Francis Ford Coppola included Bram Stoker's name in the title to avoid copyright difficulties. Winona Ryder showed James V. Hart's script to Francis Ford Coppola for advice about playing Mina. Coppola liked the script so much he decided to direct it himself. To symbolize blood, red costuming was used exclusively for Dracula's character alone, with one exception--Mina's red dress when she dances with Dracula at Rule's Café. One of Dracula's brides was played by Transylvanian actress Florina Kendrick, who was able to coach Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder in Romanian. BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA was shot on a sound stage rather than on location for financial and stylistic reasons. The Special Edition includes "The Making of Bram Stoker's Dracula."

A seductive retelling of the legendary tale, BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA is Francis Ford Coppola's opulent, erotic, blood-filled feast. Count Dracula (played with irresistible intensity by Gary Oldman) reunites with his soul mate, Mina (Winona Ryder), after four centuries. Mina's friend Lucy (Sadie Frost) succumbs to the deadly bite of Dracula while Renfield (Tom Waits), locked in an asylum, eagerly waits for his master's return. Mina's fiancé, Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves), with the help of the eccentric Professor Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins), attempts to save Mina's life and soul before she can become Dracula's eternal bride. After Dracula attacks Mina’s friend Lucy (Sadie Frost), Dr. Jack Seward (Richard E. Grant) calls in the legendary Professor Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins) to cure Lucy’s "disease of the blood." Jonathan escapes from the castle and he and Mina are married while Lucy dies and is resurrected as a vampire. When Dracula appears to Mina in her sleep, she declares her undying love for him. Professor Van Helsing, Jack Seward, and Lucy’s fiancé, Arthur Holmwood (Cary Elwes), join Jonathan and travel to Transylvania to destroy Dracula, but Mina tries to save her tortured lover. Musician Tom Waits appears in the film as Renfield, a Victorian lunatic singing the praises of Dracula. Ornate costume design and lighting awash in shades of blood make this film a seductive and scary must-see.

"...[Oldman gives a] virtuoso performance....A veritable hailstorm of visual effects, spectacular action sequences and literary, cinematic and artistic references..."

"...Florid opera wall-to-walled with blood and bizarre mating rituals, the beat is fast and you can bite to it..." -- 3 1/2 out of 4 stars