Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Frank Langella brought his acclaimed role of Count Dracula from Broadway for a film version. The ultimate Dracula Bela Lugosi also did Dracula on Broadway before going to Universal to play his career role.For the screen version a couple of veteran names got into supporting roles. Donald Pleasance plays Dr. Seward and the great vampire nemesis Dr. Van Helsing is none other than Laurence Olivier.For those familiar with the Bela Lugosi Dracula it follows the story line fairly closely with a couple of major exceptions both involving Van Helsing. For one thing the young girl who dies played by Jan Francis is Van Helsing's daughter. The confrontation between the undead Francis and Olivier when Olivier and Pleasance are vampire hunting is a frightening one. The other thing I will not reveal lest it spoil the ending. I will say the added dimension of fatherhood for Van Helsing's character is something new and special.Langella himself is pretty frightening as is Kate Nelligan as Lucy Seward whom Dracula selects for a new bride. At least until Trevor Eve as Jonathan Harker and Olivier affect a rescue as in the original story. The rescue itself is far from the one in the Lugosi Dracula. Still most effective.Fright fans get ready for a big fright.

first, for the cast. to meet, together, Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasence and Frank Langella is a real delight. then - for the nuances who reminds, after so many experiments, the original novel. and not the last, the fascinating Dracula by Frank Langella who is more a seducer than the monster. the atmosphere reminds old fashion Gothic literature. the acting preserves the delicacy of tension and gives force and beautiful sparkles to a story who seems be well - known. maybe it is not exactly the best adaptation. but it remains a must see. maybe for the emotions and for the special feeling to discover hide zones of a novel who remains great source of inspiration for the horrors. and this is the great good point of this film - it is the perfect mixture between thriller, mystery and crime, ignoring the rules of horror for a beautiful story who use in wise manner great cinematography.

A magnificent swooping shot towards and over Castle Dracula fades into an equally epic shot of The Demeter, the doomed ship that holds the casket containing Dracula, being rocked by a punishing storm – all with the backing of John Williams' bombastic musical score. It's clear this lavish production intends to be as spectacular as possible.Frank Langella is a commanding, imposing and charming Dracula. A real life condition causes his very eyes to shiver –effective when Dracula notices butler Swales (Teddy Turner) has cut his finger whilst serving supper.Interestingly, the characters of Mina (now Van Helsing's daughter) and Lucy (Kate Nelligan) are swapped for this version: Mina is already sickly and prone to unpredictable behaviour even before Dracula's arrival.We have Trevor Eve's rather sulky Jonathan Harker, Donald Pleasance forever eating or chewing as Dr. Seward and Laurence Olivier as a frail Abraham Van Helsing – Olivier's health was precarious throughout filming, but he went on to live ten more years and continued making films.In 2004 Director John Badham made the bizarre decision of draining much of the film's colour for the DVD release. The result, especially for the scenes inside Castle Dracula, play almost like a black and white film (perhaps that is the intention. There are certainly similarities between this and the 1931 version: both films are based on the Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston stage version, and both feature leading men who helped make the theatrical runs so popular). The resultant imagery however, has scenes that are visually very flat.A sequence that looks out-of-place, beneath its own glossy over-production, is when Dracula enters Lucy's room and seduces her. Striding through plumes of machine-generated smoke, the following canoodling melds straight into laser-lit choreography, with whirling dry ice, blood red lighting and cartoon bats. Flamboyant it might have been in 1979, this is the only scene that dates the film.Having said that, the set-piece that most remember is that of a vampiric Mina emerging from the sewers to entice Seward and Van Helsing. Beginning as a reflection in a muddy pool of water (vampires cast no reflection – indeed, Dracula is not shown in the mirror as he enters Van Helsing's room), she looms from the shadows as a frightening, ragged, decomposing spectre. Brilliant and terrifying this transformation is, from the lovely Jan Francis into a monster, I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense – Mina has only been dead a short while, and vampires are known to retain their youthfulness once bitten, not decay as Mina has done (only in death does she revert to her original self).Equally, Dracula's eventual demise stretches things a bit. The notion that old Van Helsing, dying from being impaled, manages to hurl a hook in The Count's back with enough force to embed itself enough for him to then to be winched into the sunlight is difficult to invest in.These niggles aside, this is a powerful and vibrant adaption, and highly enjoyable. Released around the same time as Werner Herzog's 'Nosferatu' and the George Hamilaton-starring 'Love at First Bite', its commercial impact was compromised a little, which presumably scuppered further interest from Universal.

This review does contain spoilers. This is without a doubt the most erotic Dracula movie ever made. Frank Langella's Dracula is handsome, charming, seductive and very believably able to seduce any woman on whom he focuses his attention. The B&W movie is classically eerie and spooky, the sets are almost cliché's of the horror genre as is Mini's 'heroic' solo dash from her sick bed to the shore to try to rescue those on the storm lashed ship wreck instead of calling for help. That scene was enough to steal a 9 or 10 rating from me, although if it was intended to be humorous, a bit of comic relief, then it succeeded. The seduction scene between Dracula and Lucy was brilliantly handled leaving details to the imagination of the viewers. Olivier was marvellous, as always, as was Donald Pleasence, an actor who, in my opinion has been frequently undervalued. Tony Haygarth was very effectively creepy. And Kate Nelligan was superb as the strong willed Lucy who still remains strong willed after Dracula's seduction.We have watched this DVD a few times and have been entertained each time we see it. And being entertained is a major criteria for us ... were we entertained and will we watch this again? The answer to both questions is - Yes.