Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Centuries-old vampire Count Dracula comes to England to seduce his barrister Jonathan Harker’s fiancée Mina Murray and wreak havoc in the foreign land.

Introduction

Arguably, THE BEST iteration of Dracula on film. Everything was perfect, except for one weird casting, other than that, this is a must see. Most of what we’ve seen throughout all the versions of Dracula released over the years, we all have an idea of who, what and who are the key characters involved. Even the comedy film Dracula: Dead and Loving starring Leslie Nielsen had all the key characters and moments. There’s a reason why after all these years, this still remains at the top of most fans of the genre.

“Count Dracula, a 15th-century prince, is condemned to live off the blood of the living for eternity. Young lawyer Jonathan Harker is sent to Dracula’s castle to finalise a land deal, but when the Count sees a photo of Harker’s fiancée, Mina, the spitting image of his dead wife, he imprisons him and sets off for London to track her down.”

Characters

• Gary Oldman (as Count Dracula) is currently known by many as Detective James Gordon from the Dark Knight Trilogy by Christopher Nolan—and having that image of him then watching this classic will get your mind blown by his talent. Oldman displayed loss, desparation, betrayal, lust, and death perfectly. His voice and facial expression were chef’s kiss.
• Anthony Hopkins (as Van Helsing, again was the best iteration of Van Helsing. As per the book, Hopkins did indeed read the novel and got from there the weird behavior and personality of the character.
• Winona Ryder (as Mina) performed well, despite her young age and up and coming career, Ryder was able to display the longing that she craved in the film.
• Keanu Reeves (as Jonathan Harker) was probably the worst by far. Given how much big of a name he has now, back then be sucked big time. Especially in delivering an English accent, it was skin crawling and made me cringe every time he spoke. Acting was also subpar back then.

Tone and Theme: Loss

All throughout the film, you’d get that feeling of loss. Starting with Dracula himself, and with the ending as well. The film is dark, chilling, and a sense of inescapable hopelessness.

Cinematography

Michael Ballhaus (cinematographer) is worth mentioning here. His work was perfect and truly magnified the gravity of a scene. Careful camera work also gave the usual dull scenes a new life.

Masterful Effects

For the year this was made, the effects are awesome, and even if you watch it in 2026, it will still hold up against its competitors. Specially if you knew how the process goes in editing film for the effects. The transformations as well were exquisite and really shows why practical effects rule.

Final Thoughts

Like I said from the beginning, THE BEST Dracula iteration by far. Gary Oldman carried this classic with his accurate depiction of the said character. All other film elements came together and formed this perfect dark being named Bram Stoker’s Dracula. For a more recent/modern release, Nosferatu featuring Bill Skarsgard is also a great choice.