In some way's Argento's Dracula can be connected with the Dracula. The storyline may have varied a little but you can still see the connections. Overall, I think that the movie was okay. Here's the basic storyline:
The movie's opening was a little slow but gradually got better. One thing I noticed from the beginning was the obvious signs of superstition. Such as: garlic hung around the room, crosses, and barring the windows at night. One thing the director chose was to play music that suggested suspense and mystery as the girl in the opening act runs through the woods. As you continue to watch, you learn that she is running to meet her married lover. After her meeting, she gets scared and asked the man to walk her home. Which kind of plays into the gender-specific role as a woman of the time, needing the strong protection of a man to guide her home. But because of his marriage, he doesn't want to be seen with another woman. Enraged, the woman forgets her fear and storms off... but not before throwing her cross necklace, which was a gift from him, at the man.
As she walked through the forest, she begins to hear something around her, it's then when she realizes that maybe walking through the woods was a bad idea. She soon spots a hawk flying straight for her. Screaming, she breaks into a run, trying to get to the house that she passed along the path. However, the man worked for Dracula and was no help at all. Once the hawk reached the woman, it morphed into Dracula, himself. He attacked her and eventually, turned her into a vampire. One thing that I noticed, was that the writers made this scene rather sexual. It is after this scene that Luci is introduced. One thing that was different in the movie compared to the book, was Luci's hair. Rather than being blond, Luci had brown hair in the movie. Her first scene is when she's giving piano lessons to a little girl.
After Luci is introduced, Jonathan is shown making his way to Castle Dracula. One thing that I noted was that the horse showed signs of nervousness. Which horses (and animals, in general) are said to sense supernatural, meaning that the horse probably sensed the vampire in town. One thing that was inconsistent, however, was that the horse showed no sign of nervousness when arriving at the castle. Once at the castle, Jonathan meets the vampire woman, the one from the beginning of the movie. It is after this, that Dracula is finally introduced. They way they portrayed Dracula surprised me. I didn't expect him to be so young. He was closer to Jonathan's age, looked like an Englishman, and was blond.
During that initial meeting, Jonathan mentions that Mina, which is his wife in the movie, couldn't make the trip with him and that she would be arriving later. To which, Dracula makes the comment, "A wife's place is at her husband's side." This comment shows how woman were though of during that time period, as weaker than the man, and needing the man's protection.
Now, the rest of the storyline slightly varies from the book, such as the vampire woman attacking Jonathan, there is a human who serves the vampire woman, and Luci's dreams are only mentioned once rather than many times. Even Luci's storyline varies. While still being attacked by Dracula, Luci didn't have the blood-transfusions, and while she mentioned three suitors...you never see them. And Luci dies rather quickly.
It is here that Van Helssing is introduced. Not as someone who fancied Luci, but as a vampire hunter. He assists Mina in hunting down Luci, who is now a vampire. However, instead of using the stake to kill her, she is burned to death.
After Luci's death, Van Helssing decides to go after Dracula, who eventually captures Mina. (He believes that Mina is his reincarnated wife) Unlike the book, Van Helssing only has one other helper and that is a priest, who really was no help at all. The movie ends differently than the original story as well. Mina, breaking from Dracula's spell, ends up killing him by shooting him in the heart with a silver bullet.
In all honesty, this is the kind of movie that I would only watch once. While, it was interesting to see what they did with the story, it wasn' something that really kept my interest.
I liked how you noticed several areas in the film where the gender roles were determined and the male was seen as above the women during the time and how the male played the protector. It was also interesting your attention to the background of the scenes and the music that was chosen to play out the scenes. I would have like to see more comparison between the adaptation and the novel and maybe some visuals to get a better idea of the film version.
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