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And now, back to our regularly scheduled program. Salutations! Welcome to Podmortem. I'm Travis Hunter Sayap and joined as always by my co-host, my sister and my brother-in-law. Hi, I'm Renee Hunter Vasquez. Hi, I'm John Paul Vasquez. This week, we're broadcasting live from a Transylvanian castle discussing the 1992 gothic horror film Bram Stoker's Dracula. This film was directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a screenplay by James V. Hart based upon the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.
Crafted at a difficult time in Coppola's career, the stars would seemingly align for the director to become involved in this meaningful project. Bram Stoker's Dracula offers not only a more faithful adaptation than previous films, but also forges its own path by incorporating elements of history and a romantic arc wholly original to the film. With a vivid visual style, captivating costume design, impressive special effects, memorable music cues and indelibly iconic imagery,
Bram Stoker's Dracula would not only prove to be a financial and critical success, but it forever remains a delightful feast for the senses. This film was recommended to us by friends of the show, Carissa, T.J. Bronson, We'd like to thank each and every one of them for their continued support of the show, as well as this suggestion. So... Bram Stoker's Dracula. What were your first impressions on the film? This was my first time watching this whole movie. I've seen...
Not even longer than maybe a minute or two of scenes from the movie here and there. I know the movie's a little on the older side, but it's not... too old to where I should have watched this movie before. But I somehow missed it and watching it. This movie is pretty cool. It looks stunning. There's a lot of stuff in here that looked really cool. I did enjoy... it more than I thought I would.
It was a very interesting take on Dracula because I know we're used to seeing the same kind of story told over and over again. And then when we did cover the original Dracula, some of the stuff in this movie is missing from that movie. one or the other um but but this was a pretty good little story on uh like a take on dracula no i agree i had never seen it before either which is odd i'd seen visuals from it
I was aware of the cast and I saw that Treehouse of Horror with Mr. Burns many, many times. It's the same thing. It's the exact same thing. So I guess I really have seen this before. Several times. Many, many, many times.
No, I think that it is a stunning film. I think that it's beautiful. I was really captivated by the makeup and the effects that they were able to achieve. I thought that... those aspects of it were really really cool I think that mostly I really liked the narrative there is some stuff later on that And the ending itself maybe was a little rushed for me for the runtime of the film. I feel like we were building up to something and then it's like, oh, oh, okay. And it's the credits. Okay.
But overall, I really liked it. There are some questionable accents. There are some moments that we were talking off mic that I don't think were meant to be funny, but were extremely funny. But I'm really glad that I finally seen this. I really did enjoy it. Like you said, John Paul, this kind of different telling of the story that we are all familiar with. And the music was really good as well. But the standouts for me really were the makeup and the costumes.
A lot of it is a bit over the top, which I also do appreciate. Yeah. But there were just moments of... confusion maybe for me of where our tone is but i think it was a really cool watch i would definitely watch it again um And some of those performances, Gary Oldman. Yes. My God. So much is asked of him in this and he is phenomenal. Yeah. So I was in the same boat as you two. I don't know how we all missed watching this growing up or throughout.
adulthood and adolescence. Yeah. But I watched this for the very first time in December. So just a couple months ago, me and Jules watched it together. Jules actually grew up with this film and it's one of their favorites from childhood. Okay. And so we watched it together. And I was just honestly just riveted by so much of what goes on their take on Dracula and the story. And we did talk a little bit off mic about how.
some things are much closer to the novel than they have been in previous adaptations. Right, right. But then there's a lot of places where they really just go their own way with it completely, even adding subplots that didn't even exist in the novel. Yeah.
But I do appreciate how much they do adhere to it. And I did want to make mention, of course, it was actually Jules' birthday last week, which is why I requested that we cover it on my next... episode that i got to write a script for yeah so yes uh happy birthday jules happy birthday i love you uh i really love a lot of what this film is and I really think that it has a lot to offer I found it so visually striking
There are a lot of impressive sequences, some that I did absolutely recognize from that Treehouse of Horror. Yeah, many. Yeah. And I didn't even realize, again, how much of this has been... embedded into pop culture in ways that are pretty fascinating. Yeah. But I think that the score, as you had said, is brilliant. There's some really amazing aesthetics and creative design choices, like the costumes, like the production designs and the sets.
I think that it's just a really incredible gothic horror film. And the cast is really fantastic. Yeah. Who they assembled. There are some, you know, dodgy accents, as you said. Yeah. One in particular coming from someone that I believe may be the nicest human being alive. Literally. The best, the best. Yeah. Like, I don't even want to say anything mean, but we have to be honest.
But I love Winona Ryder. I love what Anthony Hopkins does with the character of Van Helsing. Oh my God. It's interesting. It's so many choices. Yeah, it's so much fun. Yeah. And we get... a surprising casting for the character of renfield yeah i gasped when me and jules watched it for the first time yeah but i i just i think that a lot of it is really fantastic there are Some very much laugh out loud moments. There are some really funny moments regarding how there are just...
There's no awareness. None. On behalf of a certain character. And it gets to be hilarious at times. And maddening also. Both of those things. But I agree with you with what you had mentioned as far as the narrative is concerned. I really, really love romantic horror films. And I think that there are a lot of really, really good moments.
if you take them as moments romantically. But I don't know how well they reconcile with the narrative sometimes and also not enough build up in certain directions to where they are.
I guess, emotionally satisfying as a whole. Right. Okay. But they are resonant in pieces. Yeah, yeah. And I also, I was unaware of just how crucial and... remarkable the character of Mina Murray is in the novel and Jules told me all about Mina is one of Jules's favorite characters ever created okay and no adaptation has really done her justice including this one
unfortunately. So I think that that's one thing that is a bit of a setback that I would like for her to have a more active role in the plot like she does in the novel when you're going to call this Bram Stoker's Dracula. Yeah. And then you kind of not sideline her. but you do kind of take away some of her agency. Okay. But I think that as a whole, I will absolutely watch this film again. It is incredible.
as a visual treat, but also it is a fucking blast, I feel. Yeah. But before we dive into the plot... I would like to talk for a little while, not too long, about the production of this film. I got a lot of information from a director's commentary with Francis Ford Coppola, a featurette that was kind of a making of called The Blood is the Life. Okay.
I guess book that was kind of a collection of not only the script itself, but notes about the production. Okay. It was actually written by Francis Ford Coppola and James V. Hart. A featurette called Method and Madness. And lastly, as the last source, an article from Entertainment Weekly called Revamping Dracula, which is a fantastic title. Yeah. But amazingly. The story of this adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula actually begins in 1977. Oh, damn.
Screenwriter James V. Hart, who had grown up on Hammer horror films, vampires in exploitation films, and eventually Todd Browning's 1931 classic, realized only after he finally read the novel... that a true and proper adaptation of the source material had never really been made. So he immediately decided to take a crack at it himself and he enlisted the help of a guy called Leonard Wolf.
who was the head of the English department at San Francisco University at the time and had very extensive knowledge of vampire lore and psychology. Wolf was also born in Transylvania, which I guess probably didn't hurt. But they worked tirelessly together on this project, but their collaboration didn't lead to a completed work. But the idea and the dream of creating this adaptation never left Hart's mind. Okay.
Over the years, unfortunately, he would face rejection after rejection as he was trying to shop this idea around to write the screenplay. Okay. But he persevered. And finally, in 1990, 13 years later... producers Robert O'Connor and Michael Opted decide to finally give him the opportunity.
So Hart works tirelessly, crafting the script in the hopes to not only do Stoker's novel justice, but to also create what he called a sweeping gothic romance on a level no one has ever made or seen before, which is pretty bold. But he also, for the first time, wanted to incorporate the true historical story of Vlad Dracula that inspired Bram Stoker's original novel.
Which is an interesting detail because it does incorporate quite a bit of that history into the story. And there is a lot you can point to in this film that is historically accurate. But Hart completes the script and he gives it to the producers. And by the end of 1990, he receives a phone call from his agent with very incredible news. Not only are they going to make this screenplay into a feature film.
but it will be directed by Francis Ford Coppola. That's a lot. Yeah. So to understand Coppola's involvement in this film, we have to first understand where Coppola was in his career at this time. So after massive creative and financial successes in the 1970s with part one and two of The Godfather, as well as Apocalypse Now. Coppola took a major gamble in 1982 with a film called One from the Heart.
He mostly self-financed the $26 million budget of this film. And the film would go on to make $600,000 at the box office. Oh, my God. Wow. I said gamble. Yeah. You'll never see this. So it goes without saying that Coppola was ruined financially. Yeah. And so from that point forward, he had sought to make projects that were more commercially viable. so that he could kind of rebuild his career and pay his debts.
So one of the projects that he actually took on was a film that he never really wanted to make. The Godfather Part 3 in 1990. Okay. So he ended up making it and it was all financially motivated. And it ended up being a financial success, but it was mostly maligned by critics, partially due to a role that was recast in the film when the original actress who was meant to play this character fell ill. An actress...
By the name of Winona Ryder. Okay. I see what's happening here. So as chance would have it, it was Winona Ryder who found and fell in love with James V. Hart's screenplay. And she hoped to play the role of Mina Murray if the film was ever made. So she personally brought the script to Francis Ford Coppola. And he not only saw the commercial potential of it, but he was also really captivated by Hart's writing and his insistence to do Stoker's story and his characters justice. Okay.
I also read that Coppola had long adored the novel itself. And I think he was a drama counselor at a camp in the 1950s when he was younger. Okay. And he had said that he would read Bram Stoker's Dracula to the children there, which is... Oh! But he... That's a choice. Yeah. He would also read it to his children when he was older and he had said that he was always captivated by not only the story itself, but the historical implications.
That inspired Stoker. Yeah. And he said, and I quote, I always felt like this story belonged to me. Well. And in a bit of synchronicity, whenever Coppola first met with Hart, he learned that Hart had used the visual language and devices of Coppola's previous films to help him write. moments in his screenplay it was meant to be yeah yeah but Coppola sought to craft what he called a soulful movie filled with magic
Okay. Okay. Yeah. But he also wanted to not only incorporate traditions of early cinema, like in-camera tricks and special effects. which holy shit in this film, but he wanted to put an emphasis on art design to craft something visually striking and inimitable while also referencing classic moments from cinema and the horror genre as a whole.
Okay. He also includes a lot of direct homages to artworks that were created during the time that Stoker's novel was published. That is really cool. And I'll point some out along the way, but it's really, really incredible work. Okay. One note that I thought was really cool that he gave to the design team is he told them either give me something from your research or something from your nightmares. Okay. Yeah.
But very interestingly, after the film is made at the time, the industry was incredibly suspicious of all of these elements actually working properly together. And they predicted that the film would bomb at the box office. Huh? don't know where they got that yeah they could not have been more wrong the film not only opened at number one It made $215 million against a $40 million budget. Damn! It would also go on to win three out of the four Academy Awards that it was nominated for.
And it has become such a reference point in pop culture and the vampire subgenre as a whole. Yeah. Like that one Treehouse of Horror. Very important. They won for the accents, right? There were other things. Now, before we drink this film's blood, we would like to issue a warning for spoilers. Podmortem is a very in-depth podcast, and in thoroughly discussing horror films, we have no choice but to spoil a thing or two. If you don't wish to be spoiled...
Please go watch the film, then come back and enjoy the show. If you've already seen the film or don't care about spoilers, let's sink our fangs in. So the film begins with the plotting percussive pulse of a piano soon joined by the low sinister sawing of strings in the score. I hate to break already from the plot summary, but.
I have to talk about the music in this film. Okay. Yeah. Very interestingly, we've been covering the first season of American Horror Story over on Patreon. Mm-hmm. Show called PMTV. Yes. But this... main theme in Bram Stoker's Dracula is featured throughout that season. Yes, it is. As soon as it started, I was like, hold the fuck on. So the composer of this film was a Polish composer named Wojciech Kilar.
And he had been working in film composition since the 1950s. Oh, damn. I did not know this, but Coppola's father was a composer. And so he had always put a very... strong emphasis on music in his films. He had actually sought out another composer first after he had become aware of his music. I think he went to a concert of his. Okay. But that composer wasn't interested because of just the simple amount of time it takes to write.
music for anything really he was like one minute of music will take me weeks even and so he then became aware of Kilar's music and so after they had some discussions He eventually convinced him to join the film as the composer, but Kilar only wrote three music cues for the entire film. A romantic theme, a dramatic theme, and the main theme. And so Coppola was like...
you know, these are amazing. It's like the greatest thing I've ever heard. Yeah. But can we get variations on these? And Kilar went back to the drawing board and he was trying to get these variations, but for some reason they just never came together. So this was all that he received for the entire film. But the good news was that after they received everything.
they were able to limit which instruments you hear at certain times. Oh, so there is, it does vary. Exactly. So sometimes you'll just hear, you know, a violin when in the real recording, it's an entire orchestra. Yeah. Things like that. I was trying to think back. I was like, I feel like we hear more stuff. Yeah. And so it feels way more varied than it actually is. And fucking music composition is a ridiculous amount of effort.
stressful whenever you're not getting things to work right so I know that Kilar fucking worked his ass off yeah but I think that even with just these three cues they're able to do so much with it oh yeah But through a rising veil of smoke, we spy the high-arcing dome of a brilliant Byzantine structure, a massive and magnificent stone crucifix perched at its center. We press in on this cross until the haze of smoke obscures our view of it and we're plunged into blackness.
Regaining our sight, and in the orange light of fire, we watch as the towering cross tumbles from the top of the chapel to the brick floor below, breaking apart on impact, its shattered pieces encircled by a cloud of dust. But as we return to the exterior of the building, a narrator announces the year as 1462, the fall of Constantinople. The sun warmly surrounds the structure in a golden glow, the vacancy of the cross at the top of the dome now occupied by the carving of a crescent moon.
A weathered map interlays over the chapel, a fire raging beneath it, as we glide over the coast of the Black Sea, the shadow of the crescent moon growing large and menacing as it centers Transylvania between its pointed horns. The narrator continues that Muslim Turks swept into Europe with vast and superior force, striking at Romania and threatening all of Christendom. But an armored hand appears over the map.
a large broadsword in its clutches, as the narrator explains that from Transylvania arose a Romanian knight of the sacred order of the dragon known as Dracula. The sigil of this sacred order flashes in a flamed silhouette as the knight rises in the candlelit chambers of his castle. Dracula, played by Gary Oldman, turns to face us. the warrior clad in a striking red armor resembling smooth musculature. Gary Oldman. I know that we watched him in a movie some time back.
Tiptoes from O2. That was a film? Making that his first credit is diabolical. He was also in The Dark Knight. There you go. Lawless in 2012. And Oppenheimer in 2023. Ah, that's right. And he's serious black. Yes, he's serious black. You know, I think Nick Cave wrote Lawless, that film. Okay. What's that film where Gary Oldman is like, everyone!
Yeah, I can see it in my head. I love that line. He is great. He's really, really good in this film. Yeah. And I will say the moment that I saw this like flayed muscle. armor yeah i sat up a little straighter like it is i was like oh my god yeah i'm sure you recall a very similar design in a film called the cell yeah yeah And there's a reason for that? Correct. So the costume designer, Eiko Ishioka, also did the costumes for the cell.
okay which say what you want about the film and there is a lot to say about the film and we had a lot to say about the film the costumes are gorgeous yeah and the costumes in this film are gorgeous as well I watched a feature about the costumes and learned some really interesting things. When Coppola approached Ishioka, she was a little... reserved because she had never seen the original dracula and she thought she had never done this before this film she thought of herself as a
more of a production designer and by extension the costume so that the costume could tie in with the setting. Right. And he was like, no, no, no, you're doing costumes. He said in this film, the costumes are the sets and the sets are the lighting. He wanted the costumes always to be. the main focal point. And to the dismay of some of the makeup artists, but we'll talk about that a little bit later. He had first seen her work in Mishima.
And then she actually did the Japanese poster for Apocalypse Now. Oh, wow. Okay. And then when he saw her book, Eiko by Eiko, he was like, no, this has to be you. But she did an amazing job in that featurette. They showed Gary Oldman trying to walk around in this armor and it was falling apart because he said when he was talking on the thing and he said.
This costume was wearing me. He was like, I wasn't even wearing it. So he was getting a little bit frustrated because he didn't know how he could move. And so he would thrust his arm and a piece would fall off. And so they had to constantly have people on standby to like weld. his costume back on. It was the whole thing. But I mean, it looks incredible. It's so striking. And it's really one of the visuals that you carry with you.
after you've seen it. Yeah. And to start the film with it, it's like kind of setting the tone for what we're in for. Yeah. I really like the way it looks too. It reminded me of Lord Zed from Power Rangers. But that was 93, so it was the year after. Maybe they took it. Yeah, they were probably like, that's badass. It is pretty wild, though, because a lot of times if you think about it, you know, if you were to think of the armor that he would wear in a...
film like this. You would never think that. Not at all. And it's the same thing kind of throughout the entire film. If you were to think of arriving at Dracula's castle, how do you think it would look? He does not look anything like that. Not at all. And it's remarkable. I think it is. interesting too he's you know alive he's a man with a regular head and face and it looks like all the skin has been flayed from his body yeah so i feel like we're already kind of meditating on these themes of
life and death and somewhere in between. And it's just, it's really, really interesting. And also it kind of calls to mind some of the crimes that were historically perpetrated by Vlad the Impaler. Yeah, that's true. But a religious figure stands blurry behind Dracula in a shining robe, clutching his crucifix with worry etched in his eyes.
But Dracula is handed his helmet, an animalistic mask sculpted similarly to his suit of armor, with blackness behind its eyes and pointed spirals of ears on either side. It is meant to evoke a wolf? okay which is very interesting yes for later yeah i will say the people who did the storyboards they had a different drawing before eiko ishioka came on board and in a featurette they showed the drawing and it looked
It looked like a cross between a bear and maybe some kind of other animal that is not a wolf. An unidentified animal. But even they were disappointed with their own design because there was a sticky note on the thing that said, hey, boo-boo. So it's like, yeah, he does look like Yogi Bear. But Dracula accepts the helmet and we pull back to reveal the woman who gave it to him.
underneath her ornate crown and draped in a gorgeous green gown trimmed with golden leaves is elizabetta dracula's wife played by winona rider we talked about her on beetlejuice we did And she honestly is to thank for this entire film existing. Yeah. Thank you, Winona. But Dracula devours his dearest love with his eyes, stealing himself for the task ahead as Elizabetha meets his gaze.
The pair meet in a passionate kiss, Elizabetta clinging to Dracula's shoulder and tenderly caressing his face before he pulls away from her, marching toward his mission. She seizes his arm once more in desperation, kissing his hand as she pleads with him, but resolve rests rightfully in Dracula's eyes as he continues toward the door.
The narrator states that on the eve of the battle, Elisabetta, whom Dracula prized above all things on earth, knew that he must face an insurmountable force from which he might never return. Dracula then turns to face his tearful wife once more, kissing her goodbye with his fingers banked in her long black hair.
His men gathered outside, their muffled shouts sounding through the thick castle walls. Dracula bids Elisabetta a final farewell as he strides certainly to the castle's entrance. The large wooden door swings open. His army assembled under the scattered hues of the setting sun, their banners raised high in the colorful sky as Dracula joins them. Elisabetta is left behind, her hands clasped in prayer under her chin.
tears brimming in her eyes as she murmurs a mournful no. But on the battlefield, the score reaches a dramatic crescendo as fire rises high, engulfing the banners of the combatants. In silhouette, we watched Dracula, carved out of the light in his distinctive armor, charging toward the enemy. His sword slashes through the encroaching army as archers surround and support him, their arrows arcing upward and falling in a piercing rain upon their adversaries.
Through the clusters of conflict across the killing fields, Dracula seizes a long spear, lurching forward for its point to find a home in the gut of an enemy soldier. The soldier emits a high-pitched scream as his body goes limp at the edge of the spear, the camera pressing in on Dracula, who lifts the corpse with great effort higher into the air. His scream was a little funny, I must admit. But I've never been spirit in the gut. I don't know. No? Yeah.
But we pan across the battlefield, the enemy slaughtered and perched on pikes as far as the eye can see, their twisted bodies like trophies lining the entire area in silhouette as a triumphant Dracula tears his helmet from his head. So a lot of the visual effects in the film were actually created by Coppola's son, Roman Coppola. Okay. And this sequence was a necessity because as it turned out.
they at least Coppola thought he's like we're ahead of schedule we're under budget and he's just excited because of all the history of him going over budget he's actually doing what he's supposed to do right But the studio comes to him and they're like, hey, we realize that our accountants were wrong and you're over budget. It wasn't even his fault. It was not even his fault at all. And so that led to difficult choices having to be made, including.
restaging what this battle is. And so Roman basically created this sequence and told the story of the battle through silhouette with puppets and miniatures and... doing so in a way that they could afford with the new budget. Yeah, I'll be honest. I do enjoy this. I do like this silhouette fight and all that. I would have liked to see it happening.
I think it worked for me. I'm a sucker for puppets and miniatures. So maybe that's why too. But yeah, I think that it being a flashback, it is kind of like an abridged like. You're being told this story. That's what it felt like. Like we're not like on the battlefield. But the armor is cool. I want to see the armor. The armor is cool. The armor is cool. Yeah. It does. It takes on the feeling of a folk tale. It does. Yeah. You're like.
detached from it almost like you're being told that this happened. I still want to see the arm. But his face covered in sweat. Dracula drops to his knees, clutching a large golden crucifix on a chain as he proudly proclaims in Romanian, God be praised. I am victorious. He kisses the crucifix thoughtfully. But over his shoulder, a fleeting vision of Elisabetta appears, her lids lowering over her eyes as she slowly turns her head and fades away.
Dracula whispers the name of his bride into the ether, and we quickly cut to him riding his horse through a long valley of collected corpses under the light of the rising sun. But there, resting on the stone floor of his castle, is a scribbled letter attached to a long arrow, which the narrator explains was shot into the castle by vengeful Turks, which carried false news of Dracula's death.
We rise above this perjurous projectile to find the wide bell of Elizabeth's gown, planted solemnly at the sill of a high window inside the castle. Believing Dracula to be dead, Her arms raise slowly at either side as she falls from a great height, descending through the clouds and crashing into the water of the river below.
I know this is terrible. This looked amazing. Yes. I was like, God damn. He said, this is the beginning. Still, we're getting the whole backstory or whatever, but this looked. fucking cool i totally agree and it's so sad it is if i'm not mistaken i think i read that vlad the impaler's first wife died similarly damn very sad
But Dracula finally returns to his castle, distraught as the large doors yawn open for him. He stands frozen under the torchlight of his guards at the entrance, the sobering sight before him far too much for his heart to bear. We follow his stumbling steps in POV, gliding across the stone floor into an altar, where beneath two glowing candelabras and an ornately carved crucifix rests the lifeless body of Elisabetta.
gathered from her plunge into the river. Water pools around her from her soaking wet dress, and a choir of voices solemnly sing in the score, their voices echoing against the castle's walls. Dracula's breath escapes him, and he clatters to the floor at Elizabetha's side, and he gazes down at his lost love, her beautiful face bruised, and blood leaking from the lips that he only recently kissed goodbye.
But clutched in her hand, resting atop her torso and covered in crimson, is a letter written by her hand. A trio of clergymen stand over Dracula's shoulder, but one priest... played by Sir Anthony Hopkins, breaks from his brethren to ascend the altar, just as Dracula seizes the letter from Elisabetta. We all know him. We talked about him in Silence of the Lambs. Yes. I knew so much of the cast going into this. I did not know that Anthony Hopkins was in this. I was very excited to see him.
Yeah, I was very, very surprised. I was pretty shocked too the first time I watched it. Whenever you hear of this film, really the only thing that people talk about is, of course, Gary Oldman. Yeah. And somebody else who's fantastic as a human being. But... But not right. I will say I don't know why.
anthony hopkins is playing this character i don't even i was hoping that you had an answer and that maybe i was just dumb and i didn't get it because i swear to god we did see this exact priest earlier blurry in the background and i swear to god he was not playing
by anthony hopkins in that earlier scene so i don't know why they made the choice to put him here yeah i don't know unless it's supposed to also convey some kind of You know, honestly, it's actually not that bad with the way that this scene goes and who becomes Dracula's enemy. True. Okay. But I feel like it's still a bit much. Because never is he like, I was there too. That's not the story we're telling.
But Elisabetta's voice overlaps in Romanian and English in Dracula's mind as he reads the letter. My prince is dead. All is lost without him. May God unite us in heaven. sunlight glinting off the golden crosses on the staffs of the clergymen, Dracula crumbles into sobs. As he wails, the priest states sternly in Romanian that Elisabetta has taken her own life and that her soul cannot be saved. It's like, God damn, dude. Do we need to do this right now? Like what?
Why would you say that? Time and a place. Literally. He's like, by the way. Hold on real quick. Can I talk to you real quick? It's like, dude, they did the same thing in Constantine when she went to the. Yeah, you're right. Yeah, that's true. Let's not. Yeah. But as the shadow of his cross covers Elisabetha's serene face, the priest condemns her as damned, noting that it is God's law.
Fury finds Dracula, who rises to his feet with an impassioned howl. He tosses over a stone fountain which clatters to the floor, the water rushing from its basin and mixing with Elisabetta's blood. Dracula seethes. Is this my reward for defending God's church? The priest cowers from him back to the clergyman, denouncing Dracula's words as sacrilege, but Dracula pounds his chest furiously, screaming towards the heaven, I renounce God.
As the priest feverishly crosses himself and recites a prayer in Romanian, Dracula raspily declares that he shall rise from his own death to avenge Elizabetta's with all the powers of darkness. That was a quick turn. yeah and if he wanted to he would okay i was like okay you gotta respect if it ain't like this someone will But he lunges for the priest who holds up his crucifix defensively, but Dracula seizes his wrists, crunching them in his grasp and tossing the holy man to the floor.
As the clergymen creep backward from him, Dracula unsheathes his long sword, traipsing back to the altar to pierce its sharp blade into the center of the large stone cross. Surprisingly, Blood pours from it, and from the eyes of the etched angels in the ornate castle walls, as well as from the wax of surrounding candles. In his red-gloved hands, Dracula cups a golden chalice, collecting the crimson liquid leaking from the wounded cross. He announces, the blood is the life, and it shall be mine.
Tears stream down Dracula's weary face as he raises the chalice to his lips, a chilling chorus chanting lowly while he drinks every drop. Blood pools around the body of Elisabetta as a sinister spring gushes gallons from the center of the cross, and Dracula backs away from the altar. Overtaken by grief, a scream bellows from deep within him.
evolving into a monstrous roar as he falls to his knees. But carved in stone, in the flickering light of a fire, and accompanied by a harrowing harmony of voices, as well as dramatic swelling in the score, We get the title, Bram Stoker's Dracula. What an opening. Yeah, my note is that I'm hard-pressed to think of an opening as dramatic as this off the top of my head. Frankly. But it tells us everything we need to know. It catches us up to where we are when our story begins. Yeah.
But God damn, that was a lot. Yeah, there's a rock that's alive. Apparently for whatever reason. I don't understand that, but... It made the angels cry. Yeah, they were sad. Sad about it, yeah. They were very upset. I was just... so shocked by the visuals of it because i did not expect i you know you understand the symbolism of him stabbing the cross right right but i guess from
What I've read, this is the symbolism of him making this dark deal with the devil. Okay. And so the blood that gushes forth is what turns him into what he becomes. All right, all right. But I've never seen it done this way. Yeah. And it was just a really remarkable thing. And we are bringing together history and this fiction in a really interesting way. But we fade to the fog covered skyline of London in the year 1897.
Four centuries later. I was like, God damn. Yeah. Small specks of light dot the crowded city streets beneath towering structures as a church bell chimes in the distance. But we soon find a creaking lantern swinging just outside of the walls of the Carfax District Lunatic Asylum before we're promptly taken inside of a padded cell. We peer down. at R.M. Renfield, played by Tom Waits, who sits disheveled under the blue light of the evening peeking through his window.
Tom Waits. Yeah. I was so shocked. Very surprising. One of my favorite singer-songwriters. Yeah. I know this man from another movie because I was like, he looks familiar. Of course I know the name, you know what I mean? But I'm not very familiar with a lot of his music. Uh-huh. But I remember him being in Mystery Men from 99. Mystery Men. That's right. He also had a part in The Outsiders from 83. The Outsiders was Coppola. Okay.
That's great. It is. I was so thrilled to see Renfield. Everybody knows I'm a big Renfield fan. Hopefully we get to see more of them. Yes. It was funny. I saw in... coppola's notes where he was kind of making notes in his own script i guess yeah but he had put I want to cast Tom Waits as Renfield, and I don't care who knows him. To me, it works. His voice and his rasp. He's great. Yes. His performance is honestly fantastic.
One thing, and I know I keep sidetracking, but Coppola had said whenever they first did the TV edits for Bram Stoker's Dracula, every scene featuring Renfield was cut for time. What? What? And it infuriated him because of the importance of Renfield to the story. Yeah. But they're just trying to fit the time slot, and it's a terrible decision. Yeah. Yeah, it's really annoying. But gazing up at the ceiling through his rounded glasses, Renfield rasps, I've done everything that you asked, master.
He rises up to his feet as flies buzz around him, assuring his unseen superior that all the preparations are in order, everything, and that he awaits his master's command. As he reaches his filthy fingers toward the camera to pluck something from the ceiling, Renfield acknowledges that he's well aware that when rewards are given, he will be one of those who benefits from the master's generosity.
Buzzing grows louder as Renfield shovels a few flies into his mouth with a crunch sinking down to the floor and expressing his gratitude. When I saw those things on his hands, like the metal spokes or whatever, I was like, oh, that's what they were doing with Smithers. Oh, yeah. I completely forgot. When I was a kid, I was like, what the hell is that? But the following morning in a law office in the city.
Flanked on either side of him by well-stocked bookshelves stands Mr. Hawkins, played by Jay Robinson. Across from him, on the other side of his desk, sits the fastidious John Harker, played by Keanu Reeves. My boy. We love Keanu. We do. We do. We talked about him in Constantine. Indeed. Yeah. I read an interview with an actor. Okay. Who was approached by Coppola to play Jonathan Harker. But he said...
If I'm not, if it's Dracula and I'm not playing Dracula, then what's the point? So he said no. It was Christian Slater. What the hell? I would love to see a version of this with Christian Slater. I like Christian Slater. I do too. I feel like this would be a completely different character. I'm disappointed by what he said. Yeah. I would play Jonathan Harker in a heartbeat. Yeah. In a Harker beat. Yeah.
I think he'd be the only one just speaking as himself. Something feels wrong. He wouldn't even attempt it. No. That would be hilarious. Lamenting the madness of their colleague Renfield Hawkins tasks Jonathan with taking over Renfield's foreign client the rather eccentric Count Dracula who's buying up property around London. Jonathan accepts this assignment, thanking Hawkins for his confidence in him. And Hawkins deems this a once in a lifetime opportunity for Jonathan.
But as he hands him a folder of documents neatly tied together with a beige ribbon, Hawkins suggests for him to leave for Transylvania immediately. Jonathan agrees, but asks permission to inquire exactly what did happen to Mr. Renfield in Transylvania. Good question. Yeah. Hawkins, clearly hiding something, says that it was nothing. Nothing. Just personal problems. I will say he did begin this scene literally saying Renfield is deranged. Yeah. He sure did. But he's like, that's no big deal.
But Hawkins is far more focused on the transaction with the Count, assuring Jonathan that if he's able to close the deal, he'll secure his future with the firm. Jonathan promises his full attention on the matter. But we abruptly cut to Jonathan, who sits in the garden at Hillingham Estate, speaking to Mina Murray, his betrothed played by Winona Ryder. I'm certain that this likeness to a certain historical figure.
Won't be a problem. Yeah, not at all. But as soon as you see her, you're like, oh. We're doing that. But having already broken the news of his departure to Mina. She remarks reluctantly that they've already waited this long for their marriage. Jonathan understands, venturing that they can be married whenever he returns.
Mina acquiesces solemnly, and Jonathan vows to right her while he's away. But clutching the silk skirt of her sage-green gown, Mina guides Jonathan away from the fountain in the sprawling garden and underneath a foliage-covered archway. as she confesses her love for him. Jonathan returns her romantic words, sealing them with a kiss, and they take a seat together on a stone bench, their kisses growing ever deeper. Peacock feathers fan freely over the scene obscuring our view of the couple.
but through one of the blue-patterned eyes on one of the feathers, we match-cut marvelously through the exit of a tunnel, gliding over train tracks as a steam whistle howls sharply. this transition was gorgeous yeah it was funny to me at first because the peacock was like nothing to see here just the way that it like shrouded them was really funny but he's into modesty yeah it was funny but i thought it was really cool there's a lot of moments like this. Yeah.
They talked about how much time it takes to execute something like this. And they really do. It's almost, I don't want to say nearly every, but it happens so frequently that it becomes almost like a motif. Yeah. But under orange sunlight, we continue down the tracks, with a shot of Jonathan resting comfortably in the train's cabin interlaying over our rickety ride as he reads an entry from his journal, his cursive writing lining the page.
If I'm remembering correctly, isn't the... novel mostly like journal entries and letters and stuff yeah it's like a collection and it's different characters yeah different things i thought that that was a pretty cool nod to the source material yeah because we do get diary entries kind of throughout for a while. As steam rises high from the locomotive silhouetted against the sun, Jonathan recounts 25th of May, Budapest.
As Jonathan continues writing, we get somewhat unnecessary on-screen text reading. Jonathan Harker's Journal, May 25th. Okay, thank you. But Jonathan's narration continues that he left Budapest early this morning, and the impression that he had as he did was that he was leaving the West and entering the East. He notes that the district he's to enter is in the extreme east of the country, just on the border of three states, Transylvania, Moldavia, and Bukovina.
Nestled in the midst of the Carpathian Mountains, one of the wildest and least known portions of Europe. Jonathan consults a map of the region, an otherworldly purple glowing brightly over his destination, but he sets the map down to retrieve a folded letter, the red wax seal already broken from an earlier reading.
The harsh writing at the letter's center is read by the deep voice of the count himself, his thick Romanian accent intoning, My friend, welcome to the Carpathians. I am anxiously expecting you. Suddenly, the lights in Jonathan's car begin to dim, and through the large window to his left, two large unblinking eyes appear eerily over the peaks of the mountain range.
They're irises the same shade of violet that appeared on Jonathan's map. Dracula informs Jonathan that his carriage will await him at Borgo Pass and bring him to the castle. He ends his letter with pleasantries, hopeful that Jonathan will enjoy his stay in this beautiful land, and signing off, your friend. D. Not D. Yeah, hold on, hold on. Why'd you sign it that way and why'd you make it a big D? What the fuck are you trying, what is that? I laughed out loud.
Firstly, he's too cool for school. Yeah, clearly. He's trying to establish dominance. That's what the D stands for. He's for dominance. I will say, very hilariously, Coppola wanted to call this film D, period. And he said, we eventually decided against that. Yeah, we went for a super long title instead of a super short title. And I will say, this scene was necessary.
It's funny to me. We talked about this and we covered the original that it always comes back to real estate in the story, which is hilarious. But I am a little bit annoyed that you didn't tell us this was a Giallo film. All right. I just had to voice that because I was a little frustrated. There are colors. I was intentionally keeping it from both of you.
Because I can't do it anymore. This whole scene was red. Doesn't matter. One thing that I will say that was very interesting. All of the visual effects that we see here interlaid. visuals of the map you see dracula's eyes in the mountains yeah everything here was accomplished in camera Oh, damn. I love that. I read that Coppola was staunchly against digital effects. Yeah. He was not about it. He didn't want it. The things that they were able to accomplish, it's incredible.
learning that that's crazy you would think especially the map yeah like you just put that on in post-production yeah yeah but they projected it yeah it's just unbelievable that's cool But Jonathan retrieves a small pocketbook where inside he gazes upon a photograph of Mina. We then hear Mina in voiceover writing an entry into her journal on the same day.
We find her seated in front of her typewriter by lamplight as rain pours outside of her window. In her hand, she holds a framed photograph of Jonathan, admiring her lover, dressed dapper in black and white. I love that parallel. Yeah. Not only through going from journal to journal. Yeah. But they're both looking at pictures of each other. Yeah.
But Mina acknowledges that it's been a week since Jonathan has left, and though she was disappointed that they couldn't marry before his departure, she's happy that he was given such an important assignment. She sets his photograph down on her desk, smiling at it as she returns to the keys of her typewriter. She expresses her desire to hear all of Jonathan's news, remarking that it must be so nice to see strange countries. She wonders if she and Jonathan will ever see them together. And well...
A little foreshadowing? Yeah. Not in the way you hoped, I'm sure. It's a monkey's paw kind of a thing. But at a Dutch angle and under a blue starlit sky. The golden light of a four-horse carriage is carved out of the darkness. Two uncredited stagecoach drivers guide their horses to a stop at Borgo Pass as lightning strikes and thunder rumbles around them.
Through skeletal trees, we spy the carriage door swinging open, and out steps Jonathan. He alerts the driver that they must be early, as no one is here to collect him as the letter promised. But inside the carriage, another passenger, played by Tatiana von Furstenberg, reaches for Jonathan's gloved hand, placing a crucifix necklace into his palm. She remarks in Romanian, For the dead travel fast. But before Jonathan can make heads or tails of it or ask a follow-up question,
An older woman, played by Nancy Linehan Charles, reaches for the carriage door wearing a mask of metallic coins, which jingle rhythmically as she pulls it closed. Again, with the very interesting costume designs. Yeah. But I don't like that at all. No. Why are you guys in a hurry to get out of here? Yeah. Can somebody sit with me? No, a big hurry. Like, it's concerning. Yeah. And so much to part with across. They're like, you're going to need this. Yeah.
But Jonathan stands puzzled, looking left and right for an approaching carriage as the one he just stepped off of pulls away swiftly, leaving him all alone. Clutching his briefcase with his belongings at his feet, Jonathan spies something quite troubling in a flash of lightning. Nailed to a wooden post just above him in seeming crucifixion is the decaying body of a wolf, its face forever frozen in a snarl.
Let me out. Let me out. Let me out. That's going to be a fucking problem. Yes. Run to catch that. What are you doing? Even worse, nearby, a pack of wolves gather on a ridge overlooking Jonathan. They're howling and growling, echoing through the evening. And just as fear begins to find him, Jonathan is promptly joined by the promised carriage. And fear took its time. Jonathan, wake up!
Riding through a thick fog are four black horses held tightly by a stagecoach driver who sits completely hidden within his dark coat, his face a shadow beneath his shining helmet. The helmet looks almost bird-like or a beak, but it also is kind of xenomorph-y. Okay. Yeah. And this is definitely somebody else. This is not the count. No. We continue. With a trilling rasp emanating from his throat.
The driver reaches his long pointed fingers to Jonathan's shoulder, his arm stretching almost impossibly to guide Jonathan inside of the carriage. He like... I don't know. It's like he lifts him and it's like this smooth glide. Yeah. It's very fucking surreal and creepy as hell. There are a lot of moments like this where it's a lot of, again, things accomplished in camera that are just...
Just eerie enough. And they're just so quick. Like, I feel like we... there are so many visuals i'm thinking of one right now where we see somebody with their head like sticking out of the ground and looking up and it was genuinely chilling to me and then we're like we're moving on yeah like we barely get time to even process what the fuck we just saw and then it's like we're on to the next thing
But we follow Jonathan inside who seemed to levitate under the guiding hand of the phantom stranger as he takes his seat and the carriage door closes behind him. Jonathan. Yeah. Yeah. he's like what a nice fella just no you have nothing to say no how'd you do that no he acts like they just opened the door for him yeah that's the other thing is they
kind of take off immediately and nobody ever put his belongings on the thing. We never saw that, but he does have his belongings. That's true. And Jonathan's just like, yeah, cool. Like there's no, there's no reason to be worried at all. He's just thinking 100 bottles of beer. But the driver whips the horses and the carriage takes off down the path.
But Jonathan peers through his window, watching as the pack of wolves gather outside, following the carriage through barren trees. Not at all bothered or worried. Or possibly just playing it super cool. I don't know. Beyond cool. I gotta make this sale. Jonathan leans his head out of the window to call out to the driver, asking how far it is until they reach the castle. Are we there yet? It's a wild thing to do.
But Jonathan makes the rookie mistake of looking down. Just as the carriage rides dangerously close to the edge of a cliff, its thin wheel breaking off bits of rock that tumble a steep drop to the winding valley below. Thanks. I hate it. Jonathan promptly closes his window and returns to his seat. Good call. Yeah.
But we see in a wide shot as the precarious path taken by the stagecoach driver curves around a bin, and off in the distance, Count Dracula's castle looms large over the Carpathian Mountains. Did that castle look like someone sitting on a throne to anybody else? Yes, it did. It was so eerie to me. It looked so cool. That was the exact intention. Really? Yeah, it's a reference to a painting called The Black Idol from 1903 by Frantisek Kupka. And I guess what had happened was...
Coppola had found this book called Dreamers of Decadence, and it is a collection of works by symbolist painters from, I believe, the 1890s and on. Okay. And a lot of these works, of course, the 1890s is around the era. And so a lot of the works that he found, he would send to the art department and say, you know, can we do this to kind of look.
Similar to this painting. Can we evoke the ideas in this painting? But the Black Idol, it literally appears as a person sitting in this large chair. That's what it looks like. Like a king on a throne. And so he wanted the castle of Dracula to look just like it. Okay. Well, it came through because that's the first thing I thought. Something as well that's pretty incredible is the path that they are on as the carriage continues. It is...
in a studio, of course, but everything else around it is a glass painting, a matte painting. Oh, okay. I don't think... that i clocked that at all no i think that i did see a couple matte paintings like throughout the film but this was not one of them at all no but as they properly reach the count's property Bright blue flames pulse and rise on the path before them.
Jonathan eyes them curiously, leaning his head out of the window to observe them, but the carriage continues onward through the massive iron gates leading into Dracula's castle, which close behind the carriage like sharp teeth. Jonathan. We're not scared. This is how I know he doesn't have any damn sense. No. And this just continues. Well, but I thought that was a save point. Go back, go back. Yeah, what was that? You and you really should have used it for what's coming next.
He's really gonna be kicking himself later. But Jonathan exits the carriage with his belongings as the driver rides away. But Jonathan stands alone in the sizable courtyard, surrounded by the light of torches that line the walls. He peers up at the towering brick structure before him before climbing the staircase to reach the front entrance, the front gates of which yawn open for him all on their own.
In the foyer of the castle, a small fire rages above in a circular chandelier, and Jonathan watches as one of the shadows cast from the light of it takes the menacing shape of a man. strings whining in the score as the shadow's arms stretch outward as if to seize its prey. But as we pan across the room to follow its hunt, the shadow relents, falling inanimate against the wall. to take the rightful shape of its owner. Before Jonathan stands Count Dracula.
holding a small lantern in the red arm of his robe, illuminating his wrinkled face that rests beneath the parted swirls of his white heart-shaped hair. I truly can't express How much I love everything that happens with the shadow. Yes. I can't get enough of it. It's incredible. I just love how once again. Jonathan is the coolest of cucumbers. Yeah. There is no way that I could see this and continue with my assignment. No.
I read this really great interview that V Neal did with Greg Canem, who did makeup on the film. I read it in Fangoria. His filmography is staggering. I just wanted to name a few. Exorcist 3. All right. The Mask. Just to span. Just to span genres. That was a jump. That was a jump. Mrs. Doubtfire. Dream Warriors. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The Howling. Cocoon. Watchmen. Exorcism of Emily Rose. Blade.
Hannibal. He even worked on the Thriller music video. Oh, wow. And perhaps the crowning jewel of his filmography, Thinner. Okay. We've talked about him a lot on this show. I expected a big reaction from dinner, but I guess y'all are just sick of it. Cocoon, you said. Yeah. Dream warriors. I love that flick. No but it was a very informative interview that they did.
And he talked about kind of all because we see some different looks in this film. And he talked about this old age makeup that they did. He said that he had done an old age sculpt that he loved. But when he looked at it, it looked nothing like Gary Oldman. He still wanted to be able to see Gary Oldman. So he got a life cast of Gary Oldman's face and started inspecting from all angles with the flashlight.
He says we all have minuscule lines that are going to deepen once we get older, no matter how young you are. And so when he is looking for these lines, he can kind of guess. what we're going to look like when we get older. And so using a flashlight, he did that with the sculpt that he did from the life cast of Gary Oldman and was just drawing on these lines, making them deeper with a pencil. And so he said that this film really taught him how to do old age sculpts better than he could before.
But he did the sculpt for this look of Dracula with Mitch Devane, who did sculpting work on The Walking Dead, Planet of the Apes, Men in Black, Sin City, Cursed, and also Exorcist 3. Goddamn. just to name a few things. The people that did the sculpting, the effects, it is, they're so fucking talented and it shows. And there really are just so many different makeups that I had not anticipated. No. Not at all. Not at all. And they won the Academy Award. Yes. It looks great. Yes.
But this was another change that I had seen that Eiko Ishioka... really championed because she had thought you know we have already seen so many suave draculas so many draculas that are literally exactly what you would expect him to be right She wanted to move away from Bela Lugosi and give something really new and interesting. Yeah. And when you see his hair, when you see his long red robe.
that travels seemingly miles behind him. Yeah. It lends to this real feeling of just eeriness. I'm going to channel that too when I'm walking around the house in my blanket later. But I was surprised too because he turned. around and I didn't know there was like this long braid behind his little space bun situation and I read that it was historically accurate to hair at the at his time oh yeah
Okay. And that is interesting. I do like it because for me, I do like the suave Dracula. But this is four centuries. Yes. I mean. That's Dracula. True. And oddly in this film, we get the best of both worlds. We really do. But with a grin, Dracula welcomes Jonathan to his home. Greeting. Enter freely of your own will and leave some of the happiness you bring. Jonathan recognizes him as Count Dracula.
And as a hellish harmony of voices overlap, some seemingly in reverse, the Count confirms, I am Dracula. So I did have a question. Is he having to invite him in? Like you have to invite a vampire into your house? I wondered the same thing. So that is something that Coppola talked about. Okay. As far as the way that we have.
seen the myth always is that yeah like you said of it being the opposite right but it's almost as if he's inviting jonathan inside to do all of the things that he will do yeah And so he had compared it oddly to the mafia, Coppola did, where he had said that if you allow these kinds of connections to be formed on behalf of the person who means you harm.
that is how kind of it works. Okay. And he said, that's why whenever he made the Godfather, he never accepted any invitations. He never went to any dinners invited of him. He never went to any restaurants owned by people who might be connected to, it was like that. And so he kind of put Dracula in the mind of how he felt of mafia figures. Okay. That's interesting. Yeah. But Dracula bids Jonathan welcome again, this time by name, and he invites him to come inside.
A low hum rumbles as Jonathan takes his first step across the threshold and into Dracula's castle. Dracula leads Jonathan through the halls of his home, his long robe trailing across the floor behind him. But we fade to sometime later that evening in the castle's dining room. where beneath the watchful eye of a golden framed portrait featuring a bearded man with long brown hair, suspiciously cloaked in the same color as Count Dracula.
Jonathan sits at the head of a long stone table. And I want to point out this room is... fucking frightening yeah yes there are a lot of sculptures here and there and it seems to be at least from my eye of different time periods yeah and different origins But there is like a large face over Jonathan's shoulder, like the sculpture, the size of like five people. And it's just a big head. It reminded me of Silent Hill.
Okay. Specifically, Silent Hill 4, the room? Right, of course. But Dracula pours Jonathan a drink, hoping that he'll excuse the Count for not joining him for dinner, as he has already dined. He adds that also he never drinks wine. Why did you pause like that? Why did you pause like that? This is a great question. Jonathan doesn't care. Jonathan's like, oh, okay, that's fine. More for me? That's fantastic. But with a roasted chicken parked in front of Jonathan.
He appears eager to eat, but he pauses for a moment when he notices the framed painting on the wall. He inquires if it's an ancestor, as he sees a resemblance, and the count answers. The Order of the Dracul, the Dragon. He explains that it's an ancient society, pledging his forefathers to defend the church against all enemies of Christ.
As he rises from his seat to admire the painting, Dracula admits with a sigh and a small smirk that that relationship was not entirely successful. Jonathan digs into his food. politely chuckling and understanding. But suddenly... Dracula seizes a broad sword from the wall beneath the painting, whipping it around his head in a roar to point it directly at Jonathan's face as he seethes that it is no laughing matter.
Okay. Sorry. Okay. Yeah, I was just trying to fit in. Yeah. You joked. Yeah. I was just trying to make you feel good. Only I may dance. It's like laughing is for me only. The Count defends that the Draculs have a right to be proud, pleading to know what devil or witch was ever so great as Attila, whose blood flows through his veins. Sinister strings rise around his words as he points the blade even closer to Jonathan, adding that blood is too precious a thing in these times.
He drags the sharp sword across the palm of his hand, chuckling as he acknowledges that the warlike days are over and the victories of his great race are but a tale to be told. He tosses the sword to the table, lamenting woefully that he is the last of his kind. Jonathan rises from his seat, apologizing for causing offense with his ignorance, and asks the count to forgive him.
But he's just like, hey, dude, like, my bad. Like, it's so like you had a sword pointed at your face. Yeah. And you really didn't do anything. Just trying to be polite. Yeah. I read, too, in that interview that when they're sitting at the table, because Gary Oldman already has prosthetic fingers because they're so long and frightening, but that he had a fake arm.
while they're sitting at the table so that every time he moved it, the fingers would visually elongate. Oh, wow. And kind of just make it look a little more disturbing, maybe in a way you can't quite. like identify yeah but yeah his hands are terrifying no they are I will say, I already know that he was the stagecoach driver. But I don't really, we see later other people who may be in this castle.
But I think it's pretty sweet that he did cook Jonathan dinner. He did. He did. He did almost stab him while he was eating it. But he's a great host. Yeah. Good cook. Yeah. Good cook. Yes. Good cook. But we crossfade to find Jonathan seated at a desk, seemingly in an office within the walls of Dracula's castle. After a shot of Jonathan's opened pocketbook with Mina's picture inside, we watched Dracula stamp his official seal into the wet wax at the bottom of the real estate documents.
Jonathan holds the sealing wax over the burning wick of a candle, and Dracula stands at the edge of the desk, his shadow cast against a large map of London that covers the wall behind Jonathan. But with his every movement... His shadow offers a delayed echo, never quite matching Dracula's gestures. I read that this took forever to accomplish. Okay. And what they did is they had Gary Oldman standing there doing everything he is in this scene.
But through light and projection, another man. Get out of here. Yes. In the same costume as Gary Oldman would perform his gestures at a delay. And they rehearsed for forever. And the man I think Coppola said was an expert mime. Okay. But he is the one doing all of the shadow movements even when they do line up. Okay. Oh my God. I think my shadow is the favorite character. That is incredible. Yeah.
But the Count expresses his excitement to walk through the crowded streets of London, to be in the midst of the whirl and rush of humanity, to share its life, its changes, its death. We press in on Jonathan, and as he finishes up with the documents, Dracula steps away to the left, his shadow still looming large over Jonathan's shoulder as he rises from his seat.
He proudly announces that Dracula is now the owner of Carfax Abbey at Perfleet. But he appears puzzled as Dracula's shadow rests against the wall, cast from the light at the left. But the count himself seems to materialize next to Jonathan on his right. Jonathan, please. He's just like, hey. I was just talking to you. Oh, there's two of you. Cool, cool. What the hell? Not commenting on this at all. Jonathan instead congratulates Dracula on his purchase. Always be closing.
But his eyes are transfixed on the Count, as Dracula bears his long-fingered hands to him, his palms covered in wisps of white hair. The castle's a lonely place. So it's true. I will say, if I'm not mistaken, this is something taken from the novel. Okay. So it's an interesting thing to include small details like this. Yeah. But as Jonathan does his best to not appear distracted by his palms.
Dracula shares that Jonathan's firm writes very highly of his talents and that he is a man of good taste. He chuckles. oh now we like to laugh he looked so gleeful like he looked so happy He adds that they also mentioned that Jonathan is a worthy substitute to his predecessor, Mr. Renfield. We then press in on Renfield's Royal Society of Solicitors membership card, which rests pinned to Dracula's map of London. That's like a license?
If I'm Jonathan, I would be a little concerned by that. Yeah. My boss didn't fucking tell me anything about what happened to Renfield and you're holding on to his license. Yeah. What's that about? Jonathan is stuck in affable mode. He can't even cross over to... hey so what did happen when he was here yeah because ever since he got back to london he ain't been doing so hot like nothing well couldn't be me that's all i'm saying no But Jonathan just assures Dracula that he can rely on him.
He redirects his focus to the map of London, where black X's and red squares mark several spots around the city, and it inspires Jonathan to question Dracula's interest in these 10 specific locations. But Dracula pays this question no mind as he stands trembling, overtaken by emotion, his eyes fixed forward as he earnestly asks, Do you believe in destiny?
that even the powers of time can be altered for a single purpose Dracula reaches his hand over the desk his shadow knocking over a decorative dragon-shaped inkwell as his long fingers reached for what so swiftly seized his attention, Jonathan's picture of Mina. Ink spilling across her image, Dracula gazes in wonder at her familiar face, remarking that the luckiest man who walks on this earth is the one who finds true love.
And he's correct. Yeah. But the score rises eerily and Jonathan failing to meet the moment smiles.
Oh, you found Mina. I thought she was lost. I don't know what that means. Read the room. Read the room. He's literally crying. Yes, he's very, very... wounded by something in the past yeah and he has found something in this picture yeah that has really struck him he's like oh the old ball and chain that's my old lady Mina he's just like it's like dude and I don't understand what the hell Jonathan's even saying I thought
She was lost. You set her down in front of you. There's been a lot going on. Okay. He's like, I don't know where anything's at. But he shares that he and Mina are to be married as soon as he returns to London. Dracula stands wounded by Jonathan's words as his shadow's arms stretch outward toward Jonathan, clutching him by the throat. But completely unaware of this, Jonathan asks Dracula if he is married. A tear breaking from his eye, Dracula reveals that he was married once. Ages ago, it seems.
but she died. Jonathan apologizes for his loss, but Dracula mutters that she was fortunate, as his life, at its best, is misery. He closes Jonathan's pocketbook, handing it back to him, and asserts that Mina, no doubt, will make a devoted wife, and Jonathan a faithful husband. But he invites Jonathan back to his seat at the desk, suggesting for him to write a letter to his firm and to any loved one and say that it will please him to stay with Dracula until a month from now.
it wouldn't though that wouldn't please me no and it's like any loved one maybe like oh what was her name yeah i can't remember but that would be great if you did jonathan wonders why dracula would wish for him to stay so long But the Count leans closer, baring his teeth as he snarls, I will take no refusal. He cackles, and as he turns away from Jonathan, he lifts the cape of his long robe like wings, his shadow mimicking his movements and dipping the entire room to darkness around Jonathan.
I want to start leaving the room like that. So, hey, did Renfield stay here for a month, too? Great question. I have questions. He's just like, write the letter. And he's like, do I have to? Yes. All right. You got it, boss. Yeah. Did you also turn into bats and leave for Renfield? Because I think that's what you did. Please give me all the details.
I will say that there was a moment when he's talking to Jonathan and he has Mina's picture and he's talking about it and the ink is dripping underneath her, like underneath her head. That looked really fucking cool. Yeah, it did. It really did. I wonder if it's almost like a callback to the river. Oh, okay. Yeah. But back in London, it is now the 30th of May.
and we follow the ribbon of Mina's typewriter as she returns to her diary. In voiceover, she shares that she knows Jonathan wouldn't want her staying with Lucy while he's away. As if she becomes accustomed to the wealth and privileges of the Westenra family, she would no longer be content as the wife of a mere clerk in a law firm. We press in through gorgeous glass walls leading into the brilliantly decorated and properly posh parlor where Mina sits at a desk at the far end of the room.
She continues in her defense that she and Lucy have been friends since childhood, and Lucy has never minded that Mina is only a schoolmistress. But Mina suddenly opens a copy of Arabian Nights by Richard F. Burton that rests in front of her, revealing a very graphic depiction of sexual intercourse. I laughed at the picture because their faces were like, don't be suspicious. Don't be suspicious. They were just like, we're not doing anything, even though everything's in plain view.
She admonishes the drawing as disgustingly awful, and yet she can't seem to look away. She only slams the book shut when Lucy Westenra, played by Sadie Frost, calls out to her from another room. Lucy is everything. Her character is a lot of fun. I will say Coppola had said that this book was from his personal library and it somehow disappeared. So let me check Lucy's back.
But in a lovely white gown, her radiant red hair swaying as she rushes past her maid, played by Laurie Franks, Lucy joins Mina in the parlor. She laments that Mina is always working and ponders if the ambitious Jonathan Harker is forcing her to learn this ridiculous machine. It's like it's a typewriter. Yeah. But as she rests on a chaise lounge, she suggests instead that Jonathan could be forcing her to perform unspeakable acts of desperate passion on the parlor floor.
Mina scolds Lucy for talking about Jonathan like this, noting that there's more to marriage than carnal pleasure. But as Mina rises from her chair, she accidentally knocks the copy of Arabian Nights onto the floor, the book tumbling open to yet another graphic drawing. The two women kneel to the floor together, Lucy teasing her friend that there is indeed much, much more. They open the book together, stumbling upon two separate drawings. of penetrative sex from behind.
It's all right, Mina. You were looking at it. It's okay. Yeah, she's like, oh, fuck. Lucy is rendered speechless, and with a sly smirk, Mina pressures her friend to explain what she sees. Mina turns the drawing sideways in curiosity, asking if a man and a woman can really do that. But Lucy confesses that she did only last night. Mina assumes Lucy to be lying, but she insists that she did only in her dreams. Mina laughs, but Lucy inquires if Jonathan measures up.
telling Mina that she can tell her. But Mina takes a seat next to her friend on the lounge, revealing that the pair have only kissed and that's all. She confides in Lucy that Jonathan thinks that he's too poor to marry her, and she admits that it's all the worse that she's here visiting Lucy at Hillingham. She calls Lucy her rich friend, and Lucy accepts this label, but adds that she hasn't received even one marriage proposal. She jokes, here I am, almost 20.
practically a hag, and the two women share a laugh. Ha ha ha. It's like 20, what? It was a different time. Wasn't life expectancy like 21? 23? Oh yeah. But to the soft, plucked strings of a harp, we returned to the Westinra Manor that evening, where from the parlor, Mina and Lucy, dressed in beautiful gowns for a social gathering, Peer across the populated room to find Quincy P. Morris, played by Billy Campbell. Billy Campbell. This guy looked familiar.
And I was like, man, I said, I know I know that guy somewhere. I didn't pay attention. Let it go through. Then looking it up for the show, he was the rocketeer. From 91. I was like, oh, yeah. I was like, that is him. He was also in Enough in 02. Is that Jennifer Lopez? Yes, yes, yes. Okay. He said, moving on. But we see Morris entering the home, announced properly by an uncredited butler as he stands in the foyer.
Smiling under his mustache with his large Stetson hat in hand and his boots firmly grounding his gait, Lucy gasps at him. Oh, look. When Mina hilariously asks her friend, What is that? Lucy answers, a Texan, noting that he's so young and fresh like a wild stallion between her legs. Mina scolds her friend with a surprised laugh, but Lucy retorts that she knows exactly what men want. And as she steps away from Mina and over toward Morris, she invites her friend to watch.
She greets Morris with an outstretched hand and in a thick Texan accent, Morris remarks that Lucy is as fresh as the spring rain and he gives her hand a kiss. Mina watches in shock as Lucy leans closer to Morris, her hands disappearing at his waist as she begs him to let her touch it, because it's so big.
But when her hands returned from their hiding place, Lucy has drawn a large blade from Morris's sheath. I was like, God damn. Yeah, I know. There's a lot of people here. That was very funny. Lucy has been horny on Maine since we met her. I really didn't know what to expect. This was genuinely funny. Mina laughs in relief as Morris whispers sweet nothings to Lucy, the pair reclining together on a nearby couch.
But through the windows, Dr. Jack Seward, played by Richard E. Grant, is welcomed inside the manor by the butler, and Lucy interrupts Morris, rising from her seat to greet the good doctor. Richard E. Grant? He was in Hudson Hawk in 91 and Logan in 2017. Oh, wow. Lucy dramatically announces oceans of love.
But before she can meet Seward with an embrace, he trips over the head of a bearskin rug clattering to the floor. The fall is hilarious. He eats. He fucking, there was nothing graceful about it. Mina does her best not to laugh, but she can't help herself as Lucy rushes to Seward's aid, helping him to the couch and stealing Morris's seat right from under him. He stands idly by as Lucy affectionately tends to Seward's wounded pride.
But through the windows, we see a carriage arrive in the courtyard, and the well-dressed Lord Arthur Holmwood, played by Cary Elwes, descends the steps, waving away the staff with a snobbish hand. We talked about him and saw. Indeed. And I mean, come on. He's Wesley. The choice is clear. Who am I picking? Clearly. I was so surprised to see him here. Yeah. Me too. Again, this cast is really, really incredible. Yeah.
But as he enters the room, he's promptly announced as Arthur Holmwood, Esquire. Lucy immediately ditches Seward and Morris to greet Holmwood warmly. Seward rises from the couch to stand next to a morose Morris returning his hat to him which Seward accidentally crunched under his ass when he took the seat on the couch This whole dynamic is a lot. It's really funny to me because it's not like Lucy is playing all these dudes. They're all here. They're all watching her.
Be like, oh, the next one's here and ditch him and then go. It's really, really funny to me. As Mina watches her friend entertain all three men at once, her voiceover explains that Lucy is a pure and virtuous girl, but she must admit that her free way of speaking shocks her sometimes. She says that Jonathan considers it a defect of the aristocracy that they say what they please, but Mina says that the truth is she admires Lucy, and she doesn't find it at all surprising that men flock around her.
Mina laments that she isn't as pretty or adored as Lucy. But suddenly, a dark shadow is cast over Lucy and her three suitors in the shape of a caped man. It travels across the wall and over to Mina, where its sharp fingers reach for her slender throat, and she seems to fearfully take notice. But later, in his office at the Carfax Asylum, Dr. Seward records an entry in his diary on a phonograph cylinder.
As it spins and a spider crawls across his desk, Seward ponders what manner of man is R.M. Renfield, formerly a successful solicitor in the firm of Hawkins and Tompkins, a respect... member of Lord Nugent's Wyndham Club. But after returning from business abroad in Transylvania, he promptly suffered a complete mental breakdown and is now obsessed with some bloodlust. I will say Seward's diary entry is the 30th of May, which is the same night as his party.
So he was busy. He was busy. He still made time to go see Lucy. Yeah, he goes, sees her, he falls on his ass, and then he's like, I gotta go. I gotta go. I gotta get back to her. Thanks for having me.
But Seward exits his glass-walled office, crossing across a populated common area, and passing a pair of guards with protective square cages resting over their faces, he reaches Renfield's padded cell, and one of the guards unlocks the door for him this design it reminded me a lot of the jackal that was my note yeah right yeah i do wonder if that took inspiration from this okay could be i know
ishioka designed these costumes of course and coppola had said that he could only assume that it was a form of protection against the patients in the yeah asylum yeah but it's just such a again every Design choice she made was just so interesting and striking. Yeah, it did when I first seen it and we first entered this room where we kind of see what's going on. I was like, okay.
So are the cages the patients or is it a second and then seeing them the way they were walking around and handling other people? I was like, oh, no, that's for you. I thought they were patients, too. Me, too. And you talking about her. design with everybody's costume she designed renfield's outfit that he's wearing in the cell to make him look like a bug oh that's cool yeah We find Renfield kneeling at his window under the light of the moon and draped in a long black coat.
He turns to face Seward, playing the gracious host, asking him if he would care for an hors d'oeuvre or a canapé. We press in on a small metal plate of bugs and worms clutched in Renfield's hand, and Seward politely declines the offer. Yeah, and we need to get an exterminator in here, Steph. Honestly, if you have this much- This is a big problem. Yeah, where'd all those come from? This is a big problem. Seward asks his patient how he's feeling tonight, and Renfield retorts,
Far better than you, my lovesick doctor. It's like, God damn. He got his number on that one. Seward wonders if his personal life interests Renfield, and Renfield answers that all life interests him. As Renfield returns to his plate of bugs, Seward admonishes his diet as disgusting. But Renfield disagrees, and he says that his diet is perfectly nutritious.
In tight shots, the creepy crawling confections mix and mingle under Renfield's watchful eye as he explains that it's life that he ingests which gives life back to him. He slurps up a small worm. suggesting that Seward might as well ask a man to eat molecules with a pair of chopsticks than to interest him in a lesser carnivore. As Renfield returns to the window, Seward insists that he just might have to invent a new class of lunatic just for him.
He recounts Renfield's diet of flies, of spiders who eat the flies, and of sparrows, or perhaps something larger. The delightful chirping of a bird catches Renfield's attention as it flutters around his cell. But at Seward's question of something larger, Renfield lowers himself to his knees, begging Seward for a kitten. A sleek, playful kitten that he could teach and feed. He's certain that no one could refuse him a kitten. Hold up, hold up, hold up. I am usually staunchly pro-eating cats.
But this is not what I meant. All right. None of this. Don't let a kid anywhere. I was confused because it sounds like I'm pretty sure he's going to eat the cat. Yes.
that he's asking for, but... then he's like i'm gonna teach it and i want to love it and it's like no i don't believe you it is funny that he's lying yeah well he's got to get and he's like no one could refuse yes i can everyone will Seward wonders if Renfield would prefer a cat instead of a kitten, which inspires an excited gasp as Renfield rasps, oh yes, a big cat. and he's sure that his salvation depends on it. Don't put that on Seward. No! He's been through enough tonight, by the way.
But the term salvation piques Seward's interests, and Renfield explains that he needs lives, lives for the master. Seward demands to know what master? But Renfield clasps his hands over his mouth, turning back toward the window and dramatically reaching his hand toward the moonlight as he's convinced that the master will come. And he's promised to make him a...
Seward pleads to know how, and he learns that some questions are better left unanswered when Renfield swoops upon him, sinking his teeth into his neck. He's like, this is how. Y'all should have been on alert. Yeah. And to go in there alone was pretty bold. It was a lot. It was. But before he can bite too deeply. Two guards rush into the cell, beating Renfield into submission as his screams echo off the walls. The blood is the life.
It was funny because Seward got bit and then he grabbed the other side of his neck. Yeah, I noticed that too. I didn't even catch that. He's fucked up. It's crazy. That was my no. You got bit on the wrong side. But thunder rumbles outside of Dracula's castle as it stands sternly in the dark. But in his quarters, Jonathan returns to his journal, noting...
30th May, Castle Dracula. As his ink lines the pages and he narrates his entry through voiceover, he stands before a small mirror, shaving his face by candlelight. He reveals that his mind is filled with strange things that he dare not confess to his own soul. The way that Dracula looked at Mina's picture fills him with dread, as if he has a part to play in a story that isn't yet known to him.
Yeah, it's almost like exactly like that. But through the dark, Dracula's withered fingers slowly reach for Jonathan, finally seizing him by the shoulder. But upon contact, Jonathan turns around to discover Dracula standing all the way in the hall at the doorway to his quarters. I love stuff like this. Yes. It's so well done.
But upon turning his head, the straight razor nicks a small wound in Jonathan's neck, and Dracula creeps into the room, calmly resting linens on Jonathan's bed, and once he notices the wound, in full sight of Jonathan, Dracula glides across the floor towards him. It's like you saw all of that. Yeah, he's looking at him. And there's no... He's like, so anyway. What's for breakfast tomorrow?
The chamber door closes all on its own behind Dracula as he warns Jonathan to take care how he cuts himself as it's more dangerous than he thinks. Jonathan eyes the small cut in the mirror. But as soon as Dracula spies the mirror, he shields himself from the side of it with a hiss, and the glass of the mirror shatters.
I was using that. First of all, rude. But nothing. No. Dracula remarks that it's a foul bobble of man's vanity, and as he swipes the blade away from Jonathan, He suggests that he should perhaps grow a beard. But turning his back to Jonathan, Dracula drags the razor across his tongue, licking off the small amount of blood that Jonathan left behind and literally purring because it's so... Damn good. He couldn't help himself. Weird. That's not how I clean it up. No. To each their own. Yeah.
Jonathan just keeps his back to Dracula as this happens, only turning to face him when he asks Jonathan for the letters that he requested for him to write. Jonathan retrieves several envelopes, handing them over to Dracula who looks them over. This, honestly, the letters and everything, it reminds me of the Treehouse of Horror when they're like, did everybody wash their necks like Mr. Burns asked? Sure did. You're making it too easy for him.
But when cacophonous voices echo in the halls, Jonathan looks over his shoulder nervously. But pleased with the letters, Dracula simply remarks, Good. He crosses over to the other side of Jonathan, dipping the straight razor into a basin of water before pressing it to Jonathan's throat from behind. Something very interesting I heard on commentary.
They did a lot of things with the set that were very subtle. And this entire sequence with Dracula and Jonathan, the walls of the bedroom are closing in incrementally. i love that yeah it's not even something i realized but i want to go back and see because it does feel claustrophobic the way that he's behaving yeah well and i mean i'm sure that's how jonathan Or how he should feel, at least. Fair. But Dracula drags the razor roughly up Jonathan's neck, shaving him, but he warns.
Should you leave these rooms, you will not by any chance go to sleep in any other part of the castle. He adds that it is old and has many bad memories. Dracula dips the blade into the water again as Jonathan trembles nervously in his grasp, muttering that he's sure he understands. But in the reflection of the razor... Dracula's eyes grow wide as he discovers Jonathan is wearing a crucifix necklace, the one given to him by the woman in the carriage.
Dracula shrieks, recoiling away from Jonathan and backing away toward the closed chamber door. He advises Jonathan not to put his faith into such trinkets of deceit. He reminds Jonathan that they're in Transylvania, not England, and that their ways are not the same. And he adds that to Jonathan, there shall be many strange things. I feel like it did work, though, because you just shrieked. Yeah. Well, he's just he's like, get that out of here. People don't like that. So throw it out the window.
I will say it's very disturbing. Jonathan wrote in his diary that night about strange things in his mind and Dracula literally says there will be many strange things. Yeah. What do you know and how do you know it? Too much. Yeah. But Jonathan doing his, he's really trying his best. It's fighting for its life. Yes. He counters. I've seen many strange things already. Bloody wolves chasing me through some blue inferno. It's just Keanu. It is very, yes, Keanu. The thing is, his...
It's tough because I did see an interview and we were talking about this off mic. Coppola had said that the thing was... is Keanu Reeves tried very hard to master this accent. So much so that Coppola thinks that he tried too hard and was trying to be too much of a perfectionist and it ended up screwing him over. Okay.
that honestly breaks my heart yeah it's really sad because everybody makes fun of it and so are we i know but it is funny like it is funny it is it just really makes me so sad to think of him like toiling over it and then the movie comes out everybody's like I did see like I was scrolling Wikipedia and I did see they they had mentioned Keanu Reeves is noted to have one of the worst English accents in the history of recorded film and
It said, like, you know, you see sources on Wikipedia sometimes. They were about 10. sources for it. And I was like, you guys need to calm down. You don't need to be doing all that. You can just have the one. Does this need to be in here at all? Poor Keanu. I forgive you. We all do. But just as he shares this, the howling of wolves emanate from just outside of the window behind him, and he peers down the steep castle walls where their shadows creep through the fog.
Dracula's sighs in seeming ecstasy as he rejoices. Listen to them, the children of the night, what sweet music they make. Jonathan confusedly asks, Music? Those animals? But as he turns to face Dracula...
Dracula is already gone. His long red cape dragging behind him in his exit. I busted out laughing because he wanted him to see that. I know he could have just vaporized out of the room. At any time. Because he's been playing with... his location a lot since we've met him he was like no i don't fucking care like i don't care what you have to say but dracula's shadow creeps across the wall of jonathan's chambers
its arms stretching outward to close the chamber door before disappearing. Jonathan watches all of this, by the way. Yeah. But Jonathan returns his gaze out of the window. where frighteningly dracula defies gravity To crawl down the exterior wall of the castle, his red robe stark against the drab brick. Jonathan opens his window to get a better look, watching without a word as Dracula... Spider-Man's down several feet more. Yeah. I just have so many questions. Starting with...
Jonathan's lack of a reaction but also why is Dracula doing this yeah that is you can just fly down isn't it too much too soon it is it was so fucking funny to me because I'm like this whole scene So much has happened. We're licking blood off the razor. It's so much. He leaves out of the room like a fucking asshole dragging his cloak behind him. And then he turns and looks out the window and he's just fucking shimmying. It's like I can't.
handle it and i will say there i will give jonathan one bit of credit yeah because he did try to raise some suspicion a little bit when he's talking about the wolves chasing him through the blue inferno which didn't happen by the way Two separate things that happened that he's trying to... Put a little hot sauce on it. Dracula feel bad about where he lives or whatever. But the thing is, is that that is one instance that is him trying and then Dracula just left.
It's not going to work if I try to raise these questions, I guess. Yeah. I guess. So let's never try again. And then he just makes it worse by showing him what he can really do. It's just so funny. But what do we do from here? Cry. Yeah. Call me an Uber, please. We don't do what Jonathan does. Yeah. Fair. Because later that evening, by candlelight.
Jonathan creeps out of his quarters and into the hallway. In voiceover, he explains that he did exactly as Dracula requested, writing three letters, one to the firm, One to his family, who we never meet. And one to Mina, mentioning nothing of his fears, as he's sure that Dracula will read the letters.
In the golden glow of his lit candle. I will say you say that, but also he did quote your diary and you're still writing everything in there. He's like, that's probably fine. That was a coincidence for sure. But in the golden glow of his lit candle, and as his door slams shut behind him on its own, Jonathan acknowledges the fact that he is a prisoner.
As rats scurry across the iron beams of the ceiling upside down, Jonathan continues down a long staircase, stalked by shadows, until he reaches a tall wooden door. what what is this place is this like the leviathan it looked like there was like a galaxy under the steps when he went by it's like a nightmare yeah it really is and it's like one of those things we talk about a lot of movies with like haunted houses where the geography doesn't make any sense yeah
No, none. Because what is even happening anywhere? The water was like dripping up too. Yes. That is one thing Coppola said that he wanted to start with the shadows, which were kind of a jumping off point, is to say around Dracula, around the supernatural.
laws of physics laws of nature those are out the window yeah clearly and i he does a really good job of demonstrating this through some really cool visuals though but jonathan clears the cobwebs from the door and with great effort he's able to push it open and force his way inside once inside jonathan finds a large chest resting at the end of a corridor without trepidation
He lifts the lid open, revealing glass bottles and various shimmering trinkets. He sets his candle down next to him to lift one of the bottles, but when he opens it, a ghastly green liquid drips out. and upward toward the ceiling. He watches in wonder for a moment, only to replace the lid and place it back into the chest. He reaches for another item. That wasn't enough. What else you got in here? But before he can investigate it and see why it's all so terrifying.
A whisper from behind him disturbs his curiosity. A voice calls. Jonathan, come to me. A bell twinkles, bidding Jonathan closer. And at the other end of the room, Jonathan reaches a long red curtain. But as he raises his hand to it, it draws open on its own. And through a mess of cobwebs, he discovers a bed the size of an entire room, its white silk sheets blanketing the floor beneath a flowing bed.
canopy. Jonathan creeps into the room through a veil of gathered fog as a voice whispers seductively, lay down, lay back into my arms. Is James Wan in here? He had a hand in this, I feel. Clearly. But Jonathan does as told, taking a seat at the edge of the bed. But from the corner of the room, he watches as footprints suddenly materialize in the floor, each step punctuated with the ring of a bell until the steps...
reach the blankets, the voice once again whispering, lay back, Jonathan. Soft strings sing in the score as the sheets begin to writhe around him, and soon, His legs part on either side as before him rises Dracula's bride, played by Monica Bellucci. She seems nice, but Monica Bellucci. I remembered her because she's in the Matrix movies, all three of them. Yes, she is. She's also in the Brothers Grimm from 05. And we just watched her in Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. That's right.
I had read that this was her American film debut. Wow. And I think that it was Roman Coppola. He saw, I think, pictures of her modeling in a magazine and he was like, she would be perfect for Dracula's bride. And she is. Yeah. And that was all she wrote. But her eyes focused beneath her glittering crown of jewels, her breasts exposed in the glowing candlelight. She caresses Jonathan's thighs and he lies back moaning softly.
Just beside him, though, through shimmering sheets, which are now vibrant in color, rise two more pale-skinned Brides of Dracula, played by Michaela Berkou and Florina Kendrick. They too are clothed only from the waist down in thin fabric. The Bellucci bride purrs as she crawls on top of Jonathan, tearing his shirt open to reveal the crucifix around his neck.
She raises her hand like a claw, and with a hiss, the crucifix melts away onto Jonathan's chest, the sizzling liquid running down as she licks at him and plants a passionate kiss on his lips. So I guess maybe Dracula was right and those don't work around here. And I understand it's Monica Bellucci. He's only human. I get it. But I thought he would put up a little bit more of a fight than that.
I'm on behalf of his fiance. He was just like, maybe this place ain't so bad after all. It's kind of surprising, frankly. Yes. I was very surprised. One thing I will say in. The original Dracula in 1931, they really did nothing with Dracula's Brides, like at all. And so I appreciated them trying to do something more. Yeah. And Coppola made that his mission to give them more of a role.
But again, Jonathan, you're fucking up. I was like, not even know. For a moment then, okay. He was just like, oh, what's going on on this side? Again, though, we said affable. She's like laid down. But the camera swirls around them from above, the bodies of the brides mingling with Jonathan as they all moan in pleasure. They caress and claw at Jonathan, tearing through his clothes with their sharp fingers.
He briefly opens his eyes from the ecstasy of their affection, and he discovers that each of the brides bear sharp fangs. And when one bride makes her way to unbuckle Jonathan's pants, she opens her mouth wide. sinking her pointed teeth into his flesh as he screams. Is what happened what I think happened? Yeah, she bit his boner, right? Oh, right. But does that count? Fanglatio?
but i mean do i still turn it it's it's kind of a neck do i is it the same thing i mean i don't know the rules of anything here i don't either but i mean if we look back to the original
He did drink from Renfield and it just drove him mad. So I think it doesn't always... turn you well but then also i'm trying to think i'm like is it only dracula that has this oh true oh all right yeah they're also made vampire but maybe they're just like a different brand of vampire yeah and i mean she is smart that was clearly a source of an abundance of blood but um an abundance well i mean we all saw it okay um
Did this give you guys trick or treat vibes a little bit? Oh, that's fair. Because it did me. I wonder if that some kind of nod or influence or something, because it really reminded me of that. I hadn't even thought of that. No. I read in that interview with Canem that.
Coppola originally wanted no fangs in this movie at all really yeah and that he was insistent he was like it's Dracula you have to have fangs so he made these for Dracula's brides and he's like we they can at least have them so he said that Coppola saw them and was like well it's Dracula we need to have fangs and so yeah it spiraled from there because we do see a lot of things but he said that he learned
The trick of the fangs from Rob Bottin on The Howling. Oh, wow. Where it's a plate where you press your tongue up against it and the teeth come down. And so it looks like it's growing and they just kind of expanded on that and kind of made at times gums shrink. So it looks like it's coming down more, but I thought that was really cool. That's a really smart way for the actor to kind of control.
what they're doing with the teeth. Yeah. And it is all practical. And I mean, it looks fantastic every single time it happens. Yeah. I... This film would be much lesser if there were no things. Yeah. And something else that I really like, too, is I think that a lot of vampire stuff, like everybody's vampire teeth look the same. Right. Everybody has different teeth in this. And I.
I thought that was really cool. Yeah. But the other two brides feast softly at Jonathan's arms at either side. But when we peer up to a mirror hung high above the sensual sheets, we find Jonathan alone. held down in the shape of a cross by unseen hands. But just as the music swells and the brides satiate their bloodlust and carnal cravings, a ball of fire bursts at the entrance of the bedroom, and through a cloud of smoke glides a furious and snarling Count Dracula.
With a wave of his hand and a sharp Romanian command, one of the brides is flung from Jonathan's side and onto the ceiling, where she crawls away backwards, her gravely glare fixed on the count. The two remaining brides rise together next to Jonathan, now conjoined between their legs as they take unsettling and disjointed steps away from him.
I do want to say that the conjoined situation happening with the two brides at this point was meant to be a reference to a painting called Arachne by Gustave Doré from 1867. And if you look at that painting, there appears to be a woman at the bottom of the frame who does appear like an arachnid. Yeah. And so I think that was the intention there to kind of call upon that.
And the seduction of Jonathan in some of the shots that we got were a clear reference to a painting called The Sphinx by Jan Turip from 1897. Okay. So again, just incorporating these artworks of that time period in with the things that we see happening. It's really cool. But surrounded by smoke, Dracula scolds in Romanian. How dare you touch him? He belongs to me. The sealing bride counters that Dracula himself has never loved.
As low piano chords pulse in the score, Dracula rebuts that he too can love. And as his signature strings join the ensemble, he vows in Romanian that he will love again. Jonathan looks up at him without a word because he does not speak Romanian, but he is literally like Dracula's like, I'm going to steal your wife. And it's wild that he's so open with it.
I mean, what's he got to worry about? But the three brides crawl, moaning and whimpering to the feet of Dracula, pleading, are we to have nothing tonight? Jonathan's eyes widen in terror as he hears the piercing cries of an infant, and he watches as bathed in red light. Dracula cradles a baby in his arms, offering it to the brides as consolation. Where did he get that? Yeah, that's my... You were just right there, dude.
Honestly, I don't know. It's a baby. I'm like, this is just beyond. So nobody else keeps a baby in their pocket? Just track? Just track. Just track. But they swoop upon the infant, devouring it immediately as a deep anguish bellows from deep within Jonathan on the bed. As he screams, Dracula can't help but laugh, clapping his hands together in delight at Jonathan's dismay. Again, glee.
We then get a that's all folks wipe. Thank you. I'm sorry. I was surprised that this was in this movie. Me too. This cartoon ass. that i think more surprising that it's in this movie is where they chose to place it this moment yeah because this is on another level but we return to london As Mina sits at the edge of a fountain at Hillingham,
She tears the seal of the letter that Dracula forced Jonathan to write, and as she unfolds it, she reveals a small amount of text at the paper's center, which we hear read in Jonathan's voice. Dearest Mina, All is well here. The Count has insisted I remain for a month to tutor him in English custom. I can say no more except I love you. Ever faithful, Jonathan.
Ever faithful my ass. Why didn't you feel the need to add that? He wrote the letter before what happened. Whatever needs to be crossed out. Currently faithful. It's a better description. I will say, as I saw this letter, I was like... you fucking kidding me yeah i understand that dracula made you write this letter and you were trying to keep a lot of information out of it
But you got it. You're telling your wife to be that you're going to be gone for a month. Yeah. And you're just like, look, he's told me I got to do this. I love you. That's all I can say. That's a wild thing. It's troubling. Very. Extremely. Yes. Mina glances back at the envelope in disbelief at the news, and I can only assume she's also puzzled by such brief correspondence. But thunder rumbles in the Transylvanian evening.
as Jonathan stands at the castle's edge, overlooking Dracula's loyal but uncredited servants on the ridge below. In voiceover, he explains that he fears the letters he has written have sealed his doom. He slinks out of sight of Dracula's men, who we see toiling in the bowels of Dracula's castle. In what once was a glorious hall four centuries ago, but now rests in ruins, Dracula's men shovel the dirt, filling boxes with decrepit earth, which Jonathan explains will be delivered to Dracula's
newly acquired Carfax Abbey in London. I did want to talk very quickly about the production design because... There are so many incredible sets in this film. And I really loved seeing this room again when we had just seen it at the beginning of the film. Seeing how much 400 years has aged this place. the cross in the back that dracula stabbed is missing one of its arms that's cool yeah
But the production designer was a guy called Tom Sanders. And if I'm not mistaken, he was nominated but did not win the Academy Award for this film. Okay. But he actually replaced the original production designer who Coppola fired. And so he joined the production late in the game, but he was given a clean slate to kind of do more in line with what Coppola had asked instead of following in any way what the previous designer did.
But he created with his team of 150 artists, 58 sets on six different stages at the studio. Coppola said 99.9% of this film is filmed on a studio set. Damn. Wow. So every single thing that you see for the most part was crafted for the production, not at all anywhere a real location. Wow. Part of that was because Coppola had said that.
When he went over budget on Apocalypse Now, he kind of didn't want to give himself the opportunity to fall into that trap again. And so using sets rather than real locations gives him less of... I guess creative freedom to say, Hey, maybe we should try this and just doing more and more and more. Yeah. But also you get to control the weather. Yeah. And with all the rain that is in this film, it is necessary to do that. But.
Something else that Coppola said, he said that if we really went to a castle in Romania and we had to film there, my childhood boyish fears would not allow me to do something. But he had said, Tom Sanders, that some of the sets that they had built for the production were torn down and rebuilt like this one. to demonstrate the passage of time and to change what we see from 1462 versus 1897. Yeah. And it's really, really incredible work. And we'll talk about a few more sets later. Okay.
But as the men maneuver a crate of dirt up a small stone staircase, Jonathan cowers behind a coffin that rests at the center of the large room to avoid detection. But suddenly... The heavy lid of the coffin yawns open, and Count Dracula, clad in a shining golden robe, rises up from within it, his fingers pointing outward and a scream echoing off the walls. Call him ranch because he be dressing. Very much. Good Lord.
I had read that this costume was meant to be a reference to Gustav Klimt's The Kiss. And if you see this painting, it is almost recreated exactly. Okay. And it's really incredible. But this was also a very not so subtle reference to Nosferatu. Yeah. The rising up out of the coffin. Yeah. Coppola, if I'm not mistaken, had said that Nosferatu is probably the best vampire film ever made. And so he wanted to give a bit of homage to that.
As well as some to 1931 Dracula. Yeah. The I don't drink wine situation. Yeah. That's straight from that film. Yeah. But back at Hillingham, the camera glides down from a large staircase leading into the garden. where Lucy descends, joyously declaring her love and that she's decided and it's so wonderful. She finds a forlorn Mina resting on the bench where she kissed Jonathan goodbye. bushes of white roses covering the archway above her as she still clutches his letter in her hands.
But Mina kindly does her best to mirror her friend's excitement as she sits down next to her, guessing that Lucy has decided to wed the Texan with the big knife. But Lucy has instead decided on suitor number three, Lord Arthur Holmwood, Esquire. She announces jovially, Lord and Lady Homewood, and she hopes for Mina to be her maid of honor for the ceremony.
Mina responds by merely looking away from her despondently, which upsets Lucy as it's the most important day of her life, and she laments that Mina doesn't seem to care. But Mina confides that she's simply so worried about Jonathan, the letter that she received from him was so cold and unnatural, not like him at all. Lucy looks the letter over and soothingly tells her friend not to worry. But to their surprise and excitement, it begins to rain in the garden.
The women laugh as they stand from the bench and retreat under the cover of the archway from the peaceful shower. But suddenly, a wicked wind whips through the garden. Storm clouds gathering overhead with rumbling thunder and flashes of lightning, dipping the area into blue darkness. Mina holds Jonathan's letter to her heart, as in the sky.
Through the gloom of the swiftly drifting clouds, we see the sinister eyes of Count Dracula. I did appreciate, though, that Mina was like, this does not sound like him. Right. because i feel like in a lot of movies we're like do you not even fucking know your partner yeah she's like a month all right i guess yeah i guess but we quickly cut to the hulking hull of the demeter
silhouetted starkly against the evening sky on the open ocean. As waves crash high against the body of the vessel, a narrator reads from the captain's log, an entry dated June 27th. 1897. you know all right this is the most wild one in just 92 years minus one week something pretty cool that is i commend your math
I had to figure it out. I had to figure it out. But the entry describes the ship's passage from Varna to London. As the text overlays atop the rattling chains on the deck and through the night. we see the painted portrait that rested in the dining hall of Dracula's castle, the narrator recounting that the crew picked up 50 boxes of experimental earth bound for London, England, and set sail at noon into a...
storm that seemed to come out of nowhere. Through the cargo of secured and stacked crates, we find Dracula writhing within a tight casing and entombed in the aforementioned earth. I was very disturbed by the lack of oxygen that must have been in there. Yeah. I kind of, I had to.
chill myself out and make myself laugh by saying he looked like a sausage but he did i didn't know if maybe it was meant more to be almost like a chrysalis which would explain how he does take a different form true oh okay you know But back at Hillingham, Mina and Lucy frolic in the rain, their hair soaked and their dresses drenched as they sway and spin through the high walls of a hedge maze. The smiling face of Dracula appears above them.
cackling as in the downpour, Mina and Lucy share a sweet kiss. They're just living their best life. Yeah. I was wondering if they could see him. Like, do you see this motherfucker's face in the sky? Is this there? Yeah. And earlier, Mina seemed to react to his shadow at the house. Yeah. But I don't know. I did want to point out, as I mentioned, this area as well was a set. Okay. The garden, the connecting hedge maze. There was enough room at this stage that they were able to build.
a sunken garden with a reflecting pool, this maze, a family cemetery, and a crypt. all in one area damn and they extended the area around the hedge maze with matte paintings and they said that it added several hundred feet of depth with the use of these matte paintings that's wild Another interesting thing is the garden and the hedge maze are also connected to the sets of the Hillingham house. And so they could film all the way from the end of the crypt on the other side.
through to four or five sets within the house in a fluid motion if they wanted to. Wow. Very nice. But through the iron gates of the London Zoo, as the music plods incessantly in the score... All of the animals are frenzied within their cages, but a white wolf slips with ease through the bars of its enclosure, growling as it scurries through a nearby bush.
It should not have been that easy. No. Honestly, that wolf could have gotten out anytime he wanted. You're lucky it stayed that long. But as the Demeter continues its voyage, the narrator continues reading through the captain's log. This entry from the 3rd of July. Second mate has gone missing. Nearing Gibraltar, storm continues, crew uneasy, believes someone or something.
is aboard the ship with us We return to the inside of the crate where the Count rests in the dirt, his skin raw and angry, and with a musical flourish, the shadows cover him momentarily, and when they disperse, his face appears animalistic. and his body is covered in hair. The map of London interlays over the deck of the ship as a man's scream cuts through the sounds of the storm.
Count Dracula, now a snarling beast, akin more to a gorilla or wolf than man, gnashes his teeth as the blood of a crew member sprays and stains the white sails of the ship. So Canem had some stuff to say about this makeup of this wolf. We do see another form later on and it was kind of the same basic setup. He said they did a spandex suit tied to look like skin and then a hair suit ventilated and crafted to fit over that first spandex suit.
Oh, wow. So the head was a cowl piece and one single foam prosthetic for the face. And he said for both of the full body sculpts, they did a. piece of foam connecting the body to the head and they glued the foam on with an adhesive that um dissolves really quickly in acetone oh so they could have gary oldman his head free in 10 minutes
Okay. Instead of like kind of meticulously taken apart, they could just melt the adhesive on that piece of foam. I think one thing that really amazed me was the fact that it is Gary Oldman.
yes yeah it is yeah it's incredible throughout they said that they he said that they had sculpted three different faces for the wolf and Coppola was like pick whichever one you like best and that he had really really liked the first one but he felt like it read to Planet of the Apes oh so he ended up picking the third one that they made but yeah it was him and I mean it was extensive
prosthetic applications and he i mean he fucking kills it yeah and i i honestly always forget how op dracula is so when i see i'm like he's the wolf man too I was very surprised. I was not expecting a wolf. I remember in 31 Dracula when... Bela Lugosi leaves and then they don't have the money or the effects or anything. But they look out the window and they're like, a wolf is on the lawn or whatever. You remember? Of course!
But as the wheel at the helm spins wildly in the wind and a wolf's howl echoes under the cloud-covered moon, we return to Carfax District Asylum, where Renfield... Tightly wrapped in a straitjacket, screams through the rain, Master, I'm here! He rejoices that the master of all life is at hand and urges all to gather around, swearing his devotion, and that he is here to do the master's bidding.
But the cage-helmeted guards outside of Renfield's cell spray large water hoses at the patients, forcing them into submission. But Renfield's cries climb higher than their discord. Now that you are near, master! I am your slave. I await your command. He's a broken record. Yeah. But in his office, Seward documents into his phonograph cylinder that the case of Renfield has grown ever more interesting, noting that there is a method to his madness, with his flies and spiders.
He laments his desire to obtain the secret of even one such brilliant mind, the key to the fancy of one lunatic. But we watch as he draws back the plunger of a syringe, filling the barrel with morphine as he rolls his sleeve above his elbow. As Renfield's Romanian screams echo through the asylum, Seward injects himself with the opiate, lowly muttering, Lucy, as the world warps around him.
Doctor, I didn't know you like to get wet. Get wet? So I was kind of... puzzled by this because he seemed I mean very compartmentalized yeah and put together having gone to the party and then back to work the same night Coppola said on commentary that what this is supposed to signify is just what Dracula does by his mere presence. The fact that he's getting closer to London in the Demeter is doing this to everyone.
Huh. So maybe Seward wouldn't be doing this. Right. Is that why the kiss too? Maybe. Okay. release your inhibitions they were feeling the rain on their skin well no one else can do it for them so only you can let it all right all right But as the Hillingham estate rests high on a hill in the distance, we watch the Demeter sail through the rain and reach a dock. Dracula's monstrous silhouette moves wildly behind the sails of the ship.
and we soon take on his point of view as he glides through the streets of London in feral pursuit, eventually reaching Lucy's bedroom window, but floating backward down a long set of stone steps to roar at her. from the fountain in the garden. So I did want to talk a little bit just about these POV shots. The cinematographer was a guy called Michael Ballhaus, and he is very well known for working a lot with Martin Scorsese. Just...
This list of films is pretty wild. Goodfellas, The Departed, Gangs of New York, The Age of Innocent. There was more. It was Innocence, not Innocence. My notes are just weird. The Last Temptation of Christ. And I think there were even a couple more. Okay. Damn. He also shot Something's Gotta Give, which I thought... Yes!
But he had said that they had 10 weeks of pre-production and it allowed him to build a shot list that to him became like their Bible. Yeah. And interestingly, Coppola... they all agreed because this was made with the cooperation of coppola of course yeah but then they start the production and he's like you know what let's start from scratch
And then like maybe a couple of days later, he's like, no, we had it fine. You're right. God, that would drive me insane. But the good thing about this Bible is that they had worked out not only shot composition, but. depending on what they were trying to achieve for a scene, the kind of camera that they were going to use, the lenses and everything. Okay. And so for sections like this, where we're in the POV of Dracula himself, but as a feral beast. They used a camera that was from the 1920s.
Wow. It was a Pathé camera, and it was actually worked with a hand crank. Wow. And so it kind of gives this jittery motion that puts you in the mind of... Nosferatu from 22. Right. And he had said that it was something that was very interesting to him. And it was actually Coppola's camera that he himself owned and lent to the production. All right.
I did read some no I heard it on the commentary Coppola was like conflicting about it I don't know if he got possessive over the camera or whatever but there's another sequence like this where they do use that camera and he's like and I had said that I wanted to use this more in the production but the cinematographer wasn't about it it's like but i read an interview where he was very excited so i don't know whatever you say i will say that it did remind me of the evil dead yes yeah
That's kind of what it reminded me of as well. The motion of it. Yeah. But seemingly in a trance, Lucy strolls down the steps, a gown as fiery as her hair flowing in the wind, fluttering behind her like angel wings. On that featurette... Ishioka had said that she knew it was going to be dark in this scene because it's like dusk or nighttime. And she wanted both the color and the shape of the dress.
to be in stark contrast to the surroundings and that she'd never really used orange before. That's very interesting. Yeah. But I think it's fucking gorgeous. No, it looks really cool. It was interesting to me, too, as we go further with Lucy, because I don't want to interrupt later. But in that interview, Canem had said that there were so many things that they had built.
that they didn't get to use for one reason or another time constraints or Coppola was like, actually, I don't like that or different things would happen and they wouldn't get to use it. But he said that they had made a full body suit for Lucy that had black light veins. throughout her entire body that would shine out in the darkness. And she refused to wear it. He said that she wouldn't even try it on. The actress? Yes. And so they had constructed the whole thing and it was never used.
That's interesting. Yeah. I thought so too. I was like, I wanted more information, but that was all he said. So I guess would that have been through Dracula's vision? Oh. maybe you're right you know that would be neat that makes so much sense because i was like what i i was very curious as to how that was going to be used right right that actually sounds really fucking cool yeah that's a shame yeah he specifically said she refused to even try it on.
Like it was not happening. I wonder what it looks like. Like I wonder if it was like, I'm not getting in that case. I gotta say it's a little rough to throw her under the bus like that. He did. I was like, damn. But Mina rushes into Lucy's bedroom to check on her. But she finds not only her bed to be empty, save for a discarded crucifix necklace, but the large patio windows wrenched open and the storm blowing in through the drapes.
Mina crosses the room to close them, but discovers Lucy making her way through the storm, the garden, and into the hedge maze. Mina calls after her friend, following her path as Lucy's gown licks lightly at the marble sculptures that she passes. I really thought that was a cool visual. Yeah.
But once Mina finally catches up to her, she stops dead in her tracks, staring in horror at the sight before her. In the flashes of lightning, through the foliage, Mina spies Lucy lying on a marble bench, her legs wrapped around the waist of the beastly Count Dracula. She writhes in carnal pleasure against him as he lowers his snout to her neck, wrenching his jaw open to sink his fangs into her throat as she screams.
He drinks from her as she moans, and when he's had his fill, he howls into the night. But as he raises his head, he spies Mina across the courtyard. and he senses each and every pathway of blood within her, each vein seemingly pulsing at the surface of her skin. Through his blood-covered lips leak the words, No. Do not see me. But in a flash of lightning, we see a younger Dracula for just a moment, transposed over the face of the beast, before in a white flash, the count disappears entirely.
The flash was a bit much, I think. Because we know it's you. Yeah, we've seen you. We know. It's over. I knew Lucy was going to be doing some freaky shit in this garden. I hadn't counted on that. Yeah, that's okay. But I mean, talk about doggy style. Yeah, what was Brahms? stroking it too what the fuck was that i don't uh you know it was a different time what time But Mina rushes over to the bench, waking Lucy from her trance and collecting her wounded friend.
As Lucy rises to sit upright, she mutters confused that she couldn't control herself, that it was as if her soul left her body and she was filled with an agonizing feeling that she couldn't get back to it. Mina insists that Lucy was just sleepwalking, and as she guides her back to the manor, Lucy ponders if something pulled or lured her, leaving her with no control of herself.
But Mina just softly soothes her shoulder as Lucy recalls the creature's red eyes and that she can still taste his blood in her mouth. As they round the corner through the hedge maze, the camera dips down to reveal the monstrous Dracula is still there, trembling in the dark. The shot was interesting because it is just a matter of him saying, do not see me. And it just worked for her. Yeah. He's still hanging out. Yeah. But it was kind of funny to see that he was still hanging out.
He did not leave. He's just there. He wants to see how it all shakes out. He wants to hear what they thought. Was it impressive? But did you like it? But the next morning, we return to the map of London, and with another circle-shaped wipe, we arrive at Carfax Abbey. Count Dracula's crates and belongings are unloaded from a long carriage, and in his unraveled straitjacket...
Renfield pokes his head through the barred windows of his cell at the asylum, shouting to his master that he is here to do his bidding and that he has worshipped him. I feel like the proximity is a bad idea. It's actually really funny. It put me in the mind of a play. Really? Where everything is just like, you know, because it's one stage. Yeah, that's true. That's hilarious.
but the camera pans across the chained crates resting on the grounds of the abbey as the narrator returns explaining that contrary to some beliefs the vampire like any other creature of the night, can move about by day, though it's not his natural time and his powers are weak. This was funny to me. It's pretty convenient. And the timing of it, they're like, don't worry. By the way. But just then. Count Dracula bursts through one of the crates, splinters exploding as he emerges.
His long brown hair rests at shoulder length, and he once again appears youthful, identical to the man that we met four centuries ago. That was my note was okay hair. Yeah. He looks great. Oh yeah. It's funny to me. I don't know if like the werewolf situation and feeding on Lucy allowed him to do this. I think he's got a bonnet in that. I was going to say, was it like a mud bath maybe? Maybe. Because again, why the fuck would you not do that to meet Jonathan?
like he's like he's too stupid he's like my shadow doesn't even have to be i can do anything But we then flip through several newspapers, recounting the odd occurrences the night before, with headlines like, Wolf Escapes from Zoo, Strangest Storm on Record, and Mystery Schooner. crew missing. So maybe it wasn't just Lucy. He ate everyone. Oh shit. So that explains it. Yeah.
But through the grainy and jittery photography of a hand-cranked camera, we center on the bustling streets of London, congested with citizenry. Through the crowds and vendors, we find Count Dracula. Dapperly dressed in a gray three-piece suit, a tall top hat, and stylish blue sunglasses. He looks great. Ishioka did say that this ensemble was inspired by his wolf form that they kind of call to each other, which I thought was pretty cool. Yeah.
I did look it up and apparently sunglasses arrived in England in the 1700s. Damn. And so this being 1897, that's fine. yeah i didn't even think about that no i didn't either because i was like there's no fucking way but absolutely but dracula navigates his way through strangers admiring the city that surrounds him But he stops dead in his tracks when his eyes settle on a very familiar sight through the sea of humanity. There, on an adjacent sidewalk, marches Mina, clad once again in green.
a small hat resting atop her head as she moves through the city alone. As people pass between them, Dracula doesn't break his gaze. His voice echoing through time, he proclaims, See me. See me now. Before she dips into the open door of a pharmacy, Mina glances over at Dracula, offering a fleeting moment of eye contact as serene strings sound in the score.
that is pretty cool that he had to kind of like break whatever spell he had put for her to not see him in the garden because he's like now he's like now i look pretty good i don't want you to see the whole four that was bad I do want to say again, when we're talking about this whole love arc that we are kind of building and starting now. Right. Maybe not the best plan of action to do what you did last night. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's so...
Because like you were saying, he ate the crew. Right. That's fine. Yeah. I'm like, why? It's too close to home. Yeah. It is an odd choice. And it's not as it like we've seen him like floating over them constantly with the storm and stuff. oh yeah he knew exactly where she was he knew exactly who she was yeah and yet he did that
Yeah, he did. I guess he wanted to show her that he was serious. He's like, look, I'm going to show you. I'm due to your friend. That's you soon. Yeah, you could have done it to me. I feel bad planning. Yeah. What are you talking about? And I think what it is, if. If I'm not mistaken, he does bite Lucy in the novel. Right. I don't know how sexual it is. Yeah. But there is no love arc between him and Mina.
And so you can have that. Right. It doesn't matter as much. This feels a bit targeted. Yeah. Yeah. But Dracula strolls through the street, watching Mina through the shop window as he's approached by a news hawker played by Daniel Newman. He buys a paper off of him, glancing momentarily at the headlines, but he's far more focused on Mina's activities inside of the building.
And it's funny because every single one of those headlines he did. Yeah. He's like, we don't need to look at that. It's not important. It's like, oh shit, they're on to me. But he carefully times his entrance with her exit, and in a bit of false clumsiness, Dracula bumps right into Mina as she steps outside with her purchase. A little glass vial of medicine falls from her grasp.
And Dracula bends down to catch it just before it makes contact with the concrete. A little glass vial? A little glass vial. But with impossible quickness, Dracula once again stands upright with the vial in his gloved palm directly in front of Mina. So I was thinking two things. First of all, it's kind of wild that the pharmacy didn't give her a little bag. They're like, get out. But the other thing is like there are all these small moments of just eeriness like.
that aren't comprehended by the characters seemingly. Yeah. That I... To the point where it is like frustrating to watch. Because she was right in front of him. Yeah. And it looks very cool. Of course it does. But it's just like with Jonathan earlier. I'm like, this is all. No, nothing is like.
fair enough but it's just like these things are happening right in front of you yeah and it's like you're making an effort to not clock any of it But Dracula offers his most humble apologies to Mina, and after excusing his ignorance as a new arrival to the city, he compliments Mina's beauty and attempts to ask for directions.
But before he can, Mina suggests that he purchase a street atlas for six pence and bids him good day. She snatches her vial of medicine from his hand and walks right past him, but he calls out to her, realizing that he's offended her and he shares that he's only looking for the cinematograph. He says that he understands that it's a wonder of the civilized world.
And I forgot to mention, but this whole time, somebody is hawking that cinematograph. And that is what they're saying. They're like, a wonder of the civilized world. I heard. But Mina retorts that if he seeks culture, he should visit a museum, as London is filled with them. She excuses herself from the conversation and turns down the opposite end of the street.
But as Mina rounds the corner and walks past a man bearing a signboard for the Lyceum Theater, she's startled to once again come face to face with Count Dracula. Very quickly, the Lyceum Theater, which I believe is the pronunciation, if I'm not mistaken, Bram Stoker worked there as a manager. Wow, that's cool. Yeah. Right?
Dracula politely tells her that a woman so lovely and intelligent should not be walking the streets of London without her gentleman. Incensed but puzzled, Mina asks Dracula if she knows him. I know I mentioned that she was puzzled, but he would have had to have run around the entire block. I bet he's like, man, y'all are fucking stupid. You and your man are stupid.
But she wonders if perhaps he's acquainted with her husband. She adds that perhaps she should call the police. But Dracula, leaning on a cane, repeats with dismay, husband. He relents, promising to bother Mina no more. But as he walks away, just past her, Mina calls out to him calmly, regretful that it is in fact she who has been rude.
She offers to give him the proper directions to the cinematograph, but Dracula interrupts her, removing his top hat to make the proper introduction. Prince Vlad of Sagite. Mina smiles, impressed to learn that he is a prince, but Dracula amends this title, labeling himself as her servant, as he places his hat back on his head.
Mina introduces herself in return as Wilhelmina Murray. The music rises romantically in the score as she does, and Dracula steps forward to close the gap between them, proclaiming to... Madam Mina, that he is honored to meet her. Little bold to be creating nicknames upon the first meeting. I know that he's aware of her name because of Jonathan. Right. But that's a little wild. It is. But he bows slightly, and Mina, caught in the light of his gaze, hesitates to break away.
But she finally does, leading him where he hoped to go, his hand hovering over the small of her back as they walk in tandem through the crowded sidewalk, the camera rising above the street. Hand on the small of the back is bold. I thought the nickname was bold. This is bolder. I was surprised that Mina was just like, all right, let's go. But then I'm like, think about Jonathan, who didn't put up. He was like, I guess we're doing this now. You know what I mean? And I'm like.
Maybe this is okay for right now. What Jonathan did was worse. Well, yeah. They were in a bed together. But sometime later, Seward arrives at Hillingham. where he's greeted by Hobbs, a butler played by I.M. Hobson. Shut up! I was like, you gotta be fucking kidding me. His doctor bag in hand, Seward reports that he was asked here by Homewood to check on Lucy.
He finds Lucy in the parlor, surrounded by maids who are helping her into a lavish wedding gown. Fluffs of flowing white cloth, where at her neck rests a pleated collar of lovely lace fanned out to extend to her. her shoulders this dress is gorgeous it's one of Jules's favorite costumes in the whole film it's a very remarkable piece and I can't talk about
the story of it until we get to a scene that comes later. Okay. But I did learn that this costume, along with Dracula's war armor, is on display at Francis Ford Coppola's winery. Oh, damn. That's cool. Hell yeah. But Seward seems wounded to see Lucy in this manner of dress. But Lucy, unbothered, asks Seward if he likes it. She wonders if Holmwood asked him to come here, or maybe Seward wanted to see her alone once more before she's married.
Lucy is a menace. This dude coming here and her being like, do you like my dress? It was insane. That was such insulting. He's like, excuse me. what is that it seems that way but i think they enjoy it there's that dynamic clearly works i mean i don't it was just i was like lucy But as her staff disperses, Lucy chuckles, reclining on a nearby couch. Seward expresses his embarrassment, revealing to her that he is here as her doctor.
As he pulls up a chair next to her, he shares that Homewood is very worried about her, but he assures her that a doctor's confidence is sacred and implores her to give him her complete trust. He's like, my diagnosis is that you cannot marry that guy. Lucy softens immediately, worry washing away her previous joviality.
as she clutches Seward's hand, pleading for his help. She confesses that she doesn't know what's happened to her. She's changing. Breathing heavily, she says that she can feel it. She can hear everything. servants at the other side of the house whispering, mice in the attic stomping like elephants. But she's also having horrible nightmares and a sob escapes her with Seward preparing a syringe for her.
promising that he's here for her and nothing will harm her. He was preparing that she wasn't even done talking. No. He's like, oh, you're going to have to be put out. So we can't be doing this. Hysterical. Yeah. It's a sign of the terrible time. I was a little confused here because the things she's saying, I feel like.
like we've heard this in other werewolf movies where people have been bit. So I was like, so are you turning into a werewolf or are you a creature? I mean, the heightened sense, I guess, is... Just part of the supernatural, like it's part of the package. Yeah, yeah. Okay. But Seward injects her with a solution, wiping wistfully at her face as she thanks him for it and begs him to kiss her.
Against better judgment, he does, but he pulls back immediately when he hears Homewood and Morris arriving in the courtyard on horseback. Morris proclaims Lucy to be hotter than a June bride riding bareback naked in the middle of the Sahara. Homelid's like, watch it. That's wild. Her fiance is right there. He's like, right, man? Yeah. Isn't she?
And it's funny because this is the conversation they arrive with. Yeah. He's just been going on. But the men dismount their horses and Seward rushes to meet them at the door to the manor. Homewood asks after Lucy, but Seward admits that he's confounded by her condition. Morris snarks that Seward is probably still brooding over Lucy, but Seward breezes past this, guiding the men inside as he concludes that what's happening to Lucy must be something mental.
Homewood isn't buying it, however, announcing, how very droll. I was like, come on. You're a caricature. And I guess Morris is too. Yeah. But he notes to Morris that last week Seward wanted to marry Lucy and now he wants to have her committed. No, but... You're right, though. So why am I the doctor that you called to come and do this? It's a great question. Oh, yeah. He's like, you're the only doctor I know that would do it for free. I'm just like, I feel like I would have called somebody else.
But when Seward doesn't budge from his assessment, Holmwood suggests that they have a look at Lucy. The three men enter the parlor, where Lucy rests on the couch, her gown surrounding her as she wheezes raspily for a breath. Seward admits that he's at a loss and, as such, has taken the liberty of cabling Abraham Van Helsing, the metaphysician philosopher. Morris snubs Van Helsing as a witch doctor.
But Seward counters that Van Helsing knows more about obscure diseases than any man in the world, and he was actually his teacher and mentor. We press in on Holmwood, who stares worriedly at his wife-to-be, as he gives the order to bring Van Helsing in at once and to spare no expense. The men exit the room somberly as Lucy's breathing continues roughly, but alone on the couch.
She unclasps an ornate piece of jewelry covering her neck, and she reveals the bruised bite marks of Count Dracula at her throat. Well, there's your problem. Should have started there. We focus on these two indentations centering on them before match cutting to the night reflecting greenly in the eyes of a growling wolf. Once again, great work. And you see where these 10 weeks went with the cinematographer. Yeah. But elsewhere in London, Dracula stands beneath a large tent next to Mina.
The pair are gathered in a crowd, watching a black-and-white projection of the cinematograph featuring two young women, scantily clad, who sit on the lap of a mustached man. As they embrace him, they suddenly transform into a modestly dressed woman, and the man reacts with disappointment, pushing her away. The projection concludes, and the audience applauds. They loved it. I was a little surprised that Mina stayed and watched the movie with him.
Yeah. Well, she's like, I'm here. Lucy's busy with the fitting and Jonathan's whatever the hell he's doing. Yeah, wherever he's at. Dracula remarks to Mina that there are indeed no limits to science. But as the camera arcs around them, Mina wonders how we could call this science, snarking that Madame Curie wouldn't invite such comparisons.
She smiles as Dracula leans in closer, and what appears to be a recreation of George Melies' The Arrival of a Train flickers on the screen behind them. But Mina, returning to herself, Remarks that she shouldn't have come here, and excuses herself from Dracula. But when she turns away, he gently reaches for her arm, and leaning in almost to touch noses, he implores, Do not fear me.
When Mina attempts to pull herself away, Dracula brings her into an embrace, his signature string sounding in the score as the pair glide impossibly together through the crowd and into an adjacent tent all their own. A nude woman projected in black and white on the screen behind him, Dracula forces Mina down onto a bed, and he clutches her arms against her protests as he leans down, whispering in Romanian to her.
Mina's eyes widen as she asks, My God, who are you? Recognition seemingly finds her as she whispers, I know you. Dracula's heart, bleeding through his words, confesses, I have crossed oceans of time to find you. That's a beautiful fucking line. It's great. But Mina grows docile as Dracula caresses her face, and she writhes weakly in his grasp. He turns away from her, the lids of his eyes clenched tightly closed, but when he opens them...
They burn a bright red and with great hunger, his fangs descending sharply from his upper jaw. And this was the tongue thing that you explained. Yeah. It's really cool. Yeah. But when he turns to face Mina. Ready to sink his fangs into her pale throat, he's seemingly unable to bring himself to do so. And suddenly, a white wolf, possibly the one that escaped from the zoo, makes his way into the tent.
A woman's frightful scream breaks Mina from her hypnosis, and she climbs to her feet, rushing away from Dracula and into the frenzied crowd of patrons. But just as Mina rounds an adjacent corner, she comes face to face with the snarling white wolf. She freezes in fright, but Dracula appears across from her at a distance, calling out to the wolf in Romanian. He kneels as the wolf trots over to him, seemingly tamed, and he rubs his face lovingly against Dracula's vest.
Mina responds in gasping surprise as Dracula bids her closer and she pets the wolf gently. Dracula remarks that the wolf likes her and Mina smiles as her fingers caress the animal's fur. But locking eyes with her, Dracula comments that there is much to be learned from beasts. This is cool, but you did try to bite me. Yeah, we got over that pretty soon. Well, I was just like, I don't remember that. Things are brewing. They're escalating. This was a lot. I didn't know.
Seemingly, if he was hypnotizing her to remind her, I guess, spirit of the memories of Elisabetta. Right. Because it seemed to work immediately. But I don't really know. I don't either. It's really not clear. No. And then it's like so how much of this is what she is feeling for him and how much of it is what he is making her feel for him.
That's troubling. Yeah. That's that's where I find a little bit of the problem with the movie of their love story. Sometimes it feels like he's hypnotizing her to make her feel this way. And sometimes it's kind of like. do you remember this or do you, did he put it in your head or do you really remember a past life? I feel like it's not super defined or clear. I would just like a little bit more of like maybe even Mina's.
point of view i know that we get like some diary stuff later but like even more of an inner monologue or like I I don't know I don't know or maybe even him being like and I didn't even do that I don't know I don't know a small line from her and even him just saying you remember I knew you would remember
something like oh so you do remember something yeah it is a little it's it's just a little muddy because it's not fully defined yeah i remember because it's a very similar plot line in the mummy 1932 yeah And I remember us talking about it and something that I had suggested at the end of that episode, I think I would like here. Okay. It is maybe a moment between Vlad and Elizabetta.
Maybe she is pulled from the river and she's not dead yet. I don't know how it would work. And she says something. And she says, find me or something. Yeah. And that's the thing that we had talked about on The Mummy where it's like giving him this mission to do. Not just taking it upon himself to be like, look, she's out there. Yeah. With no concrete anything. Yeah. Yeah. I think that that would help a lot, actually.
But after a shot of the glowing white moon in the midnight sky, we find Dracula and Mina arriving by stagecoach at the gates of Hillingham. The pair exit the carriage and stand together for a moment in a very comfortable silence. But Dracula bids her a tender goodbye as he reaches for her hand and brings it to his lips to kiss it softly.
Mina looks over her shoulder at the property and then back at Dracula as she opens the gate to enter, only to stare at him once again through the bars in muted wonder. Dracula then returns to the back of the carriage departing after a moment of lingering eye contact with Mina who turns to walk toward the manor. This shot is... accomplished by the use of a miniature manor in the background. Okay.
I love that. It's incredible the way that they've built it because everything seems so real. I'm like, yeah, this is just the path to the manor. But it's literally that mansion is right there. Yeah. And just very tiny. But we promptly cut to a message being printed on a thin strip of paper from an electrical telegraph. A dear friend near death. Disease of the blood unknown to all medical theory. I am in desperate need. Jack Seward.
After spying a misshapen blood cell through the lens of a microscope, we find a small, adorable bat resting upside down in its cage. As it squeaks and readjusts its position, we get a wide shot of a classroom in the round. Students gathered above in their seats, peering down at Professor Abraham Van Helsing. played by Sir Anthony Hopkins. My note was, what and how? Yeah.
I again it surprised me so much to see him in this role. Yeah. But he is so perfect for this role. He the thing the only thing throwing me off is as seeing him at the beginning. Yes. I don't really understand why. Now, there is a line that comes later, I guess, with Van Helsing. But I don't think that that's enough to make it to where they're like, we need to cast. I will say that it is not enough. But he, yeah, he does something wholly different with this character. That is so funny at times.
Seems like he truly had a blast. Yeah, it was odd. And I will say that he did not do the same Ben Helsing that we've seen. Dracula? Not at all. Or when Wolverine played Van Helsing in that Van Helsing movie? Yeah, that was different. Maybe that was a younger version of it. Well, I hope so. I will say Van Helsing, I read he's supposed to be Dutch. Yeah.
I feel like this accent that Anthony Hopkins does is kind of a mix between German and his own accent. But it's somehow, it's not... distracting yeah yeah it works well for the character and what he's doing with it the same we don't need that
I did read something interesting as well in that interview. That scar that Van Helsing has, Kanem said that it's a scar that... sir anthony hopkins has on his own oh and they you they traced it with collodion to make it more um dramatic like more exaggerated okay but they just followed something that he already had which i thought was pretty cool yeah
And really it calls back to that old age sculpt that they did for Gary Oldman. Following lines in the shapes of his natural face. Yeah. It's just cool. But gently reaching into the cage to pet the creature. Van Helsing explains that the tropical pompous vampire bat must consume 10 times its own weight in fresh blood each day or its own blood cells will die.
That seems like a deal was made on a monkey's paw. Because that's insane. It really, yeah, it is. How do you expect me to get this much blood? Yeah. It's just not possible. I will say, though, we're continuing this trend in horror where the lecture pertains to the film. Yeah. Which is pretty cool. Yeah. So is this a reference to Halloween? Absolutely.
But Van Helsing's thumb lingers a bit too long at the bat's mouth and the small animal takes a bite. He pulls his finger back, joking. Cute little vermin, yeah? That was the Dutch, I guess. Right. It's peppered in. It's peppered in. But this only aids Van Helsing's lecture as he expounds that blood and the diseases of the blood, such as syphilis, are of great concern. He sucks the blood from his finger.
So he's evil. Yeah. I was like, aren't you just talking about disease? It's fine. But the bat just bit him. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Maybe, dude, maybe that's why he starts acting weird later. All right. I got the raping. You get him to a hospital. But Van Helsing explains that the very name venereal diseases, the diseases of Venus, imputes to them divine origin.
He says that they're involved in that sex problem about which the ethics and ideals of Christian civilization are concerned. He jokes that, in fact, civilization and civilization have advanced together. His students laugh, but the professor is promptly interrupted by his assistant, played by Cully Fredrickson, who brings him Seward's telegraph.
After looking it over and assessing its urgency, Van Helsing dismisses his class for the day, and they knock on the wooden desks in front of them, seemingly in applause for his lecture. But in the dawn of day, we return to Castle Dracula, thunder rumbling as clouds move across the sky, and we see blood trickling down an interior wall. But we find Jonathan resting shirtless in a dungeon, fresh wounds at his torso, as Dracula's wives caress and wrap their bodies around him.
It was funny to me the fact that Dracula just left and left Jonathan here. Yeah. He's like, you'll be fine. Yeah. They'll take care of him. In voiceover, Jonathan declares that it is Don. And this might be the last entry that he ever writes in his journal. What shocked me is that they're like, no, go ahead and write. It's fine. We'll be here. You can't leave, but they allow him. But he states that Dracula has left him with his brides, who he calls devils of the pit.
The golden glow of sunlight graces their skin as Jonathan explains that they drain his blood to keep him weak, barely alive so he can't escape. He then reveals his plan to try one last time to escape to the water. Again, just the proximity to the previous line is really funny. He says that he hopes that there will be a passageway to the river, away from this cursed land, where he says that the devil and his children still walk with earthly feet.
The camera glides downward to the floor of the pit, where a mural of Elisabetta is painted, and we see the face of Mina flash over it momentarily, the exact double of Dracula's dearly departed bride. I don't know how clear of a view Jonathan has of this. But I think the way that he was sobbing over that photo of Mina and this looking exactly like Mina. Maybe it should, we could put two and two together of something. Jonathan is not. Been on it. So I don't know.
But we rise disjointed through the grounds of Hillingham, the strings screeching Dracula's signature song, as we circle around the side of the manor, discovering worms making a meal of a dead rat at the bottom of a staircase. But exiting a stagecoach at the front of the manor... In a very beautiful homage to The Exorcist, Abraham Van Helsing has arrived, standing in a long coat and hat, clutching his bags as light pours outside from the windows. In voiceover...
Van Helsing attests that at this point, he became personally involved in these strange events. And it is in this moment that you're like, oh, yeah, he's been narrating the film. Yeah. He told us the story of Dracula, which is really cool. But just as the doors open in front of him.
We're suddenly seeing through the eyes of a creature who growls and makes his way through the garden. He creeps up the stairs toward the glass patio door of Lucy's bedroom, where we see Lucy writhing sensually in her red gown in her bed. But she looks up, finding Dracula standing at her window, well-dressed and tipping his hat to her. He's like, go ahead. She clutches her breasts, sliding her hands down her ribs and her stomach. But Dracula's arms beckon her upward and she rises to her knees.
Intercut are shots of red blood cells moving wildly beneath a microscope as Lucy moans passionately in her bed, once again resting on her back, with Dracula's looming shadow reaching across her wall. Its long fingered hand darkens a light over a bouquet resting in a vase on Lucy's bedside table, and the flowers wither in his ghastly grasp. Once again, I live for stuff like this. Yeah. That was cool because he is evil. Yeah. And dead. But downstairs.
Hobbs beckons Van Helsing inside the manor, where he's promptly greeted by an eager Seward, who takes his hat from him. Van Helsing, smoking a cigar, notes that he always comes to friends in need when they call, and he asks for the details of the case. Seward explains that Lucy has all of the usual physical signs of anemia, but her blood analyzes normal, even though it is not normal.
She manifests continued blood loss, but Seward is unable to trace the cause. Van Helsing is intrigued, but before he can learn more, a blood-curdling scream emanates from upstairs. Lucy shrieks, seemingly in more than one voice and in Romanian, as Seward leads Van Helsing through the hall into her bedroom. When they burst through the door, they find Lucy moaning in bed with her back arched and her breasts exposed, but she is all alone in the room.
Van Helsing orders Seward to close the patio door, which he does, but before he can, we watch as a long shadow recedes in the direction of the exit, leaving small drops of blood on the carpeted floor as it does. Like from his mouth? He's just wiping. But Van Helsing helps Lucy to her pillow as Seward attempts to cover her nakedness with a blanket.
The professor lifts her up, peering into her face as he laments her youth. As her moaning continues, Van Helsing inspects her face and neck, discovering the two puncture marks left behind by Dracula. Well aware of what this means, Van Helsing reacts swiftly, demanding a blood transfusion for Lucy as there's no time to be lost. The professor orders Seward to take his coat off and confirms that he remembers how to tie a tourniquet, which he does.
As the men move quickly through the room, closing the door and bringing Van Helsing's bag of supplies to a table next to Lucy, Seward asks if the professor has perfected a procedure. But Van Helsing denies this, stating that he's merely experimented. He recalls the Landsteiner's method, which he attempted with animals, goats, and sheep. As he reaches into his bag, Van Helsing explains that if hemolysis occurs in the blood donor serum, Lucy's red blood cells will explode and she will die.
As Lucy still moans in her bed, Seward prepares the tubing for the procedure, but Homewood arrives, kicking the door open, demanding to know what in God's name is going on here. I mean, he has every right to be concerned and confused. But also he told him to call Van Helsing. Yeah, he did. He did. And I guess we're not like overly concerned with blood types. Nah. I wanted that too. But just say, hey, she's fixing to explode.
And he's like, wait a minute. Only I can make her explode. I could be completely wrong, but I think the Lance Steiner's method that he mentioned, I think that was part of the discovery of blood types. Oh, wow. Well, good. Because this, you can't just. Yeah, no. We'll take any blood. You can't just put blood with blood. But Seward introduces Van Helsing to Lucy's fiance, explaining to Homewood that the professor is trying to save her life. Homewood shouts, good God. That's a lot.
But concern in his eyes, Homewood tries to get closer to Lucy, but Van Helsing holds him back. He puts it succinctly. Lucy is very ill. She is dying. She wants blood, and blood she must have. Van Helsing requests for Homewood to take off his coat and to roll up his sleeve, and he does as told, taking a seat next to Lucy.
Seward plunges a needle into Holmwood's vein as Van Helsing does the same for Lucy, and as Seward provides suction through a glass container, Lucy's blood is drawn from her body and through the rubber tubing. Did anyone else feel like he made that hurt a little bit extra when he put the needle in him? Yeah. I wonder why. Overcome at his fiance's agony.
Homewood declares that he would give his last drop of blood to save her. This impresses Van Helsing, who thanks him, and assures Homewood that he isn't asking for that much of his blood. Not yet. He did look really funny. Yeah. Like he was like, hmm. Like that's going to come in handy later. Good to know. But blood fills the glass as Homewood holds Lucy's hand and she continues to moan. But afterward, Seward, Holmwood, and Morris convene in the foggy garden outside of Lucy's bedroom.
As they stand at the fountain in the blue dark of evening, Homewood expresses his disbelief to Seward that Lucy has had the blood of two men put into her. Morris cries out, Man alive! Her whole body couldn't hold that much blood. Man alive just makes me think of Norm Macdonald. But Homewood helps a weak Morris to a seat on a bench as Morris wonders what could have taken her blood. Dramatically, from behind a tree, Van Helsing enters the frame, announcing that it is indeed an excellent question.
So this is when I was like, okay. You're going to be a lot of fun. You're a whole fucking character. Seward recounts the marks on Lucy's throat, but no disease, no triteration. but he's certain that the blood loss occurred there. The professor tests his former pupil, inquiring where the blood went in that case.
Seward stands puzzled, noting that if it were true, the bedclothes would be covered in blood. Van Helsing concurs, stating, You do not let your eyes see, nor your ears hear, that which you cannot account for. Seward sarcastically supposes that something went in there, sucked the blood from her, and flew away, perhaps? Morris chuckles at this notion, but Van Helsing isn't laughing, and he asks Seward, why not?
Does anyone else have a better explanation? No. It makes me think of the quote from Tenebrae where he's like, once you eliminate the impossible, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. But Homewood, however, has heard enough, demanding the doctors to kindly tell him what really is going on with Lucy. Bypassing Homewood completely.
Van Helsing reminds Seward that he is a scientist and he challenges him. Do you not think that there are things in this universe which you cannot understand which are true? He lists mesmerism, hypnotism. But Seward frustratedly turns away as he shouts that Van Helsing and Charcot proved hypnotism. But when he turns back to face Van Helsing,
whose voice still lists phenomena like materialization and astral bodies, the men discover that the professor is nowhere in sight. They creep confused over to where Van Helsing was standing. But from behind a very distant stone, Van Helsing reveals himself, casually striking a match to light his cigar. How the hell did he do that? I don't know. I don't know if he took off running when they were not looking.
Or if he's an illusionist. Okay, yeah, yeah. Confidently, Van Helsing inquires, you see? Seward admits that he feels like a blundering novice, but Van Helsing rallies them in. revealing that they're not fighting a disease in Lucy, but rather the marks made on her neck were made by something unspeakable. Dead, but not dead. A raven flutters by in front of Van Helsing, which draws the attention of the men and punctuates his speech quite well.
But Van Helsing continues that this creature stalks them for some dread purpose that he does not yet comprehend, and to live, it feeds on Lucy's precious blood. He curses it as a beast, a monster. And we abruptly cut to Count Dracula at Carfax Abbey, resting neck deep in the dirt of his homeland, his eyes white as an unearthly gas escapes his blood-soaked lips. That's the shot that I was talking about earlier. That is genuinely frightening. And then we just move on. Yeah.
I was like, what the fuck was happening? Yeah, I'm going to be honest. I wasn't frightened. I was confused. I thought he was in pain or something was wrong with them or he was changing from something back to being normal. I'm going to be honest. I had no idea.
what was happening i thought it looked pretty fucking creepy i i just i was confused yeah i think they were it was just to illustrate they're like he's a monster like yes he is precisely got it got it got it But sometime later, at Hillingham, Mina clears a meal tray from the side of a sleeping Lucy, placing it on her bedside table. As she reaches a hand to Lucy's forehead, Mina speaks in voiceover, wondering what is happening to Lucy and to her.
She laments that when she was younger, her feelings were never troubled, and she wishes that she could be herself again, the sensible Mina that she always depended on. We get a tight shot of Mina's eye. Her long eyelashes fanning as her lid opens, but in the dark pupil of her umber-colored iris, we match-cut to an overhead shot of a glass being filled with absinthe.
We hear the voice of Dracula describe the spirit as the aphrodisiac of the self, and another glass is poured, this time over the sugar cubes balancing on an absinthe spoon. And Dracula warns that the green fairy who lives in the absinthe wants your soul. It is a little funny that Dracula likes to get drunk. It's like, you drink this regularly, don't you? I feel like of all the spirits to imbibe, I feel like absinthe is the coolest for Dracula. It makes the most sense. It does fit. Yeah.
A red-sleeved hand reaches for the absinthe-soaked sugar, and we see that it belongs to Mina, who sucks the spirit from the cube, as Dracula assures her that she is safe with him. Seated across from each other under a bright chandelier in a parlor, Dracula smiles as Mina sips the absinthe from her glass. She inquires about his homeland, and we see swirling molecules interlaid over them. Dracula attesting that his home is the most beautiful land in all of creation. Mina concurs that it must be.
A land beyond a great vast forest surrounded by majestic mountains, lush vineyards, and flowers of such frailty and beauty as to be found nowhere else. Which feels like foreshadowing. Yeah. A dragon-shaped ring on his finger, Dracula waves his hand slowly in front of Mina, before swiftly appearing right next to her, noting with disbelief that she's described his home as if she's seen it firsthand.
As his signature strings rise in the score, Mina supposes that perhaps it's his voice which seems so familiar to her, like a voice in a dream she can't quite place, but it comforts her when she's alone. No, no, no. That was very specific. Yeah. It was. And also, doesn't it seem weird that you're hearing his voice when you're alone? Yeah. Can we talk about that part? This whole scene, I know that we're still going, but it was very odd to me.
Here when he's talking, when he's like, you are describing my home like you've been there before. Prior to that, I was almost like, is this a flashback of them 400 years ago? Oh, okay. Because her hair is down. She's in red. It's a plunging neckline. She looks complete. We never see Mina like this ever. It's as if she borrowed a dress from Lucy. Yeah. So I was a little confused at first. And then I realized that this is present day. And I don't know, man. I don't like it. I.
Get that it's probably the takeaway is probably supposed to be like she's a completely different person around him or she's the person that she once was all that time ago around him. But it's just it's a lot like it's a lot. No, I kind of feel the same way. I think it just for me, her seeing it and then the line.
It sounds like you've been there before. Are you putting those in her head? That's kind of why I'm like, if you're in a trance, are you really a descendant of his wife? What's happening here? And he's waving his hand around. I feel like it would work better as far as the romance is concerned if we
didn't have as much hypnosis. Yeah. Maybe. If it's just suddenly starting to arrive in her mind where she's like, you are familiar. Yeah. Who are you? And then it's more organic through her own, I guess. almost supernatural memory. Yeah. But instead he's like, drink this absinthe. Let me wave my hand over your face and stuff. So I don't know.
But when she says that it comforts her to hear his voice when she's alone, Dracula actually finishes this sentence with her, and she turns her face to him in surprise. They share a moment before Mina rises from her seat, stepping away from Dracula and asking him, what of the princess? Dracula stares off somberly, lost in the memory of Elisabetta's body.
pulled from the lake and resting on the castle floor with blood pouring from her lips. He sighs sharply, imagining his wife receiving the letter that rode an arrow into the castle walls and sealed her fate. Mina declares that there is always a princess with gowns flowing white. But horror finds Elizabetta as she appears between Mina and Dracula, and Dracula remembers his ride back to the castle after the battle's end, imagining his wife's solemn descent from the window to the water below.
Mina is overcome, muttering, her face is a river. As he faces away from Mina, Tears stream from Dracula's eyes, and Mina adds somberly that the princess is a river filled with tears of sadness and heartbreak. The phantom of his lost love over his shoulder Dracula rises from his seat, slowly approaching Mina as he reveals that there was a princess, Elisabetta, admiring her as the most radiant woman in all of the empires of the world.
Reaching Mina, he whispers into her ear that man's deceit took Elisabetta from her ancient prince, and that she leapt to her death into the river that Mina spoke of. He shares that in his mother's tongue... It's called Arges, or River Princess. Tears spill from Mina's eyes as Dracula caresses her cheek, wiping them away, and the music swells romantically.
Dracula shows that in his palm, rather than Mina's tears, are four small diamonds. She laughs as Dracula kisses her forehead. So again, minus the other stuff that shouldn't be there. This is beautiful. Yes. It is a gorgeous moment shared between these two characters. He crossed oceans of time to find her. All of this stuff. But I think, again, that's what makes it confusing is before.
The trance and the hands waving around. And then we get this, him being sad, remembering her talking, telling him, you know, about his wife or the princess. And then. the whole tears and all it's like dude that was really cool but yeah was she is she hypnotized still or is she yeah i think that's my my issue with this entire kind of aspect of The film is it is kind of this juxtaposition of it being so beautiful, so tragic, so romantic, but also being like, what the fuck is actually going on?
I will say that I did read the screenwriter, Hart. He... discovered this folktale surrounding the death of Vlad the Impaler's first wife. And he put it into the screenplay in this scene. So it is partially based in historical fact. Oh, wow. But we abruptly cut from this tender moment to thunder crackling loudly through the Carpathian Mountains, with Jonathan finally making his escape.
This is what I'm talking about. I don't know if this is supposed. I don't think it's supposed to be funny. I don't. think so but cutting back and forth between what dracula and mina are doing to him scaling this fucking made me laugh out loud But Jonathan stealthily climbs from a window and solid snakes across a narrow ledge. But he loses his footing, and in a very confusing bit of gravity, he falls left instead of down, sliding across the castle wall and plunging into the river below.
That looked really cool. Yeah. Is he in Fantasia? What the fuck was going on? They said laws of physics or whatever. I guess even outside the castle. As he crash lands, we return to Dracula and Mina, who slow dance together, surrounded by a circle of lit candles. It feels like insult injury. It is! Because it is! But in Transylvania, Jonathan rises from the river, crawling through the storm and the mud to discover the bright light of a crucifix carved in the window of a convent.
Just watching them slow dance and then we cut to him fucking Shawshank Redemption. I was like this. Somebody had a sense of humor. It can't just be me. As he stumbles toward the door. The voice of Sister Agatha, played by Digmar Stansova, is heard, reading from a letter written to Mina that is dated the 12th of August. I was like, God damn, how long he's been gone? Yeah. That was May. I think the 27th of May. I don't mean to laugh at him, but...
He's never come back. He never wrote again, I'm presuming. And she's having the time. Yeah. Yeah, we haven't heard her again say anything. No. He should have been back in June. Yeah. And she's with some dude turning her tears into diamonds. I think it's over. But her letter reads, Dear Madam. Your fiancé is safe and in the care of the good sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. As Jonathan is let inside from the storm, uncredited women in brown robes tend to him, and Sister Agatha continues,
Mr. Harker believes your life is in extreme danger and he desires with all urgency that you join him here so that you may immediately be married. So did he finally put two and two together? Why does he think her life is in danger? Yeah. Probably. Maybe he saw that mural on the floor. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Finally, he's like, oh, that does look like Mina. Maybe also because he hasn't seen Dracula in months. Or that.
But Mina rushes through the garden on a bright day at Hillingham after reading Sister Agatha's letter, but she stops at the rose-covered archway, whispering, My sweet prince. Jonathan must never know of us. When she said my sweet prince, I thought she was talking about Jonathan. Yeah. But she's like, no, it's Vlad. And also this is to herself.
Yeah. Yeah. But she catches her breath ascending the staircase to Lucy's bedroom, but she's headed off at the pass by Seward and Van Helsing, who introduces himself to her. As he holds her hands, Mina inquires about the health of her friend, and Van Helsing answers that Lucy is still very weak, but she's told him of Jonathan Harker and Mina's worry for him.
As he reaches a hand around the small of her back, Van Helsing admits that he too worries for all young lovers. But he then spins her around, leading her in a brief slow dance as he hums a waltz. This seems like just a bit of quirky character, but this makes me think of Dracula's waltz within the candles, like Van Helsing knows. Okay.
But as the dance comes to an abrupt stop, Van Helsing attests that there are darknesses in life and there are lights. He tells Mina that she is a light, the light of all lights. He then breathes her in, which is very Hannibal Lecter of him. Yeah. But he then unhands her and implores her to go see Lucy in her bedroom.
On a featurette, I learned that the breathing in of Mina's essence, it was Anthony Hopkins' idea. Okay. And the reason for it is because he said that Van Helsing smelled Dracula on her. That scene, I had questioned, when I was watching it, I was like, I thought that. I said, so is it him trying to smell where she's been? Or is he being a creep? Or I was like, I don't know what's going on.
The movie's still going. We're reserving judgment. See how it plays out. But I guess that does imply something. I still don't think that he should have played the priest. No. But Mina backs away from Van Helsing, and guided by Seward, she enters Lucy's bedroom. She sets up a phonograph, classical music emanating through its brass horn, as she joins a very pale and weak Lucy at her bedside.
Lucy's voice is low, but her spirit is high at the sight of her best friend, and she remarks that Mina looks different, positively radiant. She correctly guesses to Mina's excitement that she must have heard from Jonathan. And Mina reveals that her fiance is safe in a convent in Romania. And though he's suffering from a violent brain fever, which was not mentioned in the letter.
I was like, what did I miss? She says that the sisters are taking good care of him. She tells Lucy that Jonathan needs her. but she can't bring herself to leave Lucy's side. This made me laugh as well because she sure did leave Lucy's side to go. have a meal and slow dance with with her sweet friends yeah but she's like oh jonathan that's far dude like and there's plenty of people here to take care of
I feel like a decision has been made. No priorities have shifted. But struggling for her breath, Lucy implores Mina to go to Jonathan in Romania to love him, to marry him right then and there. She removes a gorgeous ring from her finger, insisting that Mina take it as her wedding gift. Mina is reluctant to accept such a gift, but Lucy continues her plea, telling Mina not to worry about her, that she'll be alright, and upon their reunion, for Mina to tell Jonathan, oceans of love.
Was that her engagement ring? oh shit i was like homewood's like what the fuck that yeah that absolutely was he'll get another one i don't know why homewood is just such like a not even a thought in my mind right now i was like well she's had this ring forever but she hasn't no and i will say oceans of love is what she said as they were arriving at the party but oceans it's it's a nod to what dracula said yeah right
Tears in her eyes, Mina leans forward to give Lucy a gentle kiss on her forehead. But at the window, we see not only that Morris has arrived greeting Seward on the patio, But that Van Helsing has been seated in a chair in the room watching this entire interaction. Did anyone else laugh? It's like, can you give us some privacy, please? And he has his hands over his stomach like he's studying. It's like, dude. I had no idea that he was in there.
As Mina stands from Lucy's bedside, she moves a vase of purple flowers closer to her friend, but in doing so, accidentally knocks down a wreath of garlic that was hanging on her lamp. Whispers pervade the area as Lucy writhes painfully in bed. She reaches for the vase, shattering it on the floor as she cries, This is why I can't breathe! Van Helsing and Seward approach her to hold her down on the mattress as she cowers away from them, Van Helsing assuring her that it's medicinal.
but she tears at the flowers at her necklace, screaming that it's garlic, nothing but common garlic. Seward attempts to soothe her by telling her that Morris is here to see her, and she immediately softens at the sight of him. As Mina rushes off to fetch some brandy at Seward's request, Morris holds Lucy's legs gently, sharing that Homewood sent him to check on her, and joking that if she doesn't get well, he might have to put her out of her misery.
like a lame horse. Not funny. I don't know why he's saying that. Oh, you. But clutching the hem of her shimmering skirt, Lucy whispers that Morris is such a... beast and she asks him sweetly for a kiss he leans forward and she beckons him closer But her eyes are not focused on his lips, rather the bulging vein at the side of his neck. She whispers, kiss me.
As she pulls him in tightly, fangs sprouting in her mouth as she hisses. But before she can feed, Van Helsing pulls Morris out of the way and leaps onto the bed to hold Lucy down. You just told on yourself. What are you? Yeah. With all these witnesses. Yeah. Someone's going to see that. Yeah. Just a little snack. It's like, we're all here. We all heard you. I will say more in line with the references to the artwork, the way that Lucy is holding.
Morris, with her red hair and she's about to bite him. It's a clear reference to the painting Vampire by Edvard Munch from, I think, 1895. Very cool. Morris, the fool. curses Van Helsing as an old coot. He's like, I was about to kiss her. But Seward has to hold him back from beating the professor's ass. Van Helsing, though, holding Lucy by the shoulders, orders her to sleep. And through the power of hypnosis, Lucy goes limp in his arms.
He lifts her up, her jaw hanging open slightly, but just enough for Van Helsing to point at the fangs jutting out just above her natural teeth. In an instant, Van Helsing understands what they're up against, whispering Nosferatu. We cut to an aged text, resting weathered upon a wooden table with a one-word title decorating its cover.
Vampyr. Van Helsing cracks it open, and as the camera rises above his research, he reads, Here occurs the shocking and frightening history of the wild, berserk Prince Dracula. Complete with illustrations within the text, Van Helsing continues that Dracula impaled people and roasted them, boiling their heads in a kettle. He skinned them alive and hacked them to pieces and drank their blood.
As he peruses a depiction of the Count, casually sitting in a chair, dining on the head of an enemy while surrounded by corpses resting on pikes, Van Helsing affirms, Ja, Dracul. Her blood is the life. And we fade from the pages to Count Dracula seated in a parlor. It's the same parlor where they were drinking absinthe. Mm-hmm. I guess that this is a part of Carfax Abbey or something. I don't know if this is a restaurant. I don't know what's going on because...
The person that comes in, it seems like a butler working for Dracula. Yeah. I don't know where this is. But he's been here twice now. Yeah. And he's always dressed very well when he goes here. He is. Yeah. So I don't know if Mina stood him up or. if it's at his home yeah i don't know i will say i want to give it up for that little mini research scene yeah very good i wonder if this is the book he was reading from that gave the
Beginning of the film. Could be, yeah. But Dracula sits in a pristine white suit lit by the flame of a candle, and he's promptly brought a letter on a silver platter by a man in a tuxedo. I love that he just couldn't hand him the letter. It had to be. Yeah. But Dracula opens it and Mina's voice addresses him. My dear prince, forgive me. I've received word from my fiance in Romania, and I am en route to him. We are to be married. I will never see you again. Mina. Dracula weeps openly.
His tears mixing with the ink on the page to stain it purple. And he is weeping. He's upset. In a minute. I will say it's sad for someone to be sad. so upset it is but the way that we abruptly cut from that scene after the tears hit the page it's kind of hilarious it is it's very hilarious It's like he did not take that well at all. But on the deck of a ship.
Mina tosses pages from her diary into the ocean, and as they float upon the surface of the water, she reveals in voiceover that she doesn't know how, but it feels as though her strange friend is with her, speaking to her in her thoughts. She admits that with him, she felt more alive than she ever had. But now, without him, soon to be a bride, she feels confused and lost. She wonders if though she tries to be good,
Perhaps she is bad. Perhaps she is a bad and constant woman. She then retrieves a large white glove from her belongings, holding it delicately to her face. This glove matches Dracula's current outfit. I was like, I don't know what the hell's going on. That's the thing. I feel like with their entire relationship, present day relationship. I feel like there's like missing reels. Like the way that she seems to be completely in love with him. Like, I know that we had that one scene, but it's just.
I feel like I just need more of what they were building. Yeah. Maybe that is why it was kind of confusing to me as well. Cause it does feel like we're shown these things. And again, sometimes it's confusing. Sometimes it's a love story. But as she holds the glove to her face, we return to Dracula, who holds Mina's letter to his face as he sobs, which was a cool parallel. Yeah. But we encircle him, now surrounded by candlelight.
But when he removes the letter from his face in an homage to Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast, he is revealed to be monstrous, his teeth sharp, his face wrinkled, and blood pouring like tears from his eyes. He's torn up. Not taking it well. But he snarls furious within a maze of candles as he seethes. Wins. WINS! WINS! The candles around him blow out, and we immediately cut to Van Helsing, who himself is surrounded by about a hundred candles at his desk, continuing his research.
A foul wind whips through the room, blowing out the candles as well and sending pages fluttering through the air. But Van Helsing rises from his chair, glancing down at a drawing of Dracula, attesting that this is the cause of his soul. It is Dracula! The undead. The foe he has pursued all his life. He cackles, crying out, Dracula!
It's a little ham-fisted. He's so excited, though. I love that part. I don't love the fact that it's like, oh, your whole life. My whole life. You've never spoken. I would think, honestly, if I come here and Lucy's showing these signs, the first thing I would say. to these dudes is like I think it's Dracula for sure yeah but it takes if it's your life's work yeah And then to read this book, and he's like, I know you, you bitch. And he already saw that picture. Yeah, he did.
But Van Helsing arrives at Hillingham, still cackling at the front entrance of the manor. As he rallies Seward to join him inside of the stagecoach, he implores Morris, who stands there with a repeating rifle, to guard Lucy with his life. This is when I'm like the fact that this is the assembled posse. Yeah. When we all had that one common goal.
like homewood is engaged to her but we're like no we're gonna we're gonna stick around we're gonna i feel like morris is a real one yeah he really puts himself in the line of danger a lot yeah If I'm not mistaken I think that's how it goes. They remain friends in the novel and everything. That's so funny to me.
But Van Helsing insists they're dealing with forces beyond all human experience and enormous power. He warns that if he doesn't guard her well, his precious Lucy will become, and I'm sorry, folks. A bitch of the devil, a whore of darkness. He hoots and hollers as he seizes Morris by the waist, seemingly humping his leg, I think. Yeah. I don't know what's happening, but Morris is like, get off! He admonishes Van Helsing as a sick old buzzard.
But sobering seriousness returns to him for a moment as Van Helsing beseeches Morris to hear him out, explaining that Lucy is not a random victim attacked by mere accident. She's a willing recruit, a breathless follower, a devoted disciple. She is the devil's concubine. Seizing Morris's coat, Van Helsing demands to know if he understands, and he says that they may still save her precious soul. but he says not on an empty stomach.
He cackles to Seward, I starve. Feed me. He's lost his mind. He's lost his fucking mind. He's having a lot of fun. It's that. If you do what you love, you never work a day in your life. But the carriage pulls away with Seward and Van Helsing inside, but in Lucy's bedroom, Holmwood sits drinking at her bedside, pointing a revolver to the patio window.
But we move through the perspective of Dracula through the dark, red roses wilting in his wake as he draws near. He rises disjointedly through the fog, feasting ferociously on some... uncredited bastard who just patrols the grounds i never saw this dude before it's not hobson yeah but he splatters his blood all over him and crawls over his corpse as he continues forward
In Lucy's bedroom, Homewood nods off, his glass of whiskey clattering to the floor and spilling across the rug. It's only the most important night of your life. Literally. I was like, you gotta love the gun in one hand and the liquor in the other, just slumped in. It's just like... Jesus Christ. This is your man. Yeah. But strings hum tensely in the score as Morris guards the staircase with his rifle slung over his shoulder.
But when wolves howl incessantly through the fog, Morris cocks his rifle and points it out toward the garden. But the cries of the animals awaken Lucy in her bed. Meanwhile... In a gorgeous Romanian church, a bearded man swings a thurible, its incense rising in the air as he leads a procession of religious figures down an aisle. toward the altar, where Jonathan stands in a black suit in front of a deacon played by Octavian Cadia. Jonathan turns to find Mina.
smiling brightly beneath her thin veil as she accompanies the men down the aisle towards her husband to be. But in London... Dracula spies Morris from the garden, slinking around the foggy staircase leading up to Lucy's bedroom, and when he ascends the steps, Morris fires at him. But the beast evades the bullet, barreling over him and reaching the window of Lucy's room. I don't know why I thought this killed him. Yeah. So when we see him later, I was like, oh.
Okay. It's kind of odd that he doesn't. Yeah. He's just like, get the fuck out of here. I'm not here for you. He just juked him. Yeah. Too fast. Does a spin move. But with psychic force. Homewood is hurled across the room from his chair as Lucy writhes out of her gown in her bed, filled to the brim with pleasure. But in Romania...
Mina joins Jonathan at the altar. The pair standing together as the religious figures chant a prayer, and the deacon places a wreath atop Jonathan's head, his hair now streaked gray throughout. He's been through some shit. Yeah. Dracula, however, rises in his aged form to Lucy's window, boasting that her impotent men with their foolish spells cannot protect her from his power.
As a wreath is crossed in front of a smiling Mina in Romania and it's placed on her head, Dracula stands in the London shadows, snarling to Lucy, I condemn you to a living death, to eternal hunger. For living blood. As Jonathan and Mina drink ceremonial wine from a golden chalice, Dracula roars viciously, crashing through Lucy's window and transforming into a black wolf.
He leaps onto Lucy's bed, sinking his sharp teeth into her throat as she screams, his fur coated in crimson, in an homage to The Shining. Take a shot. Buckets of blood splash across the room. But in Romania...
Jonathan and Mina are pronounced married and share a tender kiss at the altar as the music reaches a frenzied crescendo. Coppola said on commentary, I guess the people that they got to... make this mock ceremony for the production yeah we're actually doing all the proper rights of marriage in this church and he said basically officially
Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder were married. I remember hearing about that, but I didn't know it was because of this movie. Yeah, that's hilarious. But the following day. Mourners gather around Lucy, who rests inside of a glass coffin dressed in her gorgeous white wedding gown, which has now been repurposed as her funerary attire. I don't know if that is like tragically beautiful or like cruel. It's, it's very sad. It's very sad.
Coppola said as well this glass coffin is an homage to Snow White. Okay. But the camera pulls back, revealing a distraught Homewood among the mourners, as well as Morris and Seward, who stands at the foot of Lucy's coffin. From the foyer, Van Helsing whispers for Seward, and he turns his tear-soaked face to his mentor, who places a soothing hand at his back.
The minute he was like stage whispering him to come over there, I was like, whatever you're about to say now is not the fucking time. I know that now is not the time. Van Helsing is aware of how deeply Seward loved Lucy. and he says that this is why he must trust and believe him. But when Seward expresses his doubts, Van Helsing requests to be brought a set of post-mortem knives by nightfall. With grave concern, Seward asks,
An autopsy? For Lucy? Van Helsing attempts to ease Seward's worries, insisting that that's not exactly it. He just wants to remove her head and take her heart out. Van Helsing, please! Read the room. Seward breaks away from his mentor, returning to the side of his lost love. And I have to get the tools for you? Well, you're helping. I get it.
But at a station in London, Mina leads Jonathan through the crowded platform into a carriage outside on the streets. We hear her reading an entry from her diary in voiceover. 17th September. Poor Jonathan is still so ill but is cheered by the familiar streets of London. There is no place like London. That's what I hear. As Jonathan walks by her side with the aid of a cane.
and the married couple climbs into the stagecoach, Mina admits that for her, after Lucy's passing, it's a sad homecoming, as if part of her is dead too. except for the tiny hope that lives inside of her that she may once again see her prince. She claims that now that she's married, she begins to understand the nature of her feelings for her strange friend, who is always in her thoughts. That's why. Yes! You are helping your husband as you speak. She's like, oh, him, whatever.
As the stagecoach readies for its departure, the camera descends from on high at the other side of the street to find Dracula, darkly clad and eyeing Jonathan through the stagecoach window. Well, at least he's being subtle. Yeah. He was standing there like the Babadook and I was fucking laughing. Jonathan trembles with recognition and in a not so great line reading. he shudders is the man himself look he's grown young the carriage pulls away
Even they knew. Is that enough? The driver's like, I can't do this. But that night, by the lights of lanterns, Van Helsing, Seward, Morris, and Holmwood creep down the stone steps of the Hillingham crypt. As Van Helsing unpacks his post-mortem knives, Homewood wonders why they must desecrate Lucy's grave, remarking that she died horribly enough.
But Van Helsing insists that if Lucy is indeed dead, then no harm can be done to her. But he says that if she's not dead, then well. Yeah. Yeah. Homewood responds in confusion. asking if Van Helsing is insisting that Lucy has been buried alive. But Van Helsing corrects him that no, all he's saying is that Lucy is undead.
Homewood decries their actions as insane as the other three men pound their hammers to dislodge the large marble lid of Lucy's casket. I don't think I would have brought Homewood. No. I feel like either way, this is awful and devastating. Like the other two dudes are down, I guess. Maybe Homewood should have stayed at Homewood. Very good.
But with great effort, the men slide the lid over, revealing Lucy's glass coffin inside. But when Homewood peers down into it, we see that Lucy is nowhere to be found. The men appear puzzled in the light of their lanterns, all except for Van Helsing, who seems to have expected as such. Homewood demands to know where Lucy is, going so far as to draw a gun on Van Helsing and point it directly at his face as he shouts at him. Why did he say fuck me though?
I've been with you. Not only that, we just hit the locks off of this thing to open it. Yeah. Shouldn't that be enough? Yeah. Van Helsing calmly states that Lucy now lives beyond the grace of God and is a wanderer in the outer darkness. She is Vampyr Nosferatu. So in that treehouse of horror was Lisa Van Helsing? Yeah, that's the parallel.
But he explains that these beings do not die like the bee after the first sting, but instead grow strong and become immortal once infected by another Nosferatu. He waves Homewood's gun away as he addresses the men, revealing that they fight not one beast, but legions that go on, age after age after age, feeding on the blood of the living. But the men are soon interrupted by the cries of a child, which ring out from the top of the staircase leading into the mausoleum.
A shadow darkens the steps, and the men rush to hide at Van Helsing's insistence, but Holmwood stays behind for a moment, watching. as the undead Lucy descends the stairs, her long white wedding gown shimmering in the moonlight as an uncredited child clings to her tearfully. Homewood joins the men as they watch Lucy reach the bottom level with them, two candelabras at either side of her igniting as she crosses the threshold.
I really like that. Yes. Yeah. This whole sequence is beautiful. Yeah. Eerie sounds abound in the score as Lucy reaches her casket with the child in her arms. But Van Helsing and the men make their presence known. calling out to her and stepping out from their hiding place. Lucy drops the child as she turns to face the men, her face as pale as her gown, her fangs sharp, and her lips stained red with blood.
Seward scoops up the child from the ground and returns her to the safety of the men on the opposite side of the mausoleum. But beneath the lace of her gorgeous headdress, Lucy makes sensual eyes at her betrothed, beckoning him to join her, to leave the others and come to her. Homewood meets her gaze, almost as if in a trance, slowly sinking to his knees as Lucy whispers, My arms are hungry for you, my darling. Kiss me and caress me.
She begs him, her voice joined softly by many others, but Lucy shrieks as Van Helsing reveals a crucifix, holding it to her face as he shouts that they are strong in the Lord with the power of his might. Lucy hisses, cowering away from the cross and over toward her coffin. As Van Helsing repeats his prayer, Lucy climbs into the coffin backwards in a very unsettling manner to rest calmly inside with her eyes closed I loved that yeah it is brilliant
I do want to finally talk about this dress. Okay. So... This idea is, of course, the creation of Ishioka. And what she did is absolutely gorgeous. The intent of the style of the dress was, of course, to mimic the time. But the idea... behind this collar was to put you in the mind of the frilled neck lizard. Oh, okay. And it was also a bit of a callback to Dracula's order of the dragon. And so her turning into a vampire was supposed to echo Dracula's history. But the interesting thing is that...
It was always intended for Lucy, once she became a vampire, to kind of mimic the movements of a snake. And so that also is represented in the lizard kind of garb. But... the costume itself was far too heavy and too frilly and fluffed to mimic any of those movements. And so the actress tried, but it just wouldn't work. And so Ishioka was like...
well, do you want me to change the design of the dress? And Kobo was like, fuck no. It's like the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. And so they kept the design of the dress, but they gave her... these moments of this backwards movement where she crawls almost like a lizard to give enough of that idea that they had had initially. Yeah. And there's a moment that comes in just a moment that is like a snake's venom.
Okay. As Van Helsing recites a prayer in Latin, Lucy suddenly rises from her coffin, spewing blood from her lips, which covers the professor's face, but he continues unabated, shouting, I bring you from shadow into the light, casting out the prince of darkness into hell. With Lucy now resting quietly in her coffin, Van Helsing hands an iron stake to Homewood, directing him to place it over Lucy's heart, promising that it will only take a moment of courage. Why make him do it?
That was my question. Yeah, I wondered that too. I get that that's her old man or whatever, but it's also... Does it have to be or can one of you guys do it? Because this is really hard. Yeah. I know my wife's a vampire now and she's not my wife anymore, but it still kind of looks like my wife. So I really don't want to do this.
Van Helsing instructs Homewood to strike it in God's name, and Homewood follows his direction, bringing the hammer down with a howl, as Seward is unable to watch and Morris looks on tearful. With a sharp blade, Van Helsing severs Lucy's head, blood spraying from her neck and staining her once pristine collar.
But just as she is vanquished, we're taken to Carfax Abbey, where Dracula awakens in the dirt, snarling furiously into the night, and we watch as Lucy's head tumbles detached through darkness. god damn yeah but that's exactly what he said he was gonna do yeah but it's one it's one thing to talk about But from this gory display, we seemingly match cut to a restaurant with a very rare looking prime rib placed onto a table.
We see that it's parked in front of Van Helsing, who sits across from Mina and an even more gray-haired Jonathan. Van Helsing saws at the meat with his knife, imploring the married couple to eat as they'll need their strength for the dark days ahead. So if you're wanting us to eat, we should probably have some like chill conversation while we eat, right? One would think. So that it's easier.
He politely serves them first, placing the sliced meat onto their plates as Mina asks the professor exactly how Lucy died. I, of course, thought... Van Helsing would spare her feelings. Yeah. But Van Helsing coldly recounts, yes, she was in great pain. Then we cut off her head and drove a stake through her heart and burned it. And then she found peace. Thanks. Mina's demeanor shifts as she covers her mouth in shock, Jonathan scolding Van Helsing for his lack of tact.
But the professor is hardly bothered, shifting his focus instead to Jonathan. If I were you, Jonathan, I'd be real quick. It's like, oh, you want some of this too? Van Helsing inquires as his doctor, during his infidelity with the demonic women of Dracula's castle, did he for one instant taste their blood? So he told him? I guess. He was like, that was incompetent. How would he know? It seems like he told Mina too. Yeah. Because she's like, it's okay.
We know what you did. She's like, I was getting impelled too while you were gone. All right. All right. Jonathan answers that he didn't, repeating himself when asked again. And after Van Helsing downs his mug of dark beer, he rejoices the fact that Jonathan has not infected his blood with the terrible disease that destroyed poor Lucy.
When he asks to be sure, it's like, I'm sure there were a lot of fluids flying around. It was a frenzy in there, I know. He's like, you're just trying to cut off my head, aren't you? Yeah, just come on, man. But Jonathan lowers his head, reliving the trauma he suffered at the hands and fangs of Dracula's brides.
But after Mina kisses him sweetly on the cheek, Jonathan summons the strength to continue, imploring Van Helsing to understand that he doubted everything, even his mind. He reveals that he was impotent with fear. Van Helsing spears food on his fork, offering a nonchalant. I know. But Jonathan goes on. And after slicing a bit of food for himself, he announces, once again, very poorly. I know where the bastard sleeps. I brought him there.
to Cofax Abby. Poor thing. I have to say I have been saying this for weeks. Like a song stuck in my head I'll be brushing my teeth and I'll stop. And be like, I know. Like, it's stuck in there bad. I don't know what to do, guys. It deserves to be. You're just going to have to let it in. Like, I don't know what to tell you. I think even more what astounds me is like Coppola sees this through the monitor and he's like, print. That's it. Yeah, that's the one.
But as the camera presses in on him, Van Helsing declares that vampires do exist. And this one they fight, this one they face, has the strength of 20 or more people. But he can also control the meaner things in life, the bat, the rodent, the wolf. He can appear as mist, as vapor, as fog, and vanish at will. All of these things Dracula can do.
But he is not free. He must rest in the sacred earth of his homeland to gain his evil power. And Van Helsing says that it is here that they must find him and destroy him utterly. I will be honest. I had forgot or I didn't realize how OP Dracula was. Yeah. Because earlier when he was trying to pretend to be Storm and he's like, wins or whatever. I was like, you can control the fucking. weather no it's pretty wild yeah I was like god damn
It's weird. Are you a mutant? It's just very strange. It's a lot. I always thought with Dracula that he could control the self and to hypnotize others. Right. I had no fucking idea about that. Yeah. That he can... I mean, that ship was really in a rough spot. But we watch as in the night, our entire group gathers outside of Carfax Abbey. Mina, Jonathan, Van Helsing, Seward, Morris, and Homewood.
They bear rifles and blades, each of them stealing the fire from Van Helsing's torch to light their own, all except for Mina, who stands lightless and without a weapon. Which to me, that sucks. Yeah. Because all the shit that she's been through, I want to see her take that active role here. Oh, yeah. Why shouldn't she get the chance to be a part of this posse? She's a woman. I don't like it. That's it. But Mina laments that she almost feels pity for anything as hunted as the Count.
And Jonathan wonders how she could possibly pity such a creature. And that is like, that's, that's a red flag. It's a wild thing to say. What the hell are you talking about? Seward, however, suggests that he take Mina to his quarters in the asylum as she'll be much safer there. But we see from his window at the asylum, just over the courtyard, Renfield wrenching at the bars, screaming madly into the night. Seeing Renfield here, I was like, damn, he really just left that dude to rot. Yeah.
That's fucked up. He's been here for months. Yeah. Just waiting. In 1931 Dracula, didn't he go outside of the asylum and he's like, you're embarrassing me. He went to talk to him. He did talk to him. I thought. As Seward leads Mina away, Van Helsing assesses that Morris' rifle will have no effect on Dracula, proposing instead that he use his large bowie knife. But Morris admits that he wasn't planning on getting that close to Dracula, which inspires hearty laughter from Van Helsing.
But the golden glow of their lanterns guide the men into Dracula's home at Carfax Abbey, trailed by a bearded man with two dogs on leashes. I don't know who the hell this guy is. If he's... Selford Hitchcock. But Renfield continues crying out for his master, only to be pulled away from the window by a pair of guards. As Seward guides Mina through the halls of the asylum, Renfield's mournful cries ring out, Before they can reach his office, Mina grows curious, desiring to know who that man is.
Seward explains that it's Mr. Renfield, but he urges her onward, insisting that this is no place for Mina. Then why'd you bring her here? Yeah. He's like, we gotta go through here to get to work. But Mina resolves that she must see him, and as she joins Renfield at the bars of his cell, Seward warns Renfield to behave himself. He introduces Renfield to Mina, and they bid each other good evening.
Renfield acknowledging that he's been rather naughty, but he reveals that he knows Mina. She's the bride that his master covets. ixnay on the oven game which is honestly really funny because dracula hasn't seen renfield but he's sending him thoughts he knows he knows it's like calling a friend after a date i guess i love her so much
But Mina reminds Renfield that she already has a husband and that she is Mrs. Harker. But Renfield continues that his master tells him about her and that he's coming, that he's coming for her. As he sinks to his knees, Mina follows him through the bars, and he pleads with her from his heart through shuddering breaths. Please do not stay here. Get away from these men.
or I pray to God I might never see your sweet face again. Reaching their feet together, Renfield adds, and may the Lord bless and keep you. He softly kisses her hand that rests on the bars of his cell, and Mina gently caresses his cheek for a moment before she's pulled away by Seward and taken to his office.
It did make me laugh when she's crouched down and listening to Renfield. Out of focus behind her, Seward is taking notes on his notepad. He's like, I don't know about that. He's still in my patient. I will say that I did read Winona Ryder was a huge fan of Tom Waits' music. And so she was super excited to be on set with him. And sometimes on break, he would play piano and sing songs for them. Oh, that's cool.
I was surprised too. Is he helping her? Yeah. Yeah. I think he's fucking pissed until he says. Yeah. Well, he's pissed, but at the wrong. Yeah. Renfield cries out offended. Master, you promised me eternal life, but you give it to the pretty woman? He then insists to Seward that he is no lunatic. He is a sane man fighting for his soul.
But through his office, Seward leads Mina to a second floor and into his quarters. And after showing her around his modest abode, he kisses her hand, promising her that she'll be completely safe here. As he exits to rejoin the men at Carfax Abbey, closing the door behind him,
Mina crosses the quarters to peer out of the window into the dark of the evening to overlook Dracula's property. And no, I don't understand how you can see Dracula's property from this side of the building as well as Renfield's window. I don't know. It's his powers. Yeah, Dracula's magic, dude.
But the men reach Dracula's property, their torchlight leading them through the dilapidated structure of broken columns, dust, and debris, where they find Dracula's sealed crates of dirt under the glow of green light. But unbeknownst to the men, Dracula perches above them on the ceiling, upside down in weight. He once again appears monstrous, but now his ears are pointed, winged arms are crossed in front of his chest, and his visage resembles that of a bat.
So in that interview with Canem, he said that it was Gary Oldman's idea to have this bat version hanging from the ceiling. I guess that it wasn't. supposed to look like this initially. So he said that they built a two foot miniature bat creature to show to Coppola to try to get him on board.
He said and he said that he would say this a lot when they would show him makeups. I have to have it. That's what he would tell them. So the only thing was that and I'm not sure if it's here or when we see this look. very shortly um that set was going to be torn down to make another one so they only had four weeks to build this suit
Oh wow. He said that they spent one week casting Gary Oldman and three weeks sculpting the suit. And it was basically the same spandex situation as the Wolfman suit. Okay. But this one was a little more difficult for Gary Oldman because his nose was smashed by the face piece and he couldn't breathe out of his nostrils. He had the teeth in that reshaped his mouth and like.
big and hard contacts in his eyes so he really went through it but they said that he loved the look and that the bat application and the wolf application
Each took about two and a half hours to put on. Oh, wow. Damn. I honestly, I would have thought it would have taken a lot longer. Yeah. That's what he said in that interview. I was impressed. It looks... fucking phenomenal yeah i i think that this might be my favorite moment of makeup in the film is seeing him like this i think it's the most successful creature of the ones that we see oh yeah i agree it is
gross and creepy like it is really fucking cool and you think dracula you i don't think wolf i think bat right yeah and so this was a treat Something that just struck me, I know I'm doubling back quite a bit, but I know that Jonathan's been through a lot, but the whole thing with I Know Where the Bastard Sleeps, Carfax Abbey, I brought him there. Yeah.
He did not bring him. No, he didn't. Like he has not even been around. He never saw him in Carfax Abbey. He doesn't know anything. That's actually fucking hilarious. Cause I was like, yeah, he did sign that deal. Yeah. And Dracula bought 10 things. yeah so that's really funny they put Keanu through that line reading and then it's not it's not even true it's probably that brain fever yeah which we never discuss again he's getting a little confused
But with their torches planted in the few remaining columns, Van Helsing gives the order for the men to destroy every box, sterilize the earth inside, and to leave Dracula no refuge. He announces Let the exorcism begin. The men begin their destruction of Dracula's crates, and seeing as they are preoccupied, the fiend flies free from his perch and across the courtyard, directly toward the asylum.
Oh, God. Mina rises from her chambers within Seward's quarters wearing a white nightgown. This surprised me. Nobody said go to sleep. She's like, it'll all be over in the morning. I get it. I get it. But that's wild. That's really funny. But she approaches the window, watching fearfully as a green fog descends down a path leading away from the abbey and right toward the asylum windows.
As the green mist pours into Renfield's cell, Dracula's deep voice addresses his subordinate. Renfield, you have betrayed me. I have been singing your praises for months. Now is what you choose to focus on. Now you come and see me. Renfield clatters to the floor, cowering in the corner of his padded cell, insisting that he would never, swearing his loyalty to the Count. But as the green glow surrounds him, Renfield is thrown forcefully into the bars of his cell again and again and again.
Not a very refined attack. I was actually disappointed in Dracula. I said, hey, it could have been a lot worse. It could have. This was pretty tame. To beat his ass? Yeah. Environmentally? But back at the Abbey, the men place lit candles and crucifixes into the ancestral dirt as Van Helsing consults the proper Latin text to conduct the exorcism.
The men continue their destruction, smashing through the crates with heavy axes, and Van Helsing crosses the dirt before him with holy water. The evil within the soil sizzles, and a white snake slithers away from the mound. But Dracula's ghastly green fog finds Mina in her bed, pouring in through her opened window, across the floor and under her blankets.
And I guess Renfield's just dead. I guess that's it. Yeah, that's it. That's a picture wrap on Renfield. We never see him again or hear from him. Yeah, I thought he killed him. But we never see him die. We just see him get his ass beat. Yeah. It was enough. Like he's bleeding internally. Yeah.
I did want to say the green mist. They shot first the room. Okay. And then they shot the mist against the black background and they followed the camera motion identically and put it together as a composite. It looks cool. It looks great. I would never think that it's not actually interacting with that environment. Yeah, me too. I was very surprised. But it's like we talked about on Coraline with all that fog.
shit that they can do it's it's amazing yeah it was funny because coppola he's like you know i thought roman was gonna get nominated for an oscar for the effects work that he did but then he started talking shit about the academy after he's like because they will they would never do something like all right
All right, ma'am. Sorry. Damn. After you won three out of four. I was gonna say, didn't you win three out of four? Yeah, buddy. Okay. All right. But through her sleep, Mina whispers, oh yes, my love, you found me. Dracula proclaims Mina to be his most precious life, and Mina admits that she wanted this to happen, breathing that she wants to be with him always.
Dracula expresses disbelief, but Mina assures him that she's aware of what she's saying, and the Count suddenly materializes in her bed, appearing youthful once again as he rests on top of her. He kisses down Mina's body, her breasts to her stomach, as she reveals that she feared she would never see him again, assuming him to have been dead. But Dracula lifts her up to him.
Pressing her hand to his rhythmless heart and proclaiming that there is no life within his body. Mina pulls her hand back, gasping. Puzzled at how he can be alive before her with no life inside of him. She demands to know what he is. Her breath's shuddering. Dracula turns away from her, unable to meet her gaze, as he laments sorrowfully, I am nothing, lifeless, soulless, hated, and feared.
He confesses that he is dead to all the world, pleading with Mina to hear him. He continues that he is the monster that breathing men would kill. He is Dracula. The Count clutches the bed frame as Mina, realization dawning, begins to batter him. As Dracula seizes her, she sobs. You murdered Lucy! As she struggles against him, she suddenly softens, regretfully admitting I love you and pleading the Lord's forgiveness. What?
is happening yeah i he didn't eat the last piece of pizza he killed your friend killed your best friend a little more angry than that that and also the fact of i guess van helsing did not spell it out for her at all Yeah, I guess. Or is it just a matter of she's like, no, that's Vlad. Yeah, that's a totally different person. As strings solemnly sing in the score, Van Helsing continues his prayer at Carfax Abbey as the men set fire to the remnants of the destroyed crates.
The fire rages higher, but its heat is unmatched by the embrace that Mina shares with Dracula in her bed. She begs to become what he is, to see what he sees, to love what he loves. Dracula caresses her face, warning that to walk with him, she must die to her breathing life and be reborn to his. Her hands tender at his chest, Mina confesses, You are my love and my life always.
At this, Dracula takes Mina into his arms, and gazing lovingly into her eyes, promises to give her life eternal, everlasting love, the power of the storm, and the beasts of the earth. He implores Mina to walk with him, to be his loving wife forever. Mina emphatically accepts his offer and as soon as she does, Dracula sinks his fangs into her throat.
He drinks from her for a mere moment before retreating from her neck, tearing his shirt open and slashing a wound into his chest with a sharp fingernail. He instructs her to drink from him to attain eternal life. And Mina does as told, pressing her lips to his chest, imbibing his promised eternity as she moans. But suddenly...
Dracula's face sours as he's overcome with the gravity of what he's asking of her. He declares that he cannot let this be, and he stops her from drinking his blood. It's already happening! Would that turn her into a Renfield? I don't know. Yeah, just go all the way then. Keep drinking, please. Literally. We can't have two. Well, there's only one. The position needs to be filled.
But Mina doesn't care, demanding that he make her his. But Dracula beseeches her, warning that she will be as cursed as he is and will walk in the shadow of death for all eternity. He whispers, full of pain, I love you too much to condemn you. But gazing unwaveringly into his eyes, Mina begs Dracula to take her away from all of this death.
This absolutely stuns the Count, and he allows her to continue feeding from him. The score swells romantically as she drinks his blood, and Dracula really enjoys it. He does. He embraces her after I'm pretty sure he has an orgasm. Well, you know, they were doing adult stuff. Where did we think this was going? But their afterglow is interrupted when Dracula senses the arrival of the men.
Led by Jonathan, they burst into Seward's quarters to find Mina kneeling in her bed, caressing and drinking from an unseen specter. I was like, how fucking embarrassing. Like, are you practicing? What the fuck? Mina? But seeing her face covered in blood, Jonathan weakly cries the name of his wife. But perched upside down from the ceiling, Dracula emerges shrieking once again as a vampire bat.
He stands monstrous before the men who brandish their weapons to him as Van Helsing reveals his crucifix and recites a prayer in Latin. Dracula seethes. You think you can destroy me with your idols? He growls, stomping his feet as he hisses at Van Helsing, the crucifix in his hand catching fire. Van Helsing cries, sacred blood of Christ, as he tosses the crucifix away and falls to the floor. He wasn't ready. But Dracula rages.
I who served the cross, I who commanded nations hundreds of years before you were born. Jonathan helps Van Helsing to his feet, the professor rebutting that Dracula's armies were defeated. and that he tortured and impaled thousands of people. Dracula spits back, I was betrayed. Holding his arms at his side to display his grotesque form, he implores, Look what your God has done to me. But Van Helsing insists that Dracula's war with God is over and that he must pay for his crimes.
He pocket sands him with some holy water. Dracula crumbling to his knees. But just as Jonathan rescues Mina from the bed and brings her over to the men, Dracula announces that Mina is now his bride. Jonathan weakly shouts, No. Just looking around. She's going to take her. I know he's doing his best, but. He raises his gun against Mina's protests and fires at Dracula. The beast catches a bullet in his chest and he retreats into the shadows, his red glowing eyes shining brightly through the dark.
Van Helsing orders Homewood to shine a lamp into the darkness, and as soon as he does, Dracula's red eyes disappear, and his frame is replaced by dozens of rats in his exact shape. I loved that. Oh, yeah. That was so fucking cool. I want to know how they did that. Yeah, that was amazing from him being that giant bat, then running in there, and it was so fluid. Yeah.
It was fucking great. That flash of the light, and it's literally exactly. Yeah. Love it. But they tumble to the floor, racing across it and nipping at Mina's bare feet. She mutters, unclean. unclean which is really funny to have the wherewithal to say that well yeah but is she talking about herself oh mate i don't know i thought she was talking about the like plague that's hilarious it's your boyfriend it's like dude he just grosses him
I think things might have changed when she saw him in that bat form. Maybe. She hadn't seen that before. She's like, wait, he's a man and then he's a bat and then he's 500 rats in a suit. I don't know what's going on. This is all unclean. I got to catch up. But the rats escape through the opened window, and Jonathan shouts that they must be burned. But as Carfax Abbey burns brightly in the distance, Van Helsing declares that they have learned something tonight. Dracula fears them.
I don't know how you got that from what just happened. I got the exact opposite. Yeah. But he adds that Dracula fears time. For if not, why does he hurry so? He's been... He's immortal. Time is always on its own. He'll wait you out. Mina's voice laments that Dracula is gone. and we press in through a window of the abbey to discover that resting on the ground lit by the raging fire is Jonathan's framed photograph of Mina that he took with him to Transylvania.
Dracula fucking stole that and took it with him. That's hilarious. Well, he needed something. He's like, yep, that's her. That's right. But we press in on it. Match cutting. beautifully to Mina recovering in a bed. We see Dracula cradling her before promptly disappearing, leaving only Mina and Van Helsing in the room, the professor remarking that the Count has a strong mind connection with her.
He comments that Dracula's heart was strong enough to survive the grave. And Mina realizes that Van Helsing admires Dracula. And Van Helsing admits that he does, adding that in his life, the Count was a most remarkable man. His mind was great and powerful, but greater is the necessity to stamp him out and destroy him utterly.
Yeah, I thought he was a monster. Yeah. You said a lot of things that he did. And you're like, he was great. It's like, where was that? Jebediah Springfield? He was really great. you know what i'm wondering i'm wondering if maybe he was great and then he did the whole you know stabbing the crucifix thing yeah and then that's when the stuff started well i would love to be shown that yeah
But Mina is well aware that she's becoming like Dracula, but Van Helsing assures her that her salvation is his destruction. I think that's a great line. I would have loved for that to be switched. His destruction is your salvation. I think is a better. Yeah. Yeah. Not to nitpick, but he says that this is why he wants to hypnotize her so she can help him find Dracula before it's too late.
He implores her to look into the flame of a candle he holds in his hand to feel her eyes growing heavy. And at his direction, Mina slips into sleep. She immediately hears the calls of Dracula. and as Van Helsing raises his hand over her face, he asks to know what she hears. Mina gasps, and she sees waves crashing in the ocean before her mind's eye takes her to the crowded cargo hold of a ship.
Mina realizes that Dracula is traveling through icy seas to his beloved home, and there he will grow strong again. We find Dracula resting old and weary inside of a crate as Mina declares that she is coming to partake of his strength. We then cut to the steel wheels of a steam-powered locomotive barreling down the train tracks, as Jonathan narrates from his October 28th journal entry that they left London by train and crossed the English Channel that very night.
and stormy seas, which he assumes to be caused by the passage of the Count's ship. Jonathan notes that though Dracula controls the winds, they still have the advantage, as by train they can reach the Romanian port in Varna in three days, while by ship it will take Dracula at least a week. i something we talk about real estate being a part of it being kind of wild yeah travel times yeah i my my thought here was you we have just
I'm still stuck on the rats in the suit. You have just shown me so much. Now is not the time to pause for a geography lesson.
yeah and we do see the map and i'll get to it yeah i'm really watching it i was like i guess what luck you know what he where he's going so you know what to do it is also funny that he's like yeah he can control the winds it's still gonna take him about a week it's like where are you getting that i i guess because he doesn't have any more dirt to get his power but he's also yes but he's also still controlling the winds
But at the same time, it's just funny that Jonathan's like, look, there's only so many routes he can take. Yeah. He's taking too much as like facts. We don't know what the fuck is going on. No. You just saw him in bat form. He could fly.
back like you don't know what's going on he's like but by the bat's wings it's gonna be yes yes he can control the wings as the bat flies i believe a week like this is not we need to keep the momentum going he's like if a train is going 60 miles per hour no and also we are trusting Mina very very much to know that he is on a ship just based on what she sees in her mind's eye yes
That's true. Again, we're taking too much as fact. But Jonathan, resting in a private cabin inside of the train, glances over at Van Helsing, Seward, Morris, and Holmwood, all of whom stand pensive at his right. But visualized on a map of Europe, we see their path marked by golden tracks on land, from Paris through the Alps to Budapest, while the Count makes a roundabout route through the ocean, around the Rock of Gibraltar.
where they have posted a lookout and on through the Black Sea port in Varna, where Jonathan reveals that they will meet the Count's ship and burn it into the sea. Was this needed? He's like, so we're going to go this way. It's John Madden again, dude. Yeah. But the train whistles down the tracks, steam rising high into the sky. But Mina, who rests within the locomotive, whispers in her state of hypnosis, Home. Home.
Then Helsing, who sits by her side, turns to the men, recounting that the vampire has baptized her with his own blood, and her blood is dying. Seward suggests attempting a transfusion and has already gathered the necessary materials, but Van Helsing laments that there is no use. Mina gasps and coughs herself awake, and Jonathan tends to her, clutching her hands. Sweat shimmering on his forehead, Jonathan promises his wife that he will not let her go into the unknown alone.
Mina reaches for his face regretfully asking, Oh my poor dear Jonathan, what have I done to you? But Jonathan accepts the blame, admitting that he has done this to both of them. Mina rests woefully and through heaving breaths, cries that she can hear Dracula calling to her. Jonathan pleads for her to stay with him. and Mina shivers from the cold of Dracula's clutches, reaching for the lapels of her husband's coat.
As the piano pounds darkly in the score, we watch as the black ship carrying Dracula sails across the sea, but we are then taken to a train station in Varna, where the train has stopped. Van Helsing narrates that at noon, Holmwood received a wire from his clerk at Lloyd's that the Count's ship sailed past them in the night fog to the northern port of Galatz. What?
Van Helsing laments that the Count is reading Mina's mind. I was like, is he piloting the ship? He's like, no, guys, go this way. I feel like... You're exactly right that they were taking too much for granted. I don't know why they thought that they would beat him. At all. But the group gathered together on the train with a few of the men carving sharp stakes. Homewood crumbles defeated into a chair, wondering how they can possibly catch Dracula now.
But consulting a map in front of him, Jonathan has a plan. From Varna to Galatz is about 200 miles, and he posits that with their horses, they can cut Dracula off and reach him before he reaches the castle. He suggests dispatching Van Helsing straight to Borgo Pass so that if he and his men fail in their task, Van Helsing himself can finish Dracula.
We get an exterior shot of the train in the morning light, a mountain range large on the left, as Jonathan explains that at this point, Van Helsing and Mina departed the train for a carriage, while he and the rest of the men stayed on the train. toward Galatz, where they still hope to intercept the Count before he arrives on land. But Jonathan expresses his fear for Mina as she has now become their decoy.
But we watch as a black horse carries a small carriage through snowy terrain past Borgo Pass, eventually reaching the precarious mountain path that Jonathan rode many months ago. curving around the bend as Dracula's castle looms massive in the distance through a veil of snowfall. I will say it was very interesting. Again, Mina, whenever she thought of the castle, she saw snow. Yeah. Okay. But Mina.
Riding passenger to Van Helsing in the carriage recognizes this place, which the professor calls the end of the world. Frazzled! Mina insists that they must go on, despite Van Helsing's suggestion that she rest for the evening and we watch as the pair wrestle over the reins. But Jonathan and his men...
now on horseback, ride through a chilly forest, Jonathan narrating that they have passed Bistritza and regretfully relaying that Dracula has outsmarted them once again. Imagine, imagine. I do gotta... wonder when this has got to be what the third time how much longer are we going to do this before we rethink what we're doing guys let's just keep underestimating him shame on me yeah
The map interlaid over the men's ride. Jonathan reveals that Dracula's men took charge of the vampire's box in Galatz and are now on the Borgo Pass Road. I do want to say, I don't know how Jonathan knows this. Because he's not with Mina to have this inside knowledge. Yeah. Maybe she texted him. He's like, damn it. Everyone else is like, what? He's like, dude, he did it again.
I don't know how he keeps doing this. But near the castle grounds in the Carpathian Mountains, Van Helsing has set up camp for he and Mina, a campfire and torchlights raging brightly around them through the dark. When Van Helsing attempts to bring Mina a plate of food, imploring her to eat, she knocks it out of his hands, shouting that she isn't hungry. She crawls feral across the ground, but the whispers of Dracula's brides suddenly surround the camp, overwhelming her.
Mina screams in agony, tearing at her clothes, and Van Helsing seems to become entranced by their presence. In quick flashes within the flames, the brides appear, whispering to Mina in Romanian as she convulses on the snowy ground. But suddenly, Mina rises to her feet, facing away from Van Helsing. calmness returning to her as she intones, you've been so good to me, professor. Van Helsing appears blurry behind her, swaying in a very Mortal Kombat finish him kind of way.
Mina paused at her breasts through her clothes before turning to face Van Helsing and inching her way closer to him. She claims to know that Lucy harbored secret desires for him and reveals that she too knows what men desire. Is that true? Because Lucy was dying by the time she met him. So that's really funny. She's like a fourth suitor.
Van Helsing closes the gap between them, meeting Mina's lips with a passionate kiss before sinking to his knees to kiss Mina's breasts. But peering down at him, Mina accuses. Will you cut off my head and drive a stake through my heart as you did poor Lucy, you murdering bastard? She bares her fangs, but before she can sink them into Van Helsing's throat, he pulls away from her, screaming. He shouts, no, not while I live.
And as Dracula's brides rise amidst a pulsing red fog, he reminds Mina that he's sworn to protect her. When she creeps closer to him with hunger in her eyes, Van Helsing recites a prayer in Latin, seizing a communion wafer from his pocket and pressing it into Mina's forehead. The wafer sizzles as Mina roars in pain, recoiling from the professor. Lights glimmer around the Brides of Dracula as Van Helsing snaps into action, igniting a protective circle of fire around him and Mina.
He holds his torch out to the brides as they taunt and curse him in Romanian, but he shouts that this is holy ground and he orders them to leave, commanding them in the name of Christ. Their shadows cast against the crimson fog, Dracula's brides surround Van Helsing's carriage horse and with frightful ferocity slash him to death with their sharp claws.
Then Helsing rages, cursing them, as the camera rises above the ring of fire that surrounds him and Mina. But we match cut to the morning sun high in the sky. Why did they do that? I don't know. That's my comment. That horse was chilling. Yeah. What the fuck? He's like, this shit's crazy, man. I'm not involved.
And so the swaying, I'm assuming Van Helsing was under a spell. I guess. Because when he was, I was like Van Helsing. He's like, I'll get to the city real quick. Just a little bit. But in the light of day. Van Helsing creeps his way into Dracula's castle, his shoes clicking against the stone floor, as he unsheathes a curved knife, rounding the corner to discover Dracula's brides slumbering together across a three-tiered stone...
lab. Without hesitation, Van Helsing raises the knife, bringing it down into the neck of the first bride, her blood spattering against the wall as she is decapitated. The other brides squirm and shriek in their sleep, but in a matter of moments, Van Helsing exits their chambers, clutching their three severed heads by their hair and tossing them off the edge of a bridge into the... Dark Valley Below. So this was cause and effect. I didn't make one joke about him getting some head. All right.
I'm like, was this a little anticlimactic for him to just walk in here, do this, and then throw their heads over a bridge? I think it was surprising to me because he seemed to know exactly where they lived immediately. It was just too easy.
But his face covered in their blood Van Helsing cries Dracool His voice echoing throughout the mountains But near to the castle Dracula's carriage of servants rides through the snow and hidden within a crate of dirt Dracula senses Mina's presence whispering to her that she is near which causes her to awaken. She rises to her feet, muttering, my love. Van Helsing returns to Mina, cleaned up from his triple homicide. I don't know when this was supposed to have taken place.
i don't know i'll be honest this whole like from now to the end that not the very very end i do enjoy the very very end right but this whole bit right here i'm kind of like what the fuck is happening But through his binoculars, he spies not only Dracula's carriage, but several people on horseback riding behind it. Van Helsing realizes that they're racing against the sunset, and as we see the golden glow of the sun descending rapidly in the sky, he acknowledges that it may be too late.
Taking the binoculars from Van Helsing, Mina peers through them, discovering Jonathan, Morris, Seward, and Holmwood right on Dracula's tail. Through jittery camera movements bridging the gap between Mina and the men, we join Jonathan and the men on their pursuit down the path. Morris firing his gun at one of Dracula's servants, who tumbles off the back of his horse and is dragged through the snow.
The music grows frenzied in the score as Dracula hisses Mina's name from within his crate, and she seemingly hears him at the campsite.
But the men continue their chase, catching up to the carriage as it rounds the precarious bend towards Dracula's castle, Jonathan wielding a blade and doing battle with one of Dracula's servants on the back of the carriage, eventually stabbing him right... in the gut i didn't know jonathan was about this life no because he spends a lot of the next like several minutes kicking ass and it was frankly shocking to me yeah they got serious yeah they had to
But outside the castle, Mina ascends a tall snow-covered stone, seemingly casting a spell in Romanian as the rippling blue inferno rises around her. Dracula grins devilishly as Mina's cries echo through the mountains, and the blue flame rises up to the sky, turning the clouds above black and unleashing a snowstorm which sends Jonathan's horse careening into a ditch. Morris scoops Jonathan up and lifts him to ride passenger as the sun continues its descent behind the clouds.
The Texan catches up with the carriage and Jonathan leaps onto the back of it, immediately engaging in hand to hand combat with one of Dracula's servants. This is the shit I'm talking about. Yeah. As the pair grapple with each other, Morris raises his rifle, firing and nailing Jonathan's foe in the back. The man crashes into the snow, toppling over the side of the mountain and falling to a distant death to the valley below.
But Dracula's carriage finally reaches the gates of the castle, with Jonathan, Morris, Holmwood, and Seward riding past the threshold right after them. Each of the men battles with one of Dracula's servants, and in the frenzied melee, a servant's sword pierces through Morris's spine. As he wrestles bloody with his attacker in the snow, Jonathan is able to slay his foe and afterward ascends the carriage to stand before Dracula's crate.
I did want to say this chase from Borgo Pass to the castle, I read that it was one of the most challenging sequences for them to film. They had this set of Borgo Pass, and it was apparently the size of a football field. They said that the stage was the largest in Hollywood at the time. Damn. And the way that they did this is they created like a track around this stage. Okay. And with the stunt coordinator who assembled 35 horses and 16 stuntmen.
they shot it all around this perimeter, but they kept changing the greenery and the foliage. So every time they cut back to it, it looks like it's a completely different area. That's impressive as fuck. The other thing is they're literally riding in a circle this entire time. And so the cinematographer had to change the lighting to follow them. So it looks like the sun is always setting at their back. Yeah. So a lot of work went into that. That sounds pain.
But Van Helsing and Mina arrive at the castle gate just as it closes, Mina clutching a rifle. But the pair find another way around and into the courtyard. Jonathan makes short work of the bindings surrounding the crate, tossing them aside, but before he can open it proper, the sun finally sets, and Dracula emerges, exploding through the wood and seizing Jonathan by the shoulder. But with the quickness, Jonathan wields his blade, slicing Dracula across the throat.
The Count tosses Jonathan to the snow, and as the vampire staggers, a wounded Morris rises to his feet, racing for him with the knife in his hand, piercing the blade through Dracula's heart as Mina screams. No! Dracula backhands Morris to the ground before falling back bloody into the snow, the knife sticking out of his chest as he writhes in pain. Jonathan reaches his feet, ready to approach the dying vampire, but Mina stands at the Count's side, aiming her rifle at her husband, and she asks,
When my time comes, will you do the same to me? I don't know how to answer that. That's crazy as fuck. What's the right answer? No. Because that's what Jonathan does. He's speechless for a moment and then he's like, no. Of course not. The group at a standstill, Homewood suddenly re-emerges, his blade in his hand as he charges for Mina and Dracula, only to be stopped by Jonathan and Van Helsing. Jonathan reasons that their work is finished here.
But Mina's work has just begun. As a monstrous Dracula reaches his feet, he stumbles toward the entrance of the castle with Mina following close behind. But the men turn their attention to the bodies littering the courtyard, where among them, cradled in the arms of Seward, lies a bloody Morris, who gasps his final breaths before slipping into death.
Rest in peace, man. He was a real one. He was. With Jonathan and Holmwood gathered around, Van Helsing declares that they've all become God's madmen. All of them. But Jonathan turns toward the entrance to the castle, where Mina and Dracula have disappeared together. But we find them under the tall dome of the chapel, somber strings singing in the score as Mina kneels next to a dying Dracula, who rests on the exact steps where he discovered his dearly departed Elisabetta.
four centuries ago. Blood covering his face, Dracula whispers woefully, where is my God? Before realization dawns on him that he has been forsaken. As Mina sobs at his side, attempting to remove the blade piercing his heart, Dracula reaches his long-fingered hands to stop her. Trembling, it is finished.
A tearful Mina cradles Dracula to her, mournfully weeping. She leans closer to him, the pair meeting in a tender kiss. But suddenly, the candelabras surrounding them ignite in bright orange flame. and beneath the broken cross that still presides over the altar with its pierced center, Mina looks upward, her voice proclaiming in voiceover that there, in the presence of God,
she understood at last how her love could release them all from the powers of darkness. The light glinting off of the cross shimmers a beam over the face of Dracula, and as the music in the score swells serenely, the creature transforms into that of his younger self. Mina declares, With finality, Dracula gazes upward into the eyes of his love.
the love that he lost and regained. He whispers, give me peace. And through shuddering breaths, Mina sinks the knife deeper through Dracula's heart, chipping the stone beneath his body. We watch as the scar on Mina's forehead disappears, her curse broken, as Dracula's eyes fill with tears, his lips quavering as he stares up at her, then past her.
and far beyond this earthly existence as his life reaches its end. Mina kneels tearfully at his side, offering one last kiss goodbye, but with great effort... she tears the blade from Dracula's heart and brings it down into his throat, decapitating him. With the villain vanquished, Mina lifts her gaze to the ceiling, where above her, an ethereal glow illuminates a mural.
and accompanied by heavenly harmonies, we see the depiction of Dracula and his beloved Elisabetta, forever entwined, their lives lost, but their love eternal. We fade to black. and the credits roll. So, what did you guys think of Bram Stoker's Dracula? I did enjoy this movie. I think besides the love story being kind of confusing sometimes for me. I think this... I'll be honest. For me... The visuals are what, how beautiful this movie is, is what did...
a lot of the lifting. The acting, everybody did fine. Everybody did really, really good except for my boy Ted. Not Ted. But I mean, he still did what he was supposed to do. He did his best. Yeah. I did enjoy this. This was, like I said, up at the very top of first time watch for me. I had seen stills from the movie, like pictures of it, but I don't know. I didn't know anything about it. So coming into this.
there was a lot of stuff that was funny i know like we said that wasn't i don't think it was supposed to be but i i do feel like there it the whole story i i needed to just make a little more sense for me about him and mina i i need a little more because it almost feels like if this is your ancient love
she should remember that on her own, not you having to hypnotize her or, you know what I mean? Make her, because sometimes it felt like it was a forced, remember, remember. And it was like, calm down, Vlad. It's like, you know, let her.
get it on her own yeah uh it worked for logan you know charles xavier told him a mind's fragile sometimes it needs to figure out things on its own let's do that yeah i totally agree i think that my draw to it is probably the story of it is pretty far down on the list yeah um and i think it's that i can't remember which one he all said at first but somebody was like
does she just look like her? And I, I haven't kind of been able to stop thinking about that because maybe she does. Like, I know that that's not the story that we're being told, but I think that as the story unfolds. that could have been a thing that was happening because i don't know i feel like there's too much hypnotizing going on i think you subtract the hypnosis and it's like recovering exactly yeah but i don't he's doing too much yeah And I feel like.
I don't know. It is difficult because I do like the romantic aspect of this. But it's hard to reconcile what he did to her best friend. And then their relationship starts blossoming. And then she's like, no, actually, I'm going to go get married. to my fiance that I had before I even met you. And then he goes and murders Lucy right after she does that. And then he's like,
I don't know. It's just you're doing too much. You're throwing too much at us. It's not even like they get together and he's like, oh, my God, like I'm I'm whole again. Like, I don't need to do this. But it's not like that. Like, there is no. redemption for him like he is a monster period
He's just a monster in love. Yeah, I think that's kind of, and I know the end is whatever. I think that's kind of what, for me, hurt a little bit of the end for me. Because it is the, oh, love saved Dracula. But it's like, yeah, but he kind of did some bad shit. He was still awful. And then he went and killed Renfield, who only was loyalty. This did not change you at all.
But that being said, I do love the very end. I think that it's really beautiful. I love all the costumes. I love the music. I love the sets. I love what they were able to accomplish. Learning about how they did that chase scene is amazing. I love the match cuts, the transitions. I am obsessed with the makeup. I just think in. some of the acting is a little off there are some takes that i'm like that's what we okay sure um i love
Sir Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Van Helsing. It is a highlight of the film for me. It is so hilarious at times. I love the humor in this. Although I'm pretty sure it's unintentional, I still... got a lot of joy out of it yeah um the story i don't know it just it feels like it's missing something for me i think that we're just supposed to be strapped in and on board and
Even how quickly things escalate between the two of them. I don't know. Something about it doesn't really work for me. And that accent. Oh yeah. Is, is unfortunate, but yeah, overall I think this is a really good time. Like I said, I would watch it. I think I said I would watch it again. I think it's a really, really beautiful film. I think it, what. strikes me is just how bold it is creatively yeah and visually and that i think is what i take away from the it the most like you both said
It's difficult to reconcile that narrative because of a lot of aspects of that love story. But there are so many parts of the love story that are so beautifully realized that if you just view them as moments. You're like, this is incredible. Yeah. But when you start to think, you're like, well, he did do all that shit to Lucy. Yeah. All that stuff. You're like, I can't really feel like really any sympathy for this guy. Yeah.
But I think that it is. You look at that moment at the end in the chapel. That is a gorgeous moment. him finally being reunited with his lost love yeah that was taken from him yeah in the parallel yes yeah it's it's really good yeah but then you also remember all the other stuff yeah and then you gotta feel bad for jonathan with what he just witnessed like not even five seconds before this moment yeah but you're like well is she just trying to get the vampire like out of her so she can
live a normal life with Jonathan. Well, in that too, I'm watching you have this touching moment with this dying vampire. Once he's gone, are you going to love me that way or are you just going to be sad the whole time? Come on, honey. Let's go. And is that Elizabetha within her? Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot of questions still. So, again, it's just the narrative that kind of, it doesn't fall apart, but it just needs to tighten. Yes. Yeah. Tighten. But I think that...
As a whole, I really, really enjoy this film. I guess we can just slide into ratings. I was so impressed by so many sequences, so impressed by all the work that they did in camera. Yeah. The costumes are so remarkable that I can't even fathom some of them. Yeah. I think that there is such incredible work done on the design front. And the fact that this film was made almost 100% in a studio. Yeah.
I was so surprised by that. The things they do with those match cuts, the things they do with matte paintings. Yeah. The way that they are referencing all of these beautiful works of art from the time at which the story was created. Yeah. doing it in ways that just sticks with you on its own merit. Yeah. So I just, I'm very impressed by so much of this film, but it, and I think that the performances are pretty remarkable.
especially from Gary Oldman. Yeah. Sir Anthony Hopkins. I love and will always love Winona Ryder. Yeah. And I feel like I want, it's just a shame. Yeah, it is. It's just a shame how much Keanu Reeves is such a good. human being yeah and i just can't help but not appreciate some of the things that happen here it's hard to even talk about it because he's so kind yeah but i i think that uh
What they set out to do, they did accomplish. The love arc is a little clunky, but I do think that it is a very well-made, gothic, romantic horror film. And I will absolutely watch this again probably many times. And one more moment of applause for the score. Yes. It is beautiful. It is brilliant. And it is iconic. But for me, out of 10 scenes of sanguineous sensuality, I am going to give Bram Stoker's Dracula.
8.5 out of 10 scenes of sanguineous sensuality. I will say I really do appreciate this film on its own merit, but having watched it with Jules. It will always be a very special film to me for that reason. And I was very happy to cover this film in honor of Jules's birthday. Yeah. And just one last time. But I will now open the floor to you. No, I agree with you on how it looked. Like I said, for me, that was really good. I enjoyed...
the costumes, everything. I would just be repeating what you just said and what we said a minute ago. I think it, I will be honest. The ending is really beautiful. I would, and this is just me. I would prefer. if he would have stayed a monster and then said, finish it. And then him change after she kills him. Cause then he is set free. I can see that. You know what I mean? Now he really is. Oh, we just watched you. Get free. Not you turn to human and be like, okay, let me get pretty first.
go ahead do it it's like all right well it makes it harder right you know something else that did actually bother me a little bit now that you're mentioning it they sharpened those stakes on the train and they didn't use one like you would think that that's what you need to Yeah. I'll be honest. They were not ready. They weren't prepared. It was sad.
But this is a really fun movie. It's a really good movie. Watching and seeing what was going on, I'll be honest, there were times when I was like, oh, that's a miniature, that's a matte painting or whatever, but it is because... that's our job to look for those things. That's our job to notice it, whatever. But even still noticing it, and other movies do it as well, they do it really good, and this movie is an example of how good it can be done.
It didn't hurt the movie at all. Everything is striking. Everything is beautiful. The colors, the clothes, all that. But it is just a fucking story for me, man. I'm going to be honest. It's the weird... We have to make... Dracula be more human or more lovable or whatever and it's like yeah but he still has to do all this bad stuff too Jacob okay put it in the script let's just keep you know and it's like I don't know who Jacob is I'm just trying to pick a random name but
Because so many, you know what I mean? I mean, I understand, you know what I mean? There's a lot that goes on, a lot of hands. But you know what I mean? It is just that. I know we need to tell the Dracula story. He's going to be Dracula. He's going to kill people. He brought a baby for his wife to eat. We're just supposed to be like, oh, that's so sad. That's the same dude. Let's not forget. It's just that I get it. And if he's going to do bad stuff.
Have it do it off screen or whatever. Leave it to the imagination. Don't let us see it because it does like, oh, you are bad. You are evil. What the fuck? But I mean, again, I did enjoy this movie and I would watch it again. You know what I mean? But all that to say on a scale from one to 10. scenes of sanguineous sensuality, I'm going to give Brom Stoker, right? Because they said Stroker last time or one time. Or one time. His Dracula.
A 7.5 out of 10. I did enjoy the movie, and it does look cool. And talking about it and learning about it, I had a lot of fun. And learning about it, that's fucking fantastic. It's impressive. Yeah, I totally agree. I think that what would have worked for me narratively is if his grief made him the way that he was okay and once he found her again he maybe had some sorrow or he maybe didn't go and kill lucy the second he got mad like i mean i don't know i feel like that's the story that
I think that that's what that film wants us to feel, but that's not what happens and it's not what's shown. Yeah. He's still this monster, literally monster throughout. But at the end, we're still like, damn, that was sad. And it was. It was. And it is. But it's just like y'all were saying it is hard. You can only feel so bad for this dude. But.
Mina being the light like Van Helsing said it could have been you know what I mean like I feel like we could have played with that or utilized that a little more than not utilizing it at all yeah I've already said all the aspects that I love about this film, which are many. But that story, again, I just feel like something was missing. It just wasn't quite successful for me.
But I did boost up my score a little bit for how much I love the makeup. I really, really do. Visually, this film has everything. And there are moments. of visual things that they do, like that fucking shadow, like those rats. There are so many moments that are genuinely striking and frightening and memorable. And I don't want to lose sight of that in us being like, this story had some problems.
So on a scale from one to 10 scenes of sanguineous sensuality, I gave Bram Stoker's Dracula eight out of 10 scenes of sanguineous sensuality. It's a really beautiful film. Indeed. Well, that's all from us at Podmortem. What would you rate Bram Stoker's Dracula and what should we watch next? Let us know on Instagram at thepodmortem.
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