I have the latter on ddv and I recently watched it yesterday, like the others it is flawed and deviates from the novel with some noteable errors and plot changes, mainly the additional and unsuitable romance between Mina and Dracula. In this movie Mina is the reincarnation of Dracula's wife Elisabeta who killed herself after being wrongly informed that he was dead. She is reborn in Mina Harker nee Murray who becomes torn between her love for Jonathan, her loyalties to her friends and her virtue and the memories and love for Dracula, who was once her husband Vlad III the Impaler in another life. In fact the movie in the opening sequence gives this as the reason for Vlad's transformation into a vampire as he turns his back on God after he is informed she will nto go to heaven due to her suicide and vows to avenge her. Of course none of this in the novel it is an embellishment to give the story a dark romance angle hence the tagline 'Love never dies' and whilst it sounds like a good idea on paper it does not really work.
In the movie Mina comes across as a biopolar character she jumps about with her emotions, leads Jonathan on, willingly betrays him and submits herself to become a vampire and then suddenly cries and calls herself unclean and yet later she is happy to defend Dracula and be there for him when he dies. This deviation in her personality ruins her character making her immediately dislikable, confusing and impossible to figure out, it may be possible to be in love with two men but she seems to show little regard for Jonathan and no sooner is she married to him than she is welcoming Dracula to her bed, the same Dracula who raped her best friend, drove her mad and turned her into a vampire ultimately leading to her damnation, something which apparently she did not click onto until Dracula actually identified herself. He is also the same man who imprisoned her would be fiance, left him to be raped and drained of his blood by his concubines and drove him half mad.
I feel that Mina and Jonathan were both horribly casted, it's this idea that Hollywood cannot make big budgeted movies with only an English class but there must always be some big name American actor to draw in the viewers, combine this with the foolish idea that all Americans can do a decent English accent and you have a disaster. You know more buy Winona and Keanu's accents than you buy their romance. I like both actors and I enjoy their other work but in this movie English actors would have been best, particularly ones who had some sort of believable spark between them. The romance, highlighted often in the novel, falls flat in the movie as an ignorable side point as the made up romance between Dracula and Mina takes precedence.
Gary Oldman is spectacular as Dracula presenting a tragic and yet evil figure, again the romantic side of him is just annoying, but is perfomance was still Oscar worthy, he is an amazing actor and his monstrous appearances were spectacular from his first aged decrepit form to his half-wolf and half-bat forms (again not in the novel). He presents a believably scary Count.
The brief appearances of his 'brides' is also noteworthy, particularly since one is Monica Bellucci, they are sufficiently sexy and horrific particularly when they are feasting on a baby. Although the novel never states they are his brides this has become a popular idea over the ages though their appearances are mostly kept brief and they are rarely named. The sex scenes are wild, vivid and disturbing and again, not in the novel, but a decent addition as they add to their frightening appearance.
I also loved the way the trio of Quincey Morris, Arthur Holmwood and Dr. John Seward were presented with wonderful performances by Billy Campbell, Cary Elwes and Richard E. Grant, the latter two being favourites of mine. They are all good characters in their own way, Quincey is brash and brave, Arthur a noble snob with a tender heart and Jack a bumbling genuis devoted to his work. They are best friends who do not even let their love for the same woman divide them, instead it strengthens them and even after she chooses Arthur as her suitor they still bond together in a valiant but failed attempt to save her life. They are tragic characters in a way and you cannot help but grieve for the loss of Quincey and sympathise with Arthur's loss of his fiancee so soon after they become engaged. This is one of the movies to show all three characters as they originally were without eliminating or combining them as is so often done. As Lucy's united suitors and in the case of Quincey, one of Dracula's eventual killers, they are important characters and it is a shame that they are so rarely portrayed correctly.
in the 1992 film to me they are best portrayed, their casting was perfect and they had enough on screen time to be noticeable. Cary Elwes did a great job of showing Arthur's depression, attempts to put on a show of bravado and denial and ultimate pain over Lucy's fate, Billy Campbell was excellent at portraying Quincey as a cowboy styled Texan who is blunt and over the top and yet full of heart and Richard E Grant was fantastic as the slight eccentric psychiatrist whose love for Lucy is unending and who often feels ignorant and overpowered when it comes to Van Helsing's knowledge of vampires.
The best performance by far for me was Sadie Frost as Lucy Westenra, she really deserved a nomination for it she went from flirty, light hearted and fickle but loyal to a sexually promiscuous half-mad woman full of wanton desire to a an undead horror effortlessly. Lucy is a young woman 'not yet twenty' caught between three men who have all proposed to her, given her youth her nature to toy with these men and lead them on is forgiveable in a way, she is a young woman who adores attention and affection but she is not malicious. Although one might suggest she is a gold digger picking Arthur because he is a lord with his father's title to inherit although neither novel nor movie directly suggest this. She becomes Dracula's victim as he slowly drains her life force from her, taking her blood and having disturbing sex with her in half-wolf form in the movie and turning her from a sweet, pure woman into a highly sexual creature going half-insane with thirst and desire. She is much more erotic and impish that her novel counterpart although her character in the novel is hard to accept as she is too pure and good.
Sadie Frost did a brilliant job portraying Lucy as a spoilt brat who despite her wealth, status and good looks is still a good friend to Mina she is a young woman who is awakening to the world of sex and has been overwhelmed by the attention of three suitors, which does go to her head in a fashion. You sympathise for her ultimately dismal fate as Dracula's victim who must be destroyed by her own fiancee for the sake of her soul. Though a bold young woman who derives pleasure from toying with her suitors she is still an innocent who suffers a drawn out fate of rape, madness and ultimately death before returning briefly as a wild undead bride.
It was both ironic and creepy seeing Lucy in her bridal outfit as she brings a child to her crypt for supper, given the common mentioning of Dracula's brides, and it was also horrific to see her in a Snow White styled glass coffin, hammering home the imagery of both horror and beauty in the form of an undead bride. Her undead appearance reminded me of Mina's in the 1979 Dracula film starring Frank Langella where Mina and Lucy's characters are swapped, Mina as a vampire as a similar ghoulish appearance and white outfit to 1992's Lucy.
I read Sadie had to dye her hair because she looked too similar to Winona and that initially she did not even audition because of their similar looks but when they struggled to find a Lucy she was picked after her role in Diamond Skulls. Dying her hair to a glorious idea was a stroke of genius it made her stand out all the more and had Winona paling in her shadow. I think she exciting and memorable and it's only a pity it did not lead to more for Sadie Frost, I read an article quoting her book and she said she gave up fame for her family which is touching. She was certainly better than the dull confusing Winona and the woefully miscast Keanu.
I will say this for Keanu apart from the accent his stiff demeanour follows Jonathan's rather than being a wooden performance as he said himself he is noticeably drained in this movie but he gives an admirable enough performance as Jonathan Harker as a stereotypical Victorian English gentleman who is a bit of a drip but when you compare him to Anthony Hopkins and Gary Oldman he's out of his depth and clearly just not into his performance. The deeper emotions of Jonathan including his grief, horror and love for Mina are somewhat lost but like everything else some of this seems to be lost due to the romance between Mina and Dracula more than anything else.
Overall this film is a treat of imagery, the sets, scenery and costumes are wonderful, extravagent and memorable, particularly the large rooms of Lucy's home, the film even received an Academy Award for Best Costume Design, deservedly so. It's infamous for trying to avoid modern techniques for special effects striving to use old school trickery and it succeeds presenting creepy images of Dracula's eyes in the clouds, his half-bat and half-wolf forms, Lucy's vampiric appearance, the rats crawling on the ceiling upside down, the vampire brides appearing out of nowhere and so forth. It's probably better known for being a visual treat rather than a serious production of Dracula.
It has a good mixture of horror and humour but the romance was forced and ultimately silly, Dracula might be as handsome, charming and tragic in this film as in many others but he is still a monster who puts Mina's fiance and best friend through hell even leading to her friend's death and yet we are still to believe that this seemingly pure, innocent woman still somehow falls for him despite all this because they are destined to be together. It's ludicrous, it makes no sense and it cheapens the romance between Mina and Jonathan. Dracula does have a tragic appearance in the novel too but the movie just takes it too far and you really don't know how to feel about him.
It is one of my favourite Dracula and vampire films of all time and I enjoy watching it every time particularly because of the varied characters, beautiful scenery and wonderful cast. It is sufficiently gory with enough action and horror to satisfy most vampire fanatics.
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