Bram Stoker's Dracula

          Bram Stoker's Dracula was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and is adapted from, well, Bram Stoker's Dracula. Although adored by film critics and casual movie goers alike, I didn't really enjoy this movie all that much. I should enjoy this movie; every part of me that is rational says so. It has great performances from Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins. It is respectful to the source material, but is still its own story. The sets and costumes are designed wonderfully. Most of all, the insane level of melodrama somehow works (most of the time). For example, in one scene the Abraham who actually hunts vampires tosses the decapitated heads of three blood-suckers off a bridge and then cries out Dracula's name to the sky at the top of his lungs. In another, he dry humps Quincy Morris while describing the love of Quincy's life as "the concubine of Satan." Come to think of it, Van Helsing is out of his damn mind in this movie.

He's still one of the best things about it, though.

          By all rights, scenes like these should not be anything more than laughably ludicrous, but they are. The film's most noticeable failings are Keanu's faux British accent and the occasional moment where the melodrama fails (such as when vampire Lucy pukes blood on Van Helsing, Regan McNeil style), neither of which are so bad they ruin the movie. So why didn't I enjoy it? First of all, I want to point out that don't dislike this film, I just didn't particularly like it either. The reason for this, I'll admit, isn't entirely fair. To understand, one first needs to see this scene.

          This is my favorite scene of the film. It is one of my favorite scenes of any vampire film. It is also the prologue, so it colors the way I see the rest of the movie. A big part of this film is the romance between Dracula and Mina (who is the reincarnation of his deceased lover), but whenever the two are having a moment, all I can think about is how Dracula's hatred for God is so potent that he caused an entire cathedral and everything in it to bleed! Maybe it's just me, but when I've seen a man warp reality with his rage I have a hard time focusing on the other aspects of his character. 

          Like I said, every rational part of me says I should like this movie, but the reason I don't isn't rational. That's why I still give it a recommendation. My own prejudices aside, there are a lot of things to like about Bram Stoker's Dracula. Or maybe I just didn't like it because the left out Dracula's deadliest superpower: the Lugosi Stare!