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I love this movie so much

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Lavishly produced Dracula adaptation is a mixed bag, but there are enough positives to outweigh the weaker elements. On the plus side, Frank Langell is wonderfully suave and also quietly menacing as The Count. The production design is terrifically atmospheric, aided by moody photography by Gilbert Taylor (the same guy who shot "Dr. Strangelove," "The Omen," "Flash Gordon," and the original "Star Wars"). There's also a strong supporting cast that includes Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing, Kate Nelligan, Donald Pleasence, and the seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy. Top that off with a John Williams score and a smart script by W.D. Richter (the guy who directed cult classic "Buckaroo Banzai") and it's hard to imagine this film going far wrong. On the downside, the film is not particularly scary and instead is more of a bland Gothic romance where the characters all seem rather cold, which weakens the the romantic elements and results in the audience never fully engage the romantic drama. Still, it's a gorgeous production that is a must see for fans of the oft filmed Bram Stoker tale.

If you like your Dracula with sex appeal, this is the film version for you. Frank Langella provides just the right amount of emotive flourish to make women swoon. How can one doubt it when Lucy's (Kate Nelligan) response to the Count upon their introduction is "Oh, I love to be frightened..." The story line also builds on the accepted traditions of vampire lore with mentions of corporeal transference, materialization and astral bodies. Langella's eyes have a hypnotic power that was never so expertly utilized in prior incarnations of the Dracula character, and the idea that he would cut himself so Lucy could drink his blood to claim immortality was a clever bit of writing. Sort of sexy too if one is inclined that way.As a classic, old time movie fan, I was particularly pleased with the nod to the original Bela Lugosi film "Dracula" from 1931. It was when Count Dracula brought Lucy outside of Carfax Abbey to the sounds of howling wolves in the distance. Waxing poetic, Dracula says "Listen to them, the children of the night. What sad music they make". By adding the word 'sad' to the description, the writers improved the original dialog in a way that conveys a surreal, romantic flavor to the encounter between vampire and victim.Interestingly, the film is not big on special effects, and I was curious about the version shown on Turner Classics the other evening that almost appeared to be a black and white film. Some other viewers have commented on it, and I'm curious as to why Universal Pictures took this approach. Be that as it may, the 'bleached' treatment shouldn't detract from one's enjoyment of the picture, with it's stylistic handling of the Dracula mythos.

This version of the lusty count isn't that bad. Frank Langella makes for a sympathetic count and its perhaps this element that stops it from being really frightening. As dashing as Frank is he exudes little in the way of menace. However, the British locations are sumptuous and the supporting cast of Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasance,Trevor Eve and Tony Haygarth as an excellent Renfield are all good. One complaint is that the late Lord Olivier is perhaps a bit to old to play Van Helsing, as the role usually involves a tussle with the Count. The director has created a great, creepy atmosphere and Frank Langella does a very good Dracula. As much as I love Bela Lugosi, with his accent and intensity, Langella has an erotic quality that even Lugosi can't match.The highlight of the film for me is where Van Helsing and Seward, having found that Van Helsing's niece Mina has been turned into a vampire by Dracula, unearth her coffin and find it empty. They go through a hole in the coffin's side into an old abandoned mine-working in search of her (Mine-workings don't appear in the original novel, but part of the film's ingenuity lies in making things like this add to the film's resonance and power). Van Helsing, searching the dark and dripping tunnels by flickering candlelight, drops his crucifix and, stooping to pick it up, catches sight of his niece reflected in a puddle at his feet. He looks up and sees what she has become. The beautiful Mina (played by the radiant Jan Francis) has become a thing of real horror, what a vampire would really be like if they actually existed - a loathsome, visceral fiend, living in the drains and feeding off rats and slugs. This is the bit that kept me awake for nights on end, and which still gives me the willies even now. All in all, still love this film, still holds up after all these years and doesn't look that date, considering it was released in 1979.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

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.