The film is based on the classic vampire novel Dracula, written by Irish author Bram Stoker in 1897. The story begins in Constantinople in 1462 A.D., where Count Dracula, the great Romanian general, heroically repels the Turkish invaders. Unexpectedly, at the time of his victory, rumors circulate in the city that he has been killed in battle, and his wife, Elizabeth, committed suicide by throwing herself into the river because of her grief, and the enraged Dracula curses God and becomes an immortal vampire.
Four hundred years later, in 1897, Count Dracula discovers Mina, a London woman who bears a striking resemblance to Elizabeth, and decides to cross the ocean in search of this lost love of four centuries.
Dr. Van Helsing, Mina’s husband Jonathan, and their companions form a team of vampire hunters who start in London and relentlessly search for Dracula and hunt him down in Romania, where they eventually kill the vampire count at Dracula’s castle.
1992 / UK USA / Romance Horror Fantasy / Francis Ford Coppola / Gary Oldman Winona Ryder
Plot Summary:
This is an eerie vampire legend, but also a poignant and sentimental love story.
In 1462 AD, the Turks invade Constantinople and threaten all of Christianity.
Count Dracula (Gary Oldman), the Romanian general, is ordered to conquer, but just as he is winning, rumors swirl around the city that he has been killed in battle.
His wife, Elizabeth (Winona Ryder), is so distraught that she commits suicide by throwing herself into the river, and Dracula returns to the city to see only his wife’s body.
As a result, he becomes angry with God, and thus becomes an undead blood-sucking zombie who devotes himself to the forces of evil and feeds on blood to continue his life.
Four hundred years later, the story shifts to 1897 London, where a young lawyer, Jon Nathanson (Keanu Reeves), has been ordered to the Dracula family castle in the Romanian province of Transylvania to formalize the nobleman’s estate in London.
To do so, he will be separated from his fiancée, the beautiful Mina (Winona Ryder).
Castle Dracula is owned by none other than Count Dracula, who has been transformed into a vampire, and who finds Mena to bear a striking resemblance to Elizabeth, believing Mena to be the reincarnated rebirth of Liza.
He is determined to find Mina and retrieve…
