"I am the last of my kind."

Being a fan of vampire movies, I was pleased to finally view Bram Stoker’s Dracula today. Francis Ford Coppola directed the 1992 release of the classic story told many times over. Coppola stayed true to Bram Stoker’s original novel and told a love story spanned throughout centuries. Apparently, Coppola received a lot of flack from fans and critics for the film. There were one too many shots that faded to and from glowing eyes for my liking, but overall I liked the classic angle he took, slowly easing us into the character of Dracula.

It begins, as it should, with the tragic story of Vlad the Impaler, who went off to fight the Crusades and returned to find that his beloved wife, hearing he was dead, had killed herself. And not just killed herself, but hurled herself from a parapet to a stony doom far below, in one of the many spectacular shots which are the best part of this movie. You feel true sympathy for him, a remarkable feat. Plus, these opening scenes are quite spectacular.

Vlad cannot see the justice in his fate. He has marched all the way to the Holy Land on God's business, only to have God play this sort of a trick on him. (Vlad is apparently not a student of the Book of Job.) He embraces Satan and vampirism, and the action moves forward to the late Victorian Age.

Despite a couple of not so inspiring performances (textbook overacting from Winona Ryder & Keanu Reeves, who haven’t ever really brought a good performance to date, Reeves’ accent is particularly horrid), the movie is entertaining and overall a good film. Gary Oldman & Anthony Hopkins deliver strong work as Count Dracula & Professor Van Helsing. Quick note, if you watch the flick, keep an eye out for a 30 year old Monica Bellucci, now 41 and still as beautiful as ever (& in my Top-5, for the record). Another hottie in the film to note is Sadie Frost as Lucy. Wow, not much else to say but… wow.

Coppola fails in his jumping around in the script, from London to Transylvania. You never really get a true sense that he trusted the actors or scenes (besides a few longer takes that include Oldman or Hopkins). An All-Star cast, but miscast in too many roles (Ryder, Reeves & Elwes) to be a great movie. That said, it’s a good film. The look and feel of the film still hold up after more than 10 years (and Jurassic Park & King Kong advances in special effects later). Not quite a classic, yet the classic tale is still enjoyable and worth a watch.

*** out of 4 stars.