1931 film where Renfield visits Dracula and is driven insane, which is why Harker visits the place. But that doesn't matter, as Waits turns in a memorable, but brief performance as Renfield. The writing and direction are great as well. Coppola really understands how to shoot these scenes, and understands the character's complexity, often ignored in previous adaptations, and even adaptations since. Also, the horrifyingly realistic creature effects, animatronics, and make-up by Greg Cannon, Matthew Mungle, and Michele Burke are astonishing. The music is subtle and creepy, especially the scene where Dracula first hypnotizes Mina. Overall, Bram Stoker's Dracula is a creepy, complex, and disturbing horror film with sexual undertones, and it is true to the disturbing nature of Stoker's novel. 4/5 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment