Diana Segura

ENG 102-1013
Essay #3: Opinion
October 12, 2012

:Bram Stokers Dracula

Scary, evil, and life threatening, this is what used to be standard in a monster movie,
but is this what horror movies consist of today? Its nearing the Halloween season, everyone
starts to buy costumes, Halloween specials are being frequently played on television, and though
this may seem completely normal, a lot has been changing in the last few decades, not just
concerning Halloween, but the monster aspect of movies, television shows, books, and
everything in general has seen significant change. Specifically the idea of what Dracula is what
he should represent. Can we definitively say what the stereotype of a vampire is One of the
many horror films based on Dracula is France Ford Coppolas 1992 version of the classic
vampire story; Bram Strokers Dracula is a dramatic horror film that can also fall under the genre
of romance. It offers an explanation as to how Dracula came to be an evil bloodsucking vampire.
As a movie in the horror genre Bram Stokers Dracula does not work because the buildup of
terror is ineffective throughout the movie, which leads to the moments of horror bordering on the
ridiculous and prevents a certain level of seriousness from being reached.
Frank Ford Coppola directs Bram Stokers Dracula, which offers a background story to
explain just how Count Dracula became the original vampire. Dracula (Gary Oldman) is depicted
as a brave Transylvanian knight who returns from fighting the Turks to find his wife Elisabeta
(Wynona Rider) dead. She committed suicide after receiving false information about Draculas

death. His devastation is immense; he blames the Turks for tricking his wife into suicide, he is
also plagued by hatred towards the church, who dares to deny his beloved wife a proper
Christian burial. After coming back from fighting for the church, Count Dracula feels betrayed,
he denounced god. In an exaggerated scene he stabs a holy cross, vowing to use the powers of
evil and darkness to get revenge, which causes the cross to spew buckets of blood. Through this
action, the count becomes the undead vampire that reappears later in the movie. Jonathan Harker
(Keanu Reeves), is a young lawyer who travels to Transylvania to follow up on a real estate sale
that was left unfinished, soon after arriving at Draculas mansion, the count sees a picture of
Harkers fiance Mina Murray, who he believes is the reincarnation of his wife Elisabeta. Harker
is taken captive and imprisoned, tortured by Draculas undead vampire wifes until he eventually
escapes. Dracula travels to London in search for Mina, where he inspires fear and starts a reign
of terror. He kills Minas closest friend Lucy Westenra (Sadie Frost) and is hunted down by a
number of people. Though I liked the fact that Bram Strokers Dracula is based on some kind of
historical events, making it more realistic, it undoubtedly fails as a horror film, it did however
retain some merit in the sense of it being a romantic drama. The story of Vlad the impaller was
only hinted towards, that historical tie was never directly made in the film, so without previous
knowledge of Vlad the impaler the connection would most likely not be made. The film was
movies, but the execution of terror and horror was seriously flawed. The terror did not build up
any lasting horror. Revulsion was the only thing used effectively, which makes the point that
terror and horror were so absent throughout the film that revulsion was the stand out feature.
Bram Stokers Dracula was not a horrible film. I do not think watching it was a waste of
precious time that I will never get back, but the aspects of terror and horror which are so
essential to any film that wishes to create an innate fear of the film are not present in Bram

Strokers Dracula. It is this fatal flaw that is unmistakable through the entire movie. Many times
I found myself asking whether the film would develop into something that resembled a horror
film, or if it would simply continue its trail of ineffective terror build up. There was something
very laughable about the scenes of horror that unfolded; they were simply not very believable.
Which is a result of many things, the over the top/stagnant acting, costumes, fake outdoor
backdrops, special effects, just to name a few. These things did absolutely nothing to contribute
to any lasting horror. I was disappointed with the film which I initially had high hopes for.
Cheesy is the best way to describe the attempt at terror in this film. It is quite obvious
what scenes were meant to terrify to the audience but I had a hard time finding a decrepit old
vampire (Dracula) levitating across the room to surprise an emotionless Jonathan Harker
terrifying. I suspect that the heavy makeup and a very big wig in addition to the way many
scenes played out are what made these scenes seem so ridiculous. I am usually very easily
frightened when it comes to horror films but the multiple attempts to build terror throughout the
movie fell flat with little to no success, which explains the out-of-place feel that the culminating
scenes of horror have.
There is a key element missing in the scenes that were supposed to represent horror. One
of the most obvious examples in the film is at the beginning of the film. When Jonathan Harker
realizes that Dracula is not intending on letting him leave, we are introduced to his three vampire
wifes who feed on Harker in a horrifying culmination of seduction and blood thirst. Dracula
walks in in the middle of this, initially condemning their actions he offers them an infant to keep
their blood lust satisfied. During the remainder of Harkers imprisonment in Draculas castle he is
subject to his undead brides torture. There are many things in this scene that stand out for me.
There seems to be a lack of transitioning into the scenes of horror, which is mostly due to the

lack of terror. The scenes are surprising, but not in an effective way that horror often times is
presented. The feeling of surprise has more to do with the confusion and unrealistic feeling from
these scenes. Even for a movie that is clearly based on a fiction horror story there are some
expectations of realism to be in the movie.
Unlike terror and horror revulsion can be clearly identified in the film, which is why it
still retains some elements of a horror film, but I cannot say that it is anywhere near a good
horror movie. Aside from being an ineffective horror movie, I did like the overall theme of the
film; particularly the portrayal of Dracula as an intermediate character who is both a terrifying
monster on one end and one side to a tragic love story on the other. Bram Stokers Dracula
managed to retain the original connotations associated with the iconic Dracula figure (e.g. scary,
evil, dangerous vampire) while still keying in on some of the more modern interpretations of
Dracula as a romanticized anti-hero who struggles with the fight between good and evil within
himself. Dracula was undoubtedly the villain in the Coppolas movie but there was a clear
distinction between him being solely a monster or an overly enthused romantic who barely
resembles a vampire. With things like the vampire diaries, twilight, true blood, being human, and
a multitude of other vampire related material being constantly produced, an unavoidable question
lingers. Why is it that as a society our view of monsters such as vampires has changed so much?
Perhaps it is that horror movies have desensitized us to the point that a vampire in love is more
interesting than an evil blood-sucking vampire. There are many possible explanations for this,
and depending on someones personal opinion the answers will be widely varied. There is still
the question as to what category Bram Stokers Dracula fits into. It seems to me like not going to
the extremes of either one of these stereotypes (classic vampire vs. modern) is the only thing that
was not exaggerated in this movie. It was not an adequate horror movie by any means, but in an

age were monster movies are beginning to take a new shape, Bram Stokers Dracula might be
as good as it will get without extremely moving to one side of the horror spectrum. Isnt that the
real horror?

~need to pick a title

~need to decide on sources/reviews
~ two or three more examples from the movie?