Dracula Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Dracula Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf November 24, 2014

Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula” has served as inspiration for countless adaptations, with every production out to spin the source material their own way, with some pledging respect to the author’s creation, while others merely reflect the book’s nightmarish intentions. 1979 was a particularly fertile year for bloodsucker efforts, though none attempted to mount such a richly cinematic world as “Dracula.” Directed by John Badham, the feature invests in a highly gothic world of stone castles, howling winds, and open flames, trying to celebrate the period while emphasizing the titular character’s powers of seduction, finding a pouty leading man in Frank Langella, who, armed with coke dealer hair and his kitten purr of a voice, works to embody his own version of Dracula -- one more interested in the removal of nightgowns than the spilling of blood. A game attempt to celebrate Stoker and tweak established elements, “Dracula” is ultimately sunk by its own stasis, finding Badham unable to work the material into the frenzy he’s hoping to achieve.

Arriving from Transylvania, Count Dracula (Frank Langella) is looking to settle into his forbidding castle home, greeting the locals with his particular unnerving presence. Dr. Seward (Donald Pleasence) runs the nearby asylum, dealing with the insane on a daily basis, making him oblivious to Dracula’s bizarre demeanor, yet Jonathan Harker (Trevor Eve) remains aware, clinging tight to his fiancée, Lucy (Kate Nelligan). When Mina Van Helsing (Jan Francis) arrives to visit Lucy, she’s quickly brought under Dracula’s spell, with her sudden death and mysterious bite marks on her neck triggering suspicion that something hideous is in the area. When Mina’s father, Professor Van Helsing (Laurence Olivier), arrives to investigate, Dracula moves his attention to Lucy, causing panic as the surviving men seek to discover the visitor’s true origin and understand ways to defeat his particular evil.

Adapted from a play by Hamilton Deane and John Balderston, “Dracula” retains its stage-bound presentation, with screenwriter W.D. Richter keeping the action largely contained to enormous sets that inspire conversation, not action. It’s a respectful translation to the screen, investing entirely in mood, finding Badham soaking the feature in smoke and dark lighting, working overtime to achieve a gothic atmosphere that supports Dracula’s enigmatic ways, powers, and shape-shifting abilities. It’s an admirable effort, with specific attention to the details of set design and costuming, watching Dracula stalk around with a traditional high-collared cape and chest-baring shirt, while his home is a cavernous castle decorated with displays of his might and history, allowing the viewer to explore hints of macabre events to come. It’s obvious that blood, sweat, and tears were poured into the making of the movie, which showcases an enormous push of creativity and construction to build a suitable widescreen home for Dracula, away from cheap and silly endeavors.

In his quest to perfect the visual quality of “Dracula,” Badham forgets to maintain pace. The picture is weirdly glacial at times, lingering in stale mood and fatigued acts of seduction, while overall familiarity with the story lets a little air out of the tires as well. Reverence is fine, yet Badham and Richter don’t summon feelings of fright key to the success of the character. Electing to warm up Dracula by making him a force of magical persuasion, the film delays its horror origins, diluting later encounters with the undead and the Count’s various forms, finding struggles with bats and wolves more decorative than essential. There’s no sense of dramatic escalation, no scene that solidifies Dracula’s threat. Instead, he’s a vague figure of need, a choice Badham underlines with disco-era visuals to accompany the monster’s “marriage” to Lucy, breaking the period spell.

Easily the most laudable aspects of “Dracula” are its special effects, which showcase an older and more convincing era of screen magic. Mixing old techniques with a few new tricks, Badham delivers on the Count’s abilities to spider-crawl around his castle, transform into beasts, and lull the unwilling to do his bidding. These are low-fi achievements, but captivating, permitting Dracula to enjoy a few rare moments of awe. And for those harder to please, there’s Renfield (Tony Haygarth), whose primary function is this adaptation is to stand around and eat live cockroaches. It’s cheap but effective.

Dracula Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Controversy surrounds this BD release, with woes dating back to its laserdisc debut. Intending to match a gothic, classic cinema mood, Badham elected to drain most of the color out of Gilbert Taylor's cinematography in the 1990s, building a vision for "Dracula" that he was originally blocked from achieving. The AVC encoded image (2.35:1 aspect ratio) presentation doesn't restore the original color timing. Instead, the tinkering remains, rendering the extremely dark viewing experience flat and confusing to those seeing the picture for the first time, with only pockets of red remaining are the rest of the palette is dialed down, but never reduced to pure black and white, which would make the most sense. Some filtering is present, smoothing textures and smothering filmic qualities, but detail does manage to breathe on occasion, showing life with sets and certain close-ups, though, to be fair, it's a smoky, softly lit production not entirely built to display sharpness. Blacks show solidification, having trouble with delineation on capes and creatures of the night. Minor scratches and chemical burns are detected.

Dracula Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix carries a certain charm, offering emphasis on atmospherics to goose the horror mood, surveying howling wolves and bitter winds. Dialogue exchanges are easy to follow and sustain their intended qualities of seduction and panic, with more monstrous encounters adequately contained and communicative. Scoring is consistent, adding appropriate tone to the track without overwhelming the performances, retaining instrumentation. More violent events add some heft.

Dracula Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features director John Badham.

• "The Revamping of Dracula" (39:11, SD) is a fairly successful making-of featurette, offering interviews with Frank Langella, Badham, and W.D. Richter. Providing a critical sense of origin for the production, the exploration does a fine job explaining how "Dracula" came to be, with specific attention to Langella's career concerns after originating the character on stage, and the health of co-star Olivier, who relied on a double when physical challenges proved to be too difficult for the ailing actor. Also of interest is talk of the picture's disappointing box office take, released just three months after the comedy "Love at First Bite" was issued.

• A Theatrical Trailer has not been included.

Dracula Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Carried by an insistent but shapeless score by John Williams, "Dracula" winds up with passion but rarely delivers on emotion. Performances help, though attentions is naturally drawn to Pleasence and Olivier, who are immensely entertaining as the fearful vampire hunters, who bring crucifixes and garlic to the fight, bantering with agreeable polish. The pair is more engaging than Langella, who's mostly around to stare attentively and make grand entrances. "Dracula" certainly isn't a lazy picture, just a strangely uneventful one, concentrating so intently on the visual design and romantic movement of the character that the rest just slips away from Badham, leaving chase sequences stale and the climax noisy and absurdly enigmatic. As a chapter in the ongoing obsession with Dracula, the feature has its positive attributes and achievements. On its own, it's mostly unremarkable.