Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

USA 128m, Colour
Director: Francis Ford Coppola; Cast: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves, Richard E. Grant, Cary Elwes, Billy Campbell, Sadie Frost, Tom Waits

Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula is perhaps the most faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel. It also boasts one of the finest casts ever assembled for a horror film. Gary Oldman’s multifaceted performance as Dracula is outstanding, as is Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of the eccentric Professor Van Helsing. The production is especially notable for its wonderfully intricate and beautifully designed costuming and its use of in-camera special effects which produce a visual style which is more in keeping with the late 19th sensibilities which it attempts to portray (Klaus Ming August 2010).