1462, Transylvania, Vlad the Impaler leaves his wife to fight the Turks. Out of malice, The Turks send her a letter telling her that her husband is dead. She is so distraught over his death and terrified at being captured that she throws herself from the castle turrets. When Vlad returns, he is told that his wife may not enter the Kingdom of Heaven as she has killed herself, which is a mortal sin. Vlad immediately renounces God and then he himself is condemned.
400 years later, Jonathon Harker leaves London and his fiancée Mina to travel to Transylvania. He has been assigned to help Count Dracula acquire property in England. Jonathon may never return
This film, despite its flaws, will always hold a place in my heart as it inspired me to write my novel, Vrolok. I have always loved horror movies so when I heard that Francis Ford Coppola was making a new Dracula film, I could not wait to see it. I remember eagerly anticipating the announcement of who was to play Dracula, and when I found out that it was Gary Oldman, I was not happy! The only thing I had seen him in was JFK, and I was not very impressed (I was too young to have appreciated Sid and Nancy). However, I still decided it was worth going to the cinema to see the movie as Keanu Reeves, Cary Elwes and Bill Campbell were also in it. From the moment Gary Oldman appears on screen, he captivates his audience. His performance is camp, overdone, and at times preposterous, yet it is still somehow seductive, mesmerizing, and sublime. (Bram Stoker would have been proud!). He even utters the line The children of the night. What sweet music they make with a thick Romanian accent and gets away with it. I saw this film when I was fifteen and was immediately converted into a life long Gary Oldman fan.
As previously stated, and despite Oldmans performance, the film does have its flaws. Keanu Reeves is about as wooden as a stake and the rest of the cast seem to, just like Gary Oldman, overdo the accents and this is a strategy that doesnt quite work for the rest of the cast. In addition, Sadie Frost and Wynona Ryder running around in the rain in see-through outfits is clichéd and slightly annoying (I am sure most boys who see this film love that bit). Apart from Oldmans performance, there is one other thing that has to be commended the soundtrack both Wojciech Kilar's score and Annie Lennoxs theme are dark, chilling, and poignant.
All in all a great movie it inspired me to write a book that may or may not make me a million but will always be something that I am proud to have completed.