Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) ***1/2

 

I saw this one in theaters, back when Winona Ryder was every guy's dream girl. I recall enjoying it, but Keanu Reeve's wooden acting and laughable British accent left a bad taste in my mouth. Reeve's cartoonish performance came to dominate my memory of the film, which is a shame, as he is just a supporting character. It was long past time to give the movie a second chance.

The tale starts in the year 1462. Prince Vlad Dracula (Gary Oldman) defeats an army of Turkish infidels against great odds. Flush with victory, he returns to his castle to find that the clever Turks have sent out a false report of his death, leading his wife, Elisabeta, to fling herself from a tower. The high priest callously informs Dracula that, as a suicide, Elisabeta is condemned to hell. Dracula renounces God and the church, vowing to rise from the dead to avenge his bride. His grief and rage are so deep that the curse is effective.

Centuries later, in 1897, solicitor Jonathan Harker (Reeves) travels to Transylvania to help an eccentric client, Count Dracula, purchase some London properties. Dracula sees a photo of Harker's fiance, Mina (Winona Ryder), who looks just like Elisabeta. Convinced that his bride has been reincarnated, Dracula travels to London to seduce Mina, feeding on the city's inhabitants in the meantime.

At 2 hours 8 minutes, “Bram Stoker's Dracula” runs a bit long, but it is well worth watching. The film hews fairly closely to Stoker's book, and of the film versions of the tale I have seen, this is the best. Keanu Reeves drags the movie down a bit, but not as badly as I remembered. The rest of the cast is aces. Winona Ryder and Sadie Frost are charming and beautiful, and they look great writhing around in their nightgowns in the throes of vampiric fever dreams. Cary Elwes (from “The Princess Bride”) plays one of Lucy's many suitors, and musician/actor Tom Waites plays the character of Renfield, driven mad by Dracula's influence. Anthony Hopkins plays Van Helsing, and Gary Oldman is magnetic as Dracula. Oldman manages to convey the Count's menace, his seductive charm, and, ultimately his tragedy. The entire story is contained within one line, when Dracula tells Mina, "I have crossed oceans of time to find you."

3.5 stars out of 5