Dracula (1992) Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Bram Stoker's Dracula
Year: 1992
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Country: US
Language: English

Marking the first significant box-office victory for director Francis Ford Coppola outside of his Godfather trilogy, his adaptation of Bram Stoker's legendary tale strayed off the usual path of fear and emphasized more romantic and sensual themes. Of course, elements of horror such as Dracula’s monstrous manifestations (as a wolf-man and bat-creature) and gallons of blood fill the screen, but these are employed in a metaphoric sense rather than to evoke terror in the viewer. The marketed tagline after-all is "Love Never Dies" 

A young lawyer (Jonathan Harker) is assigned to a gloomy village in the mists of eastern Europe. He is captured and imprisoned by the undead vampire Dracula, who travels to London, inspired by a photograph of Harker's betrothed, Mina Murray (Winona Ryder). In Britain, Dracula begins a reign of seduction and terror.

Oscar winning costumes by Ishioka Eiko and gorgeous production design by Thomas Sanders and Garret Lewis are one of the many technical qualities this picture has. Coppola's picture is also well directed, well cast, well written and has gorgeous cinematography. When budget constraints forced Coppola to shoot on soundstages and special FX wizards told him modern technology couldn’t achieve the desired effects he wanted, Coppola decided to oversee the effects using old Hollywood techniques like miniatures, models, matte paintings and double exposures.

This Dracula tale has the energy and visual inspiration not seen in adaptations before it. I'm not entirely sure I like Coppola's version however; his Dracula is a little too human and it strays a little too far from the source material. Gary Oldman plays a more sympathetic villain who we are supposed to connect with. The film has an uneven pace as well. 24 years later, Dracula feels more outdated than even the 1922 German Expressionist silent  Nosferatu

Bram Stokers Dracula is quite flawed, even though it is a technically stunning picture. The costume design was easily the best aspect of the film. For his Oscar, Japanese designer Eiko captured elements of Kabuki Theater and Bela Lugosi mysticism to create quite memorable fashion. I must say I like the Universal Horror Dracula (1931) far better even though it is much less elaborate.