I have always been fascinated by the sensuous, dark Gothic world. Never to the point of role playing, dressing all in black...lol But it's enough to make me feel drawn to different stories with the Victorian Gothic flare. That's the story of Bram Stoker's, "Dracula" in a nutshell. I grew up watching the 1930's Dracula starring Bela Lugosi, the 60's Hammer films most of the time starring Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, and so many more. But my most favorite is the 1992 Francis Ford Coppola adaptation that he titled, "Bram Stoker's Dracula." It starred: Gary Oldman as Vlad Dracul, Winona Ryder as Mina Murray/Harker (and also the Princess Elizabeta), Sir Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Van Helsing, Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker, and Sadie Frost as Lucy Westenra. I also love the fact one of my favorite actors, Cary Elwes, was in the film and played Arthur Holmwood- Lucy's fiance. Actually the entire cast was phenomenal! I can sit down and watch this film over and over and over again. I never get sick of it.
I remember when it came out back in 1992, I wanted to see it so badly. But I was only 12 and it was rated "R"- BUT my Dad rented it on VHS when it came out to rent, and he told me that I could only watch it if I promised him one thing: if the movie scared me and I was afraid or had a nightmare, I could NOT sleep in my mom and dad's bedroom...lol On the contrary, I loved the film and it didn't scare me. I mean, there were some gross parts, but I just reminded myself it was fake. I do remember the scene where Dracula's brides are introduced. They are trying to lure Jonathan Harker and seduce him so they could drink his blood. They were also all topless....haha My Dad just kept saying, "oh no, oh no!" And he ran up to the TV set and tried blocking it till that scene was over.
;-) I told him not to worry, that even though I didn't have a chest like one of the brides, I eventually would have the proper "equipment."
That next Christmas, my parents bought me the musical score/soundtrack to the film and I listened to it so much I wore out the cassette! I loved everything about this film- the acting, the special effects which I thought were ahead of its time, the beautiful costumes designed by the late and very talented Eiko Ishioka, the set design with the lush and sometimes dreary Victorian era, the soundtrack which is in my opinion probably the BEST soundtrack I have ever heard- it was composed by the late Polish composer, Wojciech Kilar. Everything about this film was solid. Keau Reeves was given a hard time because everyone was used to seeing him as the dumb surfer type guy in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure", but I gave him props for trying something different. Reeves has gone on to have success in the "Matrix" trilogy, which is action/drama. He may not have been the perfect choice for the role of Jonathan Harker in Coppola's Dracula film, but I think he did pretty darn good considering he was still young and early on in his career.
The costumes. Oh my gosh, I drool to this day when I see any of them! The first gown I had made was a replica of Mina's "absinthe gown" which is an all red bustle/dinner gown. No one can wear it as beautifully as Winona Ryder though, such a beauty! And Lucy's wedding gown/and also her burial gown- it is so frightening and creepy, it's beautiful if that makes any sense! It's almost got a lizard-type quality to it and also with the white lace- it looks like a communion gown or something of the like. Here's a photo of Sadie Frost (Lucy) posing in the gown and then a photo of Mina's red absinthe gown-this photo is available in the "Coppola and Eiko on Bram Stoker's Dracula" book:
"Tu esti dragostea vietii mele....vietii mele." This is in the language of Romanian and was spoken by Prince Vlad (Dracula) to Mina Murray in the scene of their first encounter. It is set on the streets and shops of downtown London. It's one of my favorite scenes. It has my favorite musical number in it and Coppola went so far as to obtaining an old camera so filming the beginning would give it that very old, early teens look to it. It worked. It totally captured the moment. And hey, I learned a line in Romanian- how cool is that?! ;-)
I cry at the end of this film every time I see it. It never gets old. I now own it on blu ray that has all the special features such as the making of the film, the costumes, the sets, etc. Any vampire or Dracula fan should buy this! It's a must have, and very affordable. The other day I found this exact same copy that I have, in the five dollar bin at Walmart. :-)
That being said, I have collected some memorabilia over the years.
My parents bought me the soundtrack on cassette tape which I later picked up on CD.
I found this same tape on Amazon.com, however, there are currently no copies available on cassette:
I nabbed a semi rare Japanese press kit of the film on Ebay a couple years ago. It's a book with a couple photos I had never seen before, assuming they were promo shots. All the wording is in Japanese which I can't read, but it's great if your a die-hard fan like me. ;-)
I have pictures of this plus all my other Dracula items on my website:
I lucked out finding the large book called, "Coppola and Eiko on Bram Stoker's Dracula"
It's a large book (in paperback and hard cover) of many costumes that Eiko designed. There are pictures of the design sketches and also the real costume used in the film. I found this book on half.com for about ten dollars. Glad I grabbed it up because even the paperback version isn't that cheap anymore. Below is a picture of the cover (I own the paperback version) and below that is the link for this product for sale on Amazon.com~
~Instead of listing all the Dracula items I have, just visit my website and check it out! :-)
**I never got the CD score of this film and just found it at a local Savers store for a buck. Wooot!
**I never got the CD score of this film and just found it at a local Savers store for a buck. Wooot!
