I am starting to think that I’m not a big fan of vampires. I’d heard lots of good things about Interview with a Vampire and it didn’t really connect to me. Tonight, I watched Bram Stoker’s Dracula and found myself laughing at a lot of the film. There are some odd performances, camera choices, and special effects. I’m not sure if it’s because of the age of the film or if it’s just not my cup of tea. I give Bram Stoker’s Dracula the Not a Total Waste of Time rating.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is an interesting film, but just didn’t work for me
Count Dracula (Gary Oldman) lures Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) to Transylvania in order to keep him away from Mina (Winona Ryder). Once Harker is trapped, Dracula travels to Europe in an attempt to win Mina, who resembles his wife from centuries earlier. Yet, he attracts the attention of Professor Abraham Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins) and Dracula’s plans get altered.
Francis Ford Coppola uses a lot of old film techniques in the making of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. They had a lot of interesting elements to the film, but also make it feel older than it is. I have grown to appreciate a variety of films from all eras yet I wasn’t really pulled into the film. The toy trains, the silhouette fight sequences, and the fake skies add to the fantasy aspect of the film and are often visually appealing. The darker, grittier elements of the film that include nudity and mass amounts of blood seem to detract from that tone and force the horror. Many moments made me laugh at the choices, but none more than some of the casting.
I’m a fan of Keanu Reeves, but he can’t pull of a British accent. The voice he used sounded like Ted Logan pretending to be British for a school play. Many of his line reads are comical when they are meant to be dramatic. He is trapped by a madman and kept from his love, but he barely musters any emotion at all. This is a stark contrast to Gary Oldman’s performance. His character takes on many appearances and he manages to do well in all the various costumes. There are some moments that are a bit cringeworthy, but that is likely a combination of Keanu Reeves and the old school filmmaking techniques.
Van Helsing was my favorite part of the movie
My favorite part of the film was Anthony Hopkins though. He seemed to be the only actor aware of the comedic elements in the film. He delivers lines that are outrageous like, “Not exactly. I just want to cut off her head and take out her heart,” after a character dies from an attack. He deliveries it so calmly it really cracked me up. He has a few other moments like that and is a pretty powerful adversary of Dracula’s.
Again, I can see why people love this movie. It just felt a bit too ridiculous for me throughout. I appreciate the production elements, but they didn’t help overcome my apprehension for the story. Paired with some bad acting, the old film techniques definitely made me more judgemental than expected. I definitely prefer zombies over vampires in both the creatures and the monsters.
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