Dracula (1979)

Dracula, released in 1979 is a film based on the play, which was based on Bram Stoker's classic novel. The film starred Frank Langella in the title role, and Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing. This film version, like Frances Ford Coppola's version changed much of the original story that Stoker had penned, to make it more romantic. Unlike Coppola's version though, this one wasn't as hyper sexual, and had more of a Gothic romance feel to it. As a Gothic romance this film succeeds very well.

The version of the film that I have, subdued some of the original brightness of colours that the original theatrical release had, and gives it an almost between black and white and colour look. It has this beautiful grainy darkness to it that really helps to build the mood of the film. The costumes and the sets are all beautifully done in the film, giving it a great Gothic romance feel to it. I like that the passion and the love is sexual but not resorting to gratuitous nudity to show the sexiness of it, it is more about feeling and emotion than carnal lust. This film is tasteful, artistic. There is a level of gore that feels almost out of place though for the film. It isn't devoid of gore like the 1931 version, but also doesn't have the vamped up gore of the Hammer horror films, it is a nice in between, enough to make the viewer uncomfortable, but not enough to make the viewer sick. The film isn't about horror as much is it is about emotion, and I respect that. Dracula is portrayed as a sensitive, lonely, emotion creature, and not so much of a monster. He has charm and elegance, but not devoid of human emotion and passion.

What this version fails at is the delivery of some of the most memorable lines, which seem to have transcended from film to film through out the years, lines like "I never drink...wine", or "the come here" line that Dracula speaks to Van Helsing. The lines, aren't emphasized and are just said. I don't know maybe I am just a huge fan of the elegance and dominance that Bela Lugosi and Gary Oldman bring to the the character, as both of those characters recite the memorable lines in a way that almost gives me chills to hear. Like the famous, "Listen. The Children of the night. What music they make." There is no intensity to the lines, delivered by Dracula in the film, and he lacks the intensity that makes the character so great. Though the film is great and Langella looks great, and does many parts of the film correct, he feels more of a Barnabas Collins, than Dracula honestly. Honestly in many ways this film was slightly reminiscent of Dark Shadows, which is not a negative, as that is a great show.

I also want to mention that for the most part the effects of the film are quite well done, except the sun effect in the end, I feel totally distracts from the film, and it at the last minutes changes the tone of the film, which I feel could be done much better. But the gore was done well, and the lighting was done well. Over all the film, other than that one part I mentioned was done really well. The film was also cast really well, even with my opinions on Langella's portrayal of Dracula, i would still say over all as a whole he did do the role well, and I do like elements that he brought to it. It is sad that this film seems to get forgotten a lot.

This film had very mixed reviews by the critics, and failed to perform in the box office, generating only a small profit for Universal, who released it. It wasn't a case of it being a bad film, it was more of a case that in 1979 the box office was over saturated by Dracula films, and this one kind of got swept under the rug, because it just didn't stand out enough to capture people's attention. The film was nominated for several Saturn awards, and has a strong following. Another thing that hurt this film was that in the 1980s there was a very small home video release, which not being able to get into more people's homes, helped it to fade in to relative obscurity. It never really had a large scale home video release until rather recently. I am glad that I was able to get a copy, because honestly it is a great film, and I think it does the Dracula legacy justice, and is a great middle between the 1931 classic and Francis Ford Coppola's re-imagining of the story.

Another thing that bares mentioning is, the fact that for some reason Lucy and Mina's roles were switched, the switching of roles is also something that seemed to happen in the Hammer Horror versions of Dracula. Not sure the reasoning, or if it was just a mistranslated somewhere along the way. But if you can get past that, the movie is really great and beautiful.

Would I recommend this film? Absolutely, I love this film, and I would love to see this film get the following and the attention that it definitely deserves. This might be up there as one of my favourite versions of Dracula. It is currently #3 in ranking of my favourites, but I will be reviewing Argento's Dracula soon, and we will see if that will impact my opinion on the ranking of this film. I would say that no Dracula film marathon is complete without this version. I would actually love to sit down with a group of friends and watch the different films entitled Dracula, and to talk about them and our thoughts on them. I am very happy to have added this to my collection, and I mean it with full honestly, that this is an absolutely beautiful film, and should not be passed up if you get a chance. I also recommend looking for the newer reissue of it, that has the more subdued colour pallet, as I feel that it fits the tone of the film so much better. A great film, great acting, great pacing, great effects, and a great score; definitely not one to pass up.