Dracula by Bram Stoker

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Dynamo

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May 12, 2017
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Fantastic novel, although I didn't really appreciate it until my second time through. I always hated the idea of Dracula with a mustache though - Stoker's description turned my Bela Lugosi into Max von Sydow.

When I read it I hadn't seen the Bela Lugosi movie but I had seen/enjoyed Bram Stoker's Dracula not long before. So I had no trouble imagining Count Pimpula.

7f5319b79262923be97575af9a322f4d--count-dracula-bram-stokers-dracula.jpg
 

kingricefan

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Jul 11, 2006
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When I read it I hadn't seen the Bela Lugosi movie but I had seen/enjoyed Bram Stoker's Dracula not long before. So I had no trouble imagining Count Pimpula.

7f5319b79262923be97575af9a322f4d--count-dracula-bram-stokers-dracula.jpg
This version would have been perfect except for the huge miscasting of Keanu Reeves. I just kept waiting for him so say something like: 'I am on the train to Budapest......dude.'!
 

Steffen

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Aug 9, 2015
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This version would have been perfect except for the huge miscasting of Keanu Reeves. I just kept waiting for him so say something like: 'I am on the train to Budapest......dude.'!

Agreed - Keanu was the only sour note in this film, but I love it otherwise. This was the last major Hollywood film that used optical/practical effects at the dawn of the "digital" era. It made for a classic aesthetic, like the old Universal monster films. I bought the DVD and watched all the behind-the-scenes stuff repeatedly. My favourite Gary Oldman film.
 

Dynamo

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May 12, 2017
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Denton, TX
This version would have been perfect except for the huge miscasting of Keanu Reeves. I just kept waiting for him so say something like: 'I am on the train to Budapest......dude.'!

Well I was 12 when I first saw it, and was/am a huge Bill and Ted fan, so at the time I thought it was awesome that he was in the movie. As an adult I can see that Keanu was in over his head and not the best choice. An older Keanu might have been able to pull it off, or at least pull it off better, but his performance at least adds some unintentional humor. There's one scene where it seems like Ted Theodore Logan is about to burst out of Harker and always cracks me up. It's when Harker spots Dracula in London. But it doesn't bother me since the real meat of the movie is with Dracula and the scenes with Van Helsing, Seward, Quincey and Holmwood. The crypt scene with Lucy was pure awesome. Almost as awesome as Tom Waits as Renfield.
 

Dana Jean

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Well I was 12 when I first saw it, and was/am a huge Bill and Ted fan, so at the time I thought it was awesome that he was in the movie. As an adult I can see that Keanu was in over his head and not the best choice. An older Keanu might have been able to pull it off, or at least pull it off better, but his performance at least adds some unintentional humor. There's one scene where it seems like Ted Theodore Logan is about to burst out of Harker and always cracks me up. It's when Harker spots Dracula in London. But it doesn't bother me since the real meat of the movie is with Dracula and the scenes with Van Helsing, Seward, Quincey and Holmwood. The crypt scene with Lucy was pure awesome. Almost as awesome as Tom Waits as Renfield.
yes. yes it was.

 

Dynamo

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May 12, 2017
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Denton, TX
Uuugh. I know. I'm not sure who has the worst disappearing British accent: Keanu Reeves in Dracula or Kevin Costner in Robin Hood.

It's been a long time since I've seen Robin Hood but wasn't Costner's accent more like non-existent? Or was he slipping in and out of it? I thought he just played that movie like it was Crash Davis: Prince Of Thieves.
 

Zone D Dad

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Apr 17, 2017
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It's been a long time since I've seen Robin Hood but wasn't Costner's accent more like non-existent? Or was he slipping in and out of it? I thought he just played that movie like it was Crash Davis: Prince Of Thieves.

In and out. It's quite humorous; you could undoubtedly make a drinking game out of it. It's like Whack-a-Mole: where will it pop up next? Alan Rickman must've started every shooting day with a facepalm.
 

Gerald

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Sep 8, 2011
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When I read it I hadn't seen the Bela Lugosi movie but I had seen/enjoyed Bram Stoker's Dracula not long before. So I had no trouble imagining Count Pimpula.

7f5319b79262923be97575af9a322f4d--count-dracula-bram-stokers-dracula.jpg

It's strange he has a moustache, because when he's Dracula as an old man in the scenes in the castle with Harker in the beginning he doesn't have one... Perhaps it grew when he was on the ship to London.
But also he can shapeshift into different forms, so growing a moustache suddenly should perhaps not be a problem either. :)

There also is a mini-series with Patrick Bergin as Dracula where he has a moustache. It's not rated highly and I suppose not great, but I kind of liked it: Dracula (TV Series 2002– ) - IMDb
It has an Italian vibe to it, it was done for Italian television.

Maybe they leave out the moustache in a lot of adaptations, because it accentuates the fangs more?

Dracula is actually the literary equivalent of a found footage film. You could film it as such if you set it in modern times. Harker taking a camera to the castle: 'So, this is my first night at the castle.' And Seward filming Renfield for study at the asylum, Van Helsing having his methods filmed etc.
It might work if found footage was done in a more adult way, often it's rather juvenile with characters constantly joking, which lets it down often.
 
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RichardX

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Sep 26, 2006
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Great book. A lot of folks probably never read it because of the movies. Was there ever any explanation given in the book as to why Dracula wanted to move from Transylvania to England? That always struck me as odd and risky from the old Count's perspective absent a good reason.
 

Zone D Dad

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Apr 17, 2017
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Great book. A lot of folks probably never read it because of the movies. Was there ever any explanation given in the book as to why Dracula wanted to move from Transylvania to England? That always struck me as odd and risky from the old Count's perspective absent a good reason.

I don't recall if the book actually gives a reason. I've just always assumed Dracula was doing it to improve his dining variety.
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
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Spokane, WA
Great book. A lot of folks probably never read it because of the movies. Was there ever any explanation given in the book as to why Dracula wanted to move from Transylvania to England? That always struck me as odd and risky from the old Count's perspective absent a good reason.
He was tired of the local cuisine?
 

Steffen

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Aug 9, 2015
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12,800
It's strange he has a moustache, because when he's Dracula as an old man in the scenes in the castle with Harker in the beginning he doesn't have one... Perhaps it grew when he was on the ship to London.
But also he can shapeshift into different forms, so growing a moustache suddenly should perhaps not be a problem either. :)

There also is a mini-series with Patrick Bergin as Dracula where he has a moustache. It's not rated highly and I suppose not great, but I kind of liked it: Dracula (TV Series 2002– ) - IMDb
It has an Italian vibe to it, it was done for Italian television.

Maybe they leave out the moustache in a lot of adaptations, because it accentuates the fangs more?

Dracula is actually the literary equivalent of a found footage film. You could film it as such if you set it in modern times. Harker taking a camera to the castle: 'So, this is my first night at the castle.' And Seward filming Renfield for study at the asylum, Van Helsing having his methods filmed etc.
It might work if found footage was done in a more adult way, often it's rather juvenile with characters constantly joking, which lets it down often.

I could be wrong, but I think one of the reasons for the moustache is a nod to Dracula's inspiration, Vlad Tepes. There is one famous illustration featuring him with a prominent handlebar moustache.