Bram Stroker's Dracula (1992)

It Could Always Get Worse

The thing I’m struggling with lately is “whataboutism.” And it’s not someone else’s childish “whataboutism” thrown in my face to try and diminish my personal problems, it’s ME looking around and going “Damn, this sucks.” I am an American. I rip on America all the time because I genuinely believe this empire should fall and is the cause of a ton of problems around the world. “America” aka the USA is literally. Actively. And fighting for the right to FUND GENOCIDE right now and I’m supposed to take this shit seriously? I wanted to get a tattoo in Texas and… Well. I don’t even know if I’ll ever go to Texas at this point. Rights are being eroded left and right for those who live here (everywhere not just Texas) as we barrel straight into the open mouth of fascism. We are already in the throat, I’d say. Fascism is already here and has already been here, it’s more about backtracking than stopping.

Anyway, so I love to take up little hobbies of coping with existing, the whole time feeling like I’m a whiny bitch because HEY at least I’m not being bombed in the States (note: This may also change)

One of those things is ACTUALLY watching people’s old movie recommendations and not just writing them down and forgetting about them forever. The latest one I saw was the movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula which is based on… would you believe it, Dracula by Bram Stroker from 1897. Boy was it a distraction!

The Movie

I’m just going to jump in so if you want to read the Wiki page on the original book click here and if you want to read about this specific movie adaptation click here.

Spoilers Ahead

I read absolutely nothing about this movie before I jumped in. I mean, who cares? It’s Dracula and it’s a gothic horror film from 1992 and there’s something about werewolf sex in it. Sure. I expected it to be a little sexy, maybe even a little misogynistic but not overly so, and to have some banger practical effects.

All of those were true! But I still wasn’t prepared for how it made me feel. This movie existing is proof that one cannot take modern claims seriously without re-visiting the past. It is always so tempting to say “These days, X happens” and “Back in my day, we had Y” the older you get. Sometimes those claims are true (you were there after all), but sometimes you have to be self-aware enough to think “Did I feel that way because of ignorance? Nostaliga? Or was that something peers claimed that I never examined?” For me personally, my assumptions weren’t closely examined and I can break it down fairly easy.

This will be sexy

Yes it was sexy but more than that it was alluring and it was sensual. I think we live in a paradox where the more humans push the boundaries for new reactions in media, the more we lose what made the recipe spicy in the first place. Some people hate sex scenes, other people love them, and it frankly doesn’t matter—the last sex scenes I remember in modern media were about flashiness and showing skin and trying to get away with anything they could show on screen to show a passionate moment. But none of it was subversive or enthralled me the way Bram Stroker’s Dracula did. This movie did not cut out moans, or shy away from non-conventionally attractive protagonists, or cut to 50 angles of a slender waist. I was able to feel the full context of a moment with the danger of the outdoor space in full view, the panicked run to the event, and the aftermath. I was immersed and everything was framed in a way where I could understand the state of mind of the two characters and the desparation for which they came together.

I didn’t even see a simple breast in the scene I’m referring to. It was perhaps the most sensual scene in the entire movie, when a wolfman (OK, Dracula) beckoned his siren beauty.

I’ve read analysis on “movies aren’t sexy anymore” that talked beautifully about sterilizing media, harping on the lack of intimacy and general tastlessness that so much media has, mature themes or not. I have to agree at this point and wish I could explain more how stiff my recent watches have felt in comparison to this.

The movie felt alive, largely because the characters and environments felt like they had real feelings. Where did the artistry go? Why is it largely only in indie films?

This will be misogynistic

I rolled my eyes at men’s general persistence on unwilling women. However, halfway through the movie I also felt, “Wow, don’t all these women have a lot of agency though?”

Perhaps this is old news but I had the assumption that the men would get a lot more screentime than the women in this movie. I wasn’t keeping count but I was far more interested in everything the women were doing—which was a lot. The only caged people were men. Women vampires acted somewhat freely along with their near-succubus counterpart human women. They giggled about sex and looked at naughty novels together. I rooted for them even when they were doing wrong. I was shocked at the main character allowed to do whatever she wanted at the end despite everyone knowing she was turning into a vampire.

The particular scene that really got me was:

The two women friends (Mina and Lucy) frolicked in the rain together, laughing, and then kissed.

My jaw dropped.

It was never acknowledged again. They remained friends as normal, which tells me this may happen fairly often and wow… Good for them. They’re both getting married to men and love them and it’s totally cool if they kiss sometimes. What freedom they must feel in this time where they may not even be allowed to own a bank account. If I had no historical context or prior knowledge, I may not have even believed that there was an imbalance at all.

This will have banger practical effects

I don’t have much to say about this. Yeah, there were. No animals harmed in this film was a miracle. The shadow-play was fantastic and would completely change the tone of the scene at a moment’s notice. It was just a beautiful movie to watch. Mmm crunch.

Future Movies

I’ll be looking into more cult classics like this. Partially to cope, sure, but mostly because it was a wonderful experience. Should I try letterbox’d again? Do people still use that? The best part is—I don’t care if they do or not. Being tuned in is for caring about the rights of those around me, not for FOMO.