I never really liked this movie the first time i watched it. the script for this movie is based on the play "Dracula" which was adapted for the theater, and i don't like that version of the story either. I saw it performed theatrically in college and I was severely underwhelmed. Probably because I loved the book so much when I was a kid and they changed so much They kinda had to, though, because the original novel Dracula is structured very strangely. the first half of the book is Jonathan Harker's travel diary, telling aboutall the fun thingsthathappenedon his trip and all the good food he ate, almost like "Eat, Pray, Love" ("Eat, Slay, Die") and the climactic battle with Dracula happens behind the scenes and we don't even get to see it. There's no way they could directly adapt that without changing stuff, so of course they made changes. In recent years, I've revisited this movie, and I find that I like it now, so I'm eager to check it out again today.
So I can't imagine that you don't know what Dracula is about, but just for good measure: Renfield is a mild mannered solicitor who is traveling to transylvania to meet with Count Dracula to discuss how Count Dracula intends to lease Carfax abbey in England. unfortunately for Harker, the Count is a vampire who intends to travel to England in search of fresh blood. He is summarily attacked by Dracula, and put under his spell, which turns Renfield into a raving lunatic who must do Dracula's bidding. Dracula travels to England by ship with Renfield in tow, and he kills all the ship's crew so Renfield is the only survivor. Renfield is taken to Dr. Seward's sanitarium, where he's locked up. Dracula continues his reign of terror, and the only ones who can stop him now are Dr. Seward, Van Helsing (a local professor), Jonathan Harker (who is engaged to Seward's daughter Mina) and Mina herself. Will they be able to stop Dracula's reign of terror?
Renfield gets a bigger role in this movie. In the book, he's just a crazy guy in the sanitarium and we don't get much of his backstory. And Count Dracula is handsome and dashing in this movie. in the book he's creepy looking and he smells like rotting meat (gross). This movie moves pretty quickly and everyone jumps to the conclusion of vampires right away without much protestations that vampires aren't real. Professor Van Helsing knows what's up, and he convinces everyone that there's a vampire among them. Bela Lugosi has really mesmerizing eyes, and he uses them to great advantage in this movie. There's not much more to say. This is a classic for a reason.
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