Vampires are easily one of the most recognisable and interesting horror icons ever created. This mainly due to the fact that there is a lot more to explore with vampires since they have human characterises and are often seen as rather beautiful creatures compared to other horror icons like the wolf man and Frankenstein. Where it be there presences, powers, scenery they associated them selves with etc, vampires are key movie monster and have been adapted into various different interpretations such as: nosferatu, let me in, van helsing and urgh… twilight. Arguably the most famous vampire tale and character is the story of count Dracula (written by Bram stoker). The story of the Dracula has been used influence various vampire films and the count is a very interesting character and has a sense of class and sophistication to him. The story of Dracula had been adapted in to film various times and the role of Dracula has been played by various different actors (e.g. Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee etc) and Dracula himself has been seen in various different ways, but Bram stokers Dracula (directed by Francis Ford Coppola) has a very unique take on the count and is very different to the traditional look on Dracula.
The first major difference about this film is that Dracula is given a back story into who he was and why he became a vampire, this helps to establish Dracula as a much more deep and meaningful character instead of just the typical vampire which helps the audience to connect with him more since he only became a vampire because he lost his wife. Skip to present day and we see that Draculas first appearance is vastly different to his traditional look of a cape and a suit, this Dracula has a long red gown, looks rather old and has an odd hair style, he also speaks in a much more slow and creepy manor which reflect how much the curse has effected him and how time has also effected him. When Dracula moves over seas into London his appearance is radically different since he is tall, strapping, handsome and very classy (which caters towards the more traditional look of Dracula, he also has much more human features which makes him look like and every day person and helps him to blend in with the environment.
The reason for this change is done incredibly well because while at his castle his notices that a picture of Jonathan’s wife looks very similar to his wife and because of this Dracula begins to have an emotional attachment to her. When ever Dracula and Maria are together he takes the more elegant form of himself where as when they are apart he looks more like the old decaying version, this is a very strong contrast because it shows how Dracula is filled with life when he is around Maria, because of this Dracula comes off as being a tortured soul instead of monster. He also acts differently around Maria since he won't hesitate to bite any random strange but he struggles against his vampire instinct to bite Maria since he doesn’t want to subject her to the cursed life he follow and this really helps to further segment Dracula as not a monster but merely trapped in an endless cycle of pain and suffering.
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