An Irresistable Dracula

The Dracula I viewed was released in 1979. This version of Dracula was overly romanticized with a very attractive Frank Langella putting a spell on Lucy and Mina. This Dracula utilized most of the characters from the original novel, which included Dr. Seward, Lucy, Mina, Jonathan Harker, Renfield, Professor Van Helsing, and of course Count Dracula. However, in this version the roles of the characters were quite different. Dr. Seward was still living and working in an insane asylum with Renfield as one of his patients. Lucy was Dr. Seward's daughter and she cared for Professor Van Helsing's daughter, Mina. Jonathan Harker was in a relationship with Lucy. Noticeably absent were the characters of Arthur Holmwood and Quincey Morris.

In this movie Count Dracula travels to Carfax in the early 1900s, by ship, with his boxes of dirt. This scene is very similar to that in the original Dracula novel. The beginning of the movie takes place at night during a terrible thunderstorm. The night ends with Mina Van Helsing discovering Count Dracula washed up after the ship crashes onto land. The following morning you are introduced to Jonathan Harker, Dr. Seward, and Renfield at the scene of the wreck trying to make sense of what happened the previous night. Jonathan Harker previously makes plans to do business with Count Dracula after he arrives at Carfax. That night, Dr. Seward invites their new neighbor over for dinner and drinks.

This becomes the first scene where we are actually introduced to the handsome Count Dracula and Lucy and Mina instantly become smitten with him. The Count has this power over Mina and actually hypnotizes her to remove the pain she has in her head. There seems to be a mutual attraction between Dracula and Lucy, in that she flirts with him and says things that intrigue him. They end their flirtatious night with a mesmerizing dance that leaves her boyfriend, Jonathan, slightly annoyed with their lust for one another.

In this movie, the character of Lucy Seward shows initial qualities similar to Mina Murray and then of Lucy Westenra. This version of Lucy seems to take care of things at the asylum and seems to be quite in control and independent. Though her and Jonathan have secret rendezvous, their relationship seems quite cordial. She later becomes like Lucy in her desire to be with more than one man. Lucy succumbs to Dracula's power and desires to be with him. Mina Van Helsing seems more like Lucy Westenra. This Mina reminds me of a little girl whom Lucy Seward takes care of. In this movie, however, Mina Van Helsing becomes Count Dracula's first victim.

In the scene when Dracula visits with Dr. Seward, Lucy, Jonathan, and Mina, you can clearly see the difference between Dracula and the others. For starters, Dracula's voice is quite intoxicating to listen to whereas Jonathan's and Seward's are not as much. The voice of Dracula is almost like a lullaby compared to Jonathan and Seward's choppy English accents. Dracula even carries himself in a graceful way while still maintaining his masculinity. This, I'm sure, could be filed under the East versus West argument.

A little later is this scene, you see Lucy asking Dracula to dance with her. Compared to the previous dance with Jonathan, Dracula's movements seem much smoother and more lyrical. Even the way in which he goes about holding Lucy is softer. As they dance, they seem to glide through the room as if they are the only two people in the entire room. This noticeably bothers Jonathan, because he obviously knows that he has never danced like that with Lucy. And for him, to have another man move in on his girlfriend creates tension. With Dracula's irresistible charm towards women, this makes Jonathan feel like less of a man because he doesn't have that power over women. Though Jonathan is portraying a typical 20th century man, this is still something Jonathan battles with throughout the entire movie as Lucy gets farther and farther away from him.

The next scene that portrays the overly romanticized Dracula is when Lucy accepts Dracula's dinner invitation as a "courtesy" because neither Dr. Seward or Jonathan are able to attend. This scene, in particular, is quite romantic in that they are sitting across from one another and they are surrounded only by candlelight which sets up a passionate scene. Also, if we take into consideration the time period and Lucy's cleavage-baring gown it becomes quite scandalous. For her to act in such a flirtatious way would have been out of the norm for this time period. Her whole ensemble invites Dracula in. Her hair is pulled back and away from her neck. And she is wearing a chunky, pearl choker that draws attention to her neck. Her mouth is also adorned with red lipstick. Everything in this scene was chosen particularly to draw Dracula and the viewer into Lucy. 

Immediately following this scene, we hear a piercing scream throughout the asylum followed by someone bursting through a window. This is the scene where we find that a woman's baby has been taken from her and left dead on the ground below the broken window. After reading the novel, I knew this was an attack made by Mina. Similar to the novel, the new vampire woman reverses roles and becomes the penetrator when she receives her nourishment from a baby rather than the baby receiving the nourishment from the woman. The baby's real mother describes the creature as being "hot as a burning coal" with "eyes as red as rubies" and her lips were curled back revealing "fangs of a wolf" with "breath so foul".

Although the characters roles and the story were changed around a bit, this movie is still quite similar to the gender roles in the original Dracula novel. Lucy is quite receptive to Dracula and is drawn to him. Though Mina takes on the role of the vampiric woman in the movie, the gender role is still the same in that she becomes the penetrator when digs her fangs into the innocent child's neck. And lastly, the mutual seduction between Lucy and Dracula. This role was not so straightforward in the novel. The novel portrayed it as more of a one sided seduction lead by Dracula. Gender roles are definitely present, but this movie portrays a more romanticized and masculine Dracula as compared to Bram Stoker's Dracula.