1979
Director- John Badham
Cast- Frank Langella, Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasance,
Kate Nelligan, Trevor Eve, Jan Francis, Tony Haygarth, Sylvester McCoy, Janine
Duvitski, Teddy Turner
Music by John Williams
This was
the first major adaptation of Dracula to so thoroughly emphasize the sexiness
of the vampire. Frank Langella makes
for, I think, the best looking Dracula ever. With his tanned good looks and
thick, wavy hair, he looks like he stepped off of the cover a romance novel.
Indeed, the film was marketed as a romance.
No
expense was spared in the talent department with multiple Oscar winner Laurence
Olivier as Van Helsing, Donald pleasance as Seward and a musical score by the
greatest Hollywood composer ever, John Williams. The quality of the film shows in other ways
as well. The sets are dark, gothic and very detailed. There was an effort to set the film squarely
in the late 19th century with more attention to detail on costumes
and little things like the use of a phonograph and an early motor car.
If the
movie has a failing it’s how far it strays from the book. It does away with
Transylvania entirely and begins with Dracula arriving in England. It also, as
stated above, turns the story into a romance. Also, and for no reason I can
fathom, switches the characters of Lucy and Mina, making Mina the undead victim
and Lucy Dracula’s love interest. I can understand leaving out or combining
characters, after all the book has a large cast. But switching the roles for no
obvious reason? Harker is also portrayed as a bit of douche, I guess so we’ll
sympathize with Lucy when she runs to Dracula’s arms. The story also portrays
Mina as Van Helsing’s daughter, again, for no reason I can find.
So if
you are stickler for literary fidelity, the film will leave you wanting. On the
other hand, if want a gothic horror/ romance filled with creepy imagery and
music, this version of Dracula will make for a fruitful diversion.
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