Chrono's Horror Movie Marathon Week 3: VAMPIRES

[ChronoGrl]

Aaaaactually - I'm trying with WebEx - You should be able follow the link below - HF and Mett are in!

https://emcsoftware.webex.com/sc0701...JS&I=294684921

[Straker]

So no Skype?

[ChronoGrl]

Yeah, I was having issues - In short, I can't install it on my work laptop and it's not letting me create or join group chats on my iPad. LAME. Sorry for the trouble! Beyond frustrated!!

My favorite is the meetings.io. Wish it would work!

[Straker]

Last night was fun. Dracula still holds a special place for me. There's so much to love about the movie and I think as long as you don't take it too seriously I think its a lot of fun. I talked/ typed way more than I normally would during a movie, and I was trying to work out this morning if that was down to the company or the movie itself, and I think the movie plays a big part in that... Parts of the movie really draw you out of the moment and you cant help but have 'did you see that?' type of reaction. Reeves and Ryder are so hammy at times, you cant help but laugh.

That said, its still a really cool film. The sets are insane and the colours give everything so much depth. Everything seems oversaturated and that spills over into the performances of the actors which are equally excessive. Hopkins' ridiculously bold interpretation of Van Helsing is a great example of what Coppola was trying to achieve, I just don't think all of the actors were up to the task. The whole movie is just a great piece of theatre, its excessive in just about every way imaginable and while I totally understand why so many people would hate it, it never fails to put a smile on my face.

[hammerfan]

It's one of those movies that I love to hate and make fun of! Obviously, from my comments last night!

[anglewitch]

I watched bram stokers Dracula a few days ago. It was quite good.

[ChronoGrl]

Wow.

So it was an interesting experience watching Bram Stoker's Dracula again. As I've mentioned before, it's probably been 20 years since I've seen it and when I was a 'tween, I was really obsessed with this movie as well as with Interview - I really loved it unquestionably - And I think last night I might have figured out why...

One of the things that really struck me about the movie was the portrayal of Dracula, who comes in many forms (literally):

• There's the count at the castle. Up until I had seen this film, my Dracula experience consisted of Bela Legosi and Frank Langella, so seeing the very very old, very wrinkled count with the long fingernails and bizarre hair really struck me as something completely different. I remember finding him infinitely creepy, especially when we see him crawling down the side of the castle.
• Then there's the Count in London - The very handsome, very sexy, very romantic Count that seduces Mina - It's that version of the Count that stuck with me through the years (I have a feeling that my pre-teen self might have felt something -ahem- special about him without really knowing what that meant )
• Then there are the monsters - The wolf that has sex with Lucy (WOW how did I forget that incredibly disturbing scene??), the disgusting and horrifying bat creature (CRAZY good makeup there btw), and the Monster that we see peaking out of the Dirt...

When I had seen Coppola's Dracula, I just hadn't seen those portrayals of The Count before - I remember the beginning - His Origin - Particularly blowing my mind (Oh, THAT is why he can't do crosses or holy water!)...

Now, watching it 20 years later, here are my thoughts...

What I LIKED about it:

• Still loved The Count. He can take me into his candle room any day!
• Loved the sets, especially the insane asylum.
• LOVED Tom Waits
• Really love all of Drac's makeup. Seriously. The Bat Monster was horrifying.
• I like the color that the Suitors provide, but I recall enjoying them more 20 years ago...
• Lucy. Lucy, Lucy - While the actress may not be the best, I loved Drac seducing her, I love her sickness - I really love the way that they portray her transition from human to undead
• The quote, "I just want to tear out her heart and cut off her head."
• Gary Oldman, Gary Oldman, Gary Oldman. He really made the movie for me. Scenes without him or without Dracula in his various forms really dragged for me (with the exception of the rainy maze scene - Always loved that)

Where I struggled:

• Keanu. Winona Ryder. *sigh* - They were really awful, especially the former. I think the only reason they were cast was because Coppola wanted to make a popular movie and, well, those two were incredibly popular in the 90's. But, really. Keanu was just particularly terrible. Ugh.
• Anthony Hopkins - So he wasn't bad, per se; I just didn't think he was as epically awesome as I remember. Then again, as I mentioned above, I was mostly interested in Drac-related scenes.
• This movie could definitely be cheesy at times - I mean, how many red flags does Drac need to fly before Jon Harker sees something wrong??
• It ran a little long for me this time around; The montage where the suiters, Harker, & co are chasing after Drac lost me a bit

When I first saw this movie, I probably would have given it a 5 MILLION out of 5...

But this time around, maybe a 3.75/5? It's really too bad about the acting front; this could have been a LOT better.

Regardless, it was enjoyable and something I would watch again, probably in a couple of years.

[hammerfan]

If I remember correctly, the reason Coppola used Winona Ryder is that she was supposed to be in The Godfather III in the role that Sofia Coppola ended up playing. And he owed her a movie.

[ChronoGrl]

OMG, really? Wow. That's... Kinda frustrating.

[Sculpt]

Originally Posted by ChronoGrl

Wow.

So it was an interesting experience watching Bram Stoker's Dracula again. As I've mentioned before, it's probably been 20 years since I've seen it and when I was a 'tween, I was really obsessed with this movie as well as with Interview - I really loved it unquestionably - And I think last night I might have figured out why...

One of the things that really struck me about the movie was the portrayal of Dracula, who comes in many forms (literally):

• There's the count at the castle. Up until I had seen this film, my Dracula experience consisted of Bela Legosi and Frank Langella, so seeing the very very old, very wrinkled count with the long fingernails and bizarre hair really struck me as something completely different. I remember finding him infinitely creepy, especially when we see him crawling down the side of the castle.
• Then there's the Count in London - The very handsome, very sexy, very romantic Count that seduces Mina - It's that version of the Count that stuck with me through the years (I have a feeling that my pre-teen self might have felt something -ahem- special about him without really knowing what that meant )
• Then there are the monsters - The wolf that has sex with Lucy (WOW how did I forget that incredibly disturbing scene??), the disgusting and horrifying bat creature (CRAZY good makeup there btw), and the Monster that we see peaking out of the Dirt...

When I had seen Coppola's Dracula, I just hadn't seen those portrayals of The Count before - I remember the beginning - His Origin - Particularly blowing my mind (Oh, THAT is why he can't do crosses or holy water!)...

Now, watching it 20 years later, here are my thoughts...

What I LIKED about it:

• Still loved The Count. He can take me into his candle room any day!
• Loved the sets, especially the insane asylum.
• LOVED Tom Waits
• Really love all of Drac's makeup. Seriously. The Bat Monster was horrifying.
• I like the color that the Suitors provide, but I recall enjoying them more 20 years ago...
• Lucy. Lucy, Lucy - While the actress may not be the best, I loved Drac seducing her, I love her sickness - I really love the way that they portray her transition from human to undead
• The quote, "I just want to tear out her heart and cut off her head."
• Gary Oldman, Gary Oldman, Gary Oldman. He really made the movie for me. Scenes without him or without Dracula in his various forms really dragged for me (with the exception of the rainy maze scene - Always loved that)

Where I struggled:

• Keanu. Winona Ryder. *sigh* - They were really awful, especially the former. I think the only reason they were cast was because Coppola wanted to make a popular movie and, well, those two were incredibly popular in the 90's. But, really. Keanu was just particularly terrible. Ugh.
• Anthony Hopkins - So he wasn't bad, per se; I just didn't think he was as epically awesome as I remember. Then again, as I mentioned above, I was mostly interested in Drac-related scenes.
• This movie could definitely be cheesy at times - I mean, how many red flags does Drac need to fly before Jon Harker sees something wrong??
• It ran a little long for me this time around; The montage where the suiters, Harker, & co are chasing after Drac lost me a bit

When I first saw this movie, I probably would have given it a 5 MILLION out of 5...

But this time around, maybe a 3.75/5? It's really too bad about the acting front; this could have been a LOT better.

Regardless, it was enjoyable and something I would watch again, probably in a couple of years.

Tom Waits is a natural for Renfield. He did an excellent job. Although they didn't pick up his carefully crafted mumblings very well. I didn't think the main Renfield scene was particular dynamic. I'm not sure Coppola really apprehended what Renfield was in his film. I thought Tod Browning's (Dracula 31) Renfield scenes were better in every respect.

I don't really get the crushing of Reeves in this role. Maybe he's an actor I naturally perceive better than others do, but I was able to read his feelings & thoughts quite well. He's playing a very reserved and pious character. meh.

Beautiful Mina/Ryder on the other hand, she was really hard to grasp. I don't know who she was.