Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Gary Oldman, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Cary Elwes, Richard E. Grant, Sadie Frost
The movie begins in 1462 with the valiant Romanian warrior prince, Vlad the Impaler, leading a fierce battle against the Turks in order to defend his homeland. Despite his bravery, his beloved wife, Elisabeta, receives a false report of his death, leading her to take her own life out of grief. Upon discovering this tragedy, Vlad renounces God and curses himself to eternal damnation as a vampire, destined to roam the earth in search of his lost love.
Four centuries later, in 1897, London-based solicitor Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to provide legal assistance to Count Dracula, who plans to purchase property in England. Ignoring the warnings of the villagers, Jonathan continues his journey, arriving at Castle Dracula. As he encounters the strange and supernatural occurrences within the castle, he slowly realises that he is indeed face to face with an immortal creature.
Unbeknownst to Jonathan, Count Dracula intends to pursue his fiancee, Mina Murray, who coincidentally resembles his long-lost love, Elisabeta. Dracula locks Jonathan in the castle and commences his journey to London, leaving behind a ravenous female vampire, his bride, to feast upon Jonathan. After a perilous escape, Jonathan returns to London and warns his friends of the impending danger.
Meanwhile, Dracula, disguised as a mysterious and alluring man, arrives in London and immediately becomes enamored with Mina. He seeks her out, leaving her enchanted and forming a supernatural bond between them. Mina's best friend, Lucy Westenra, falls mysteriously ill and eventually succumbs to Dracula's curse, becoming a vampire herself.
Professor Abraham Van Helsing, a renowned expert on the supernatural, is called upon to investigate the strange happenings surrounding Lucy's demise. Van Helsing soon deduces that a vampire is responsible for the affliction and enlists the help of Lucy's former suitors, including Arthur Holmwood and Dr. John Seward, to hunt down and destroy the creature.
As they delve deeper into the dark world of Dracula, the group realises that they are up against an ancient and formidable foe. With the aid of crosses, holy water, and the power of their determination, they track Dracula's movements and discover his connection to Mina. Van Helsing takes it upon himself to protect Mina and devise a plan to destroy Dracula, once and for all.
In a climactic showdown, Van Helsing and his comrades confront Dracula in his lair, armed with various weapons and their sheer will. A fierce battle ensues as they try to drive a stake through Dracula's heart. However, Mina's conflicted love for Dracula creates a complex dynamic, allowing him to temporarily overpower the group.
Just as it seems that Dracula may succeed in turning Mina into his eternal bride, Jonathan intervenes, battling Dracula and distracting him long enough for Van Helsing to drive the stake into Dracula's heart, finally ending his reign of terror. As Dracula disintegrates into dust, Mina, now free from his influence, reunites with Jonathan as they embrace their love and escape the shadow of Dracula's curse.
In the end, the survivors carry on with their lives, forever marked by the darkness they encountered but now armed with the knowledge that evil can be conquered, even in the form of the immortal Count Dracula.
Continuity mistake: When the great doors to Dracula's castle open, an ornate table with a statuette and two large candle holders is standing inside the castle. When Dracula's shadow appears, the statuette is still there, but the candle holders are gone. (00:12:35)
Question: Why would the brides lay out in the open when they slept? After 400 years wouldn't they know better? Also, Are they falling in love with Harker?
Answer: They are lesser vampires whose power is tied to Dracula, who in turn is entirely preoccupied with Mina. And as Van Helsing noted, vampires are weak at daytime, further reducing their ability to sense unwanted visitors. And a decapitated vampire, in this universe and most others, is dead and cannot be resurrected, ever.
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Answer: It's unlikely they were falling in love with Harker: they are sadistic, baby-eating monsters who regarded Harker as food and a temporary plaything. As for them sleeping in the open, the local populace dreads and avoids Dracula's castle, so there's hardly any fear of intruders. Van Helsing did enter and kill them, but they reckoned, mistakenly, that he too would be too afraid to do so, especially after their horse-mauling escapades the previous night.
Jukka Nurmi