History Film / BramStokersDracula

* ComicBookAdaptation: ''Topps'' released a four-issue comic and 100 trading cards. The comic was scripted bybRoy Tomas and had art by Mike Mignola. Creator/IDW publishing collected in a trade paperback in 2018.

* {{Novelization}}: Fred Saberhagen wrote one.

* SceneryPorn: The studio sets, from rose-filled gardens to Hammer-style taverns. Bound to happen with Mike Mignola involved with the art design.

** Coppola also noted that the story's setting paralleled the birth of film, and one scene shows Dracula and Mina seeing early films. His aversion of CGI for in-camera effects and technology stemmed from a desire to use primitive special effects like Magic Lantern shows and practical effects in the mode of Creator/GeorgesMelies. In terms of visual effects, the movie is an encyclopedia of the history of the gothic horror-fantasy film genre itself, alluding to everything from Melies to GermanExpressionism to Creator/ValLewton, to ''Film/LaBelleEtLaBete'', to Creator/AlfredHitchcock, Creator/RogerCorman, to ''Film/TheExorcist'' (Van Helsing treating Lucy). The characterization of Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker in the film also explores the FinalGirl trope in horror, with Lucy's victimization heavily focused on her sexuality, while Mina more or less commits adultery with Jonathan and willingly encourages Dracula's affections and returns it, and ends up defeating and redeeming the Count, presumably surviving the film's events.

* WomanInWhite: Vampire!Lucy, as she was buried in what was to be her wedding gown.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: "The Blood is the Life!" is paraphrased from Leviticus 17:14.

* AwardBaitSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhG8zC4npsE Love Song for a Vampire]] by Annie Lennox

In general, Coppola's film is far more faithful to the novel than the majority of Dracula adaptations, both in tone and in structure. ''Nosferatu'', Browning's ''Dracula'', and Badham's ''Dracula'' also have different character roles and relationships from the book; for example, in Badham's ''Dracula'', Lucy is the final girl and fiancee of Harker instead of Mina, and Mina is Van Helsing's daughter. In Browning's ''Dracula'' and Badham's ''Dracula'' Jonathan Harker never even went to Transylvania, while in several other Dracula adaptations he went and got killed in Dracula's castle.
*** For example, Coppola's film is the only adaptation that does not composite the characters of Lord Arthur Holmwood, Dr. Seward, and Quincey Morris into a single man or doesn't axe any of them from the narrative. All three in this movie are Lucy's suitors with Lucy choosing Arthur as her husband. Arthur Holmwood is the one who has to stake vampire Lucy, like in the novel.
*** Mina here is a schoolmistress, who uses typewriter, fiancee of Jonathan Harker and is the second victim of Dracula in England. Lucy here is a wealthy socialite, Mina's childhood friend and the one who becomes first victim of Dracula in England and turns into vampire.
*** Jonathan Harker is the one who goes to Transylvania to Dracula and survives till the end of the film.
*** When Jonathan Harker comes to Dracula's castle and meets his host for the first time, Dracula is an old man, with hairy palms and long claw-like nails, like in the novel. Dracula gets younger after he feeds on blood and appears in England rejuveneted, just like in the novel.
*** Dracula in his young form has moustache. Almost all adaptations usually ignore that Dracula in the novel has moustache.
*** The film version largely does follow the general plot outline and story dynamic of the novel. It's portrayal of Dracula restores most of the UnbuiltTrope from the original book, and most importantly just like the novel, it doesn't fully give Dracula a single final form, allowing him to take multiple shapes like wolf, mist or bat, as well as travel in sunlight without withering like paper (a motif introduced by Murnau). Though the movie shortens the ship massacre sequence that was an iconic part of the novel and a SignatureScene in Murnau's film, Coppola did this out of love for the Murnau film and a desire to not repeat or compete with it.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Harker is remarkably blasé about Dracula's habit of extending his limbs beyond their natural reach, moving out of sync with his shadow, teleporting from one side of the room to the other and gliding across floors like he was floating without legs. Ironically these tricks stop almost entirely ''after'' his true nature has become apparent to the characters.

* VillainyDiscretionShot: According to Dr. Van Helsing, Dracula has killed and tortured thousands of people. But of course, we only get to see this through old medieval pictures, otherwise Dracula wouldn't be half as sympathetic.

%%* TheProfessor: Van Helsing.

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Elisabeta kills herself by jumping from a precipice high enough that she falls through clouds/mist. Considering that she probably have landed on her front and face, the only sign of the resulting damage is a dainty trickle of blood from her corpse's mouth. She is said to have "flung herself into the river", so there should also be some water damage, depending on how long it was before she was found.

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Elisabeta kills herself by jumping from a precipice high enough that she falls through clouds/mist. Considering that she should have landed on her front and face, the only sign of the resulting damage is a dainty trickle of blood from her corpse's mouth. She is said to have "flung herself into the river", so there should also be some water damage, depending on how long it was before she was found.

* AdaptationalHeroism: Dracula gets this treatment in the film. He becomes a vampire for renouncing God after his bride kills herself (and the Priest declares that her soul would be eternally damned as a result) and then falls in love with Mina because she is her reincarnation. This backstory comes from the fact that Dracula is [[NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed patterned]] on UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler who did oppose the Turks and wage a "Holy War" on behalf of God and protected Europe from Muslim influence. So from his perspective he was punished for doing God's work when his wife died. In addition, Dracula's plot in the original novel of taking over England is omitted, undoubtedly because the hypocritical [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_literature imperialist projection]] of foreign invader would not be sympathetic to a liberal Italian-American like Coppola.

* UngratefulBastard: Dracula expresses this view of [[RageAgainstTheHeavens ''God himself'']] in the opening for allowing Elisabeta's suicide, as by defeating a Turkish invasion, Dracula had ensured the continuance of Christian rule in Europe.

*** For example, Coppola's film is the only adaptation that does not composite the characters of Lord Arthur Holmwood, Dr. Seward, and Quincey Morris into a single man. All three in this movie are Lucy's suitors with Lucy choosing Arthur as her husband. Arthur Holmwood is the one who has to stake vampire Lucy, like in the novel.

** The belief that this trope would be subverted, and that he might be reunited with his wife in Hell, was the whole reason for Dracula's FaithHeelTurn in the first place.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The downright-LawfulStupid priest who casually tells Dracula that his suicidal wife is damned, while the latter is at his most emotionally vulnerable.

* AllForNothing: Dracula's FaithHeelTurn and consequent vampirism due to despair and rage over Elisabeta's suicide (which, according to their clergy's SuicideIsShameful beliefs, means no TogetherInDeath if he goes to Heaven). But in the end - [[spoiler:she's shown to be in Heaven after all, and he's apparently undergone enough RedemptionEqualsDeath to be allowed to rejoin her... meaning that his villainous actions have been pointless]].

[[quoteright:318:[[{{Dracula}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dracula_kiss_4341.jpg]]]][[caption-width-right:318:''[[TagLine Love never dies]]'']]

* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: In the novel, Quincy Morris was the one who fatally stabbed Dracula. In the film, Mina is the one who stabs him after Johnathan slashes his throat. Then she decapitates him.

It features Creator/GaryOldman playing Dracula, Creator/WinonaRyder playing Mina Murray, and Creator/KeanuReeves who, despite being an immortal according to the Internet, plays Jonathan Harker. Creator/AnthonyHopkins plays a Van Helsing.

It features Creator/GaryOldman playing a Dracula, Creator/WinonaRyder playing Mina Murray, and Creator/KeanuReeves who, despite being an immortal according to the Internet, plays Jonathan Harker. Creator/AnthonyHopkins plays a Van Helsing.