(Review originally written at 9 January 2005)
This 1992 version of the Bram Stoker novel is different from the previous Dracula movies that were made in 1931, 1958 and 1979. The visual style is stunning and I just love they way they handled the characters.
Without a doubt the best thing about this movie is Gary Oldman in his role as the blood sucking count from Transylvannia. His Dracula is like a mix of the scary looking Nosferatu from "Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens" and the gentleman and sensual Dracula played by Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee in the earlier versions. The result is a Dracula that we can both fear and feel for. Yes, Gary Oldman really is my favorite Dracula (although not the best). The sequences between Oldman and Winona Ryder are really steamy, that was quite some passion on screen!
The movie handles all of the characters very well. All of the classic characters are present (Van Helsing, Mina, Harker, Renfield etc.). All of the characters are really deepen out, something that was not really the case in earlier Dracula movies which only really focused on Dracula's character. But that also brings me to the one problem I had with this movie. It focused on too many characters. It was kind of weird, in the beginning it only focused on Harker and Dracula, in the second halve mainly on Mina and the third halve mainly on Van Helsing, it was very inconsistent all.
Not only the main cast but also the supporting cast consists out of big names like Cary Elwes, Bill Campbell and Monica Bellucci.
The musical score by Wojciech Kilar is really on of the best and most fitting scores in movie history. I love it!
The visual style, cinematography, make-up, clothing, acting, music, everything is nearly perfect in this movie! It might not be everyone's cup of tea but I really love this movie!
9/10
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