Saturday, September 28, 2019

Dracula (1979)




Dracula
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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