Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
This film was woefully miscast. Gary Oldman is so compelling as Count Dracula it’s hard not to root for him, while Keanu Reeves is so wooden as Jonathan Harker it’s difficult to believe he’s the hero of the film. Outclassed by the actors around him, he’s unable to generate any interest in his character and we gravitate towards the much more interesting characters: Dracula and Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins).
Richard I, Hannibal Lecter, C.S. Lewis, Richard Nixon, and Alfred Hitchcock are only a few of the iconic roles in Hopkin’s long and distinguished career. He’s adept at everything from small, quiet movies, to gory horror, to blockbuster action films. The movie would have been better if they’d focused on the conflict between him and Dracula.
Winona Ryder’s early career was a string of successes in Beetlejuice (1988), Heathers (1988), Edward Scissorhands, and The Age of Innocence (1993), but her youthful appearance works against makes Dracula’s obsession with Mina Harker more creepy than scary.
Francis Ford Coppola’s place in film history is secure with The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), The Conversation (1974), and Apocalypse Now (1979). But since 1980, his films have been pedestrian.
Eschewing computer generated effects and using traditional movie techniques as much as possible sets this film apart. And it makes good use of the immortality of vampires, but considering the cast and pedigree of those involved, it should have been a great movie. There’s a lot to look at, but not much to see.