Bram Stoker's Dracula 25th Anniversary (4k Ultra HD Review)

 

Bram Stoker's Dracula (25th Anniversary)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Screenplay by James V. Hart

Bill Preston Esquire alias Jonathan Harker alias Keanu Reeves is sent to Transylvania to set up a land buying deal in his native England for the mysterious Count Dracula. While he's there the Count notices a picture of Jonathan's fiance, Nina, played by the ever popular shop lifter Winona Ryder (she used to be a thing). Nina just happens to be the reincarnated love of Dracula's life 400 years previously and whose death caused him to go to the dark side. He was already going to have a buffet in jolly ole england, but this gives him an added incentive. Dracula leaves Keanu locked up with his sexy blood sucking wives, which includes the once beautiful and still big bosomed Monica Bellucci biting him where the sun doesn't shine. Once Dracula sails for London, the blood will flow. 

I remember seeing this movie when it originally came out in 1992 and I don't remember liking it that much. I watched it again when it came out on Blu-ray and had the same reaction. I guess the third time is the charm because this time around on 4K I really enjoyed the movie. 

Everytime I have seen this movie the thing that really stood out about was the overall look of the film and its gorgeous color palette. Even the times I viewed the film and did not care for it, the style alone was impressive. This stands out even more with the 4K format. Red of course being the main tone used by Coppola. 

Something I really noticed this third viewing was how this film was a homage to the early 1930s Universal monster films. This was mainly due to the fact that Coppola used sound stages for the entire film, giving it that old timey play feel like 1931's Dracula or Frankenstein. You would think that would make it more claustrophobic. It didn't. I felt it gave the director more control over his vision and contributed a lot to the dreamlike tone poem nature of the movie. 

As usual in a Coppola production, the cast is first rate. Keanu does an admirable job even though this isn't his usual movie role. Anthony Hopkins steals the show with his weird take on a leg humping Van Helsing who I wondered at times whether HE was a vampire! This was one year after his definitive role in Silence of the Lambs. Gary Oldman eats the scenery with his over the top reptilian romantic lover act. 

There's a very strong sexual repression theme running through the movie in that everyone in the movie seems to be very badly in need of getting laid. Mina and her friend Lucy constantly seem to long for scoring a home run but the men around them seemed reluctant to take them up on their offer because they are not aggressive enough. It's almost like Dracula has come to give them what they want: Erotic bliss and pleasure. I think mosquitoes and vampire bats inject their victims with some sort of saliva that numbs the piercing of the flesh. Vampires use their seductive charms to make their painful bites seems almost orgasmic. It's almost a promise of freedom to feel the sting of their fangs. Too late their victims realize that they will become slaves to blood lust along with being immortal. 

Another throwback to the classic days of monster movies was that all the effects in the movie were either practical or done with actual physical film tricks. No CGI, so everything looks organic. You gotta think, this was the year Terminator 2 came out and one year before Jurassic Park. 

The third time was the charm as far as this movie goes. Thoroughly enjoyed the almost adult scooby doo nature of the film in that Mina and Lucy's friends have to team up to defeat the evil Dracula once and for all! 

The film won Academy Awards for best costume design, best make up, and best sound effects editing in 1992 and fully deserved those awards. 

My Grade: A-