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Dracula (Film)
by Dario Argento
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Thomas Kretschmann, Marta Gastini, Asia Argento, Rutger Hauer, Miriam Giovanelli, Unax Ugalde, Maria Cristina Heller, Augusto Zucchi, Franco Ravera, Francesco Rossini, Giovanni Franzoni, Giuseppe Lo Console, Riccardo Cicogna, Eugenio Allegri, Nicola Baldoni
Dario Argento, Stefano Piani, Antonio Tentori, Enrique Cerezo
Luciano Tovoli
Marshall Harvey
set design:
Antonello Geleng
Monica Celeste
Claudio Simonetti
Roberto Di Girolamo, Sergio Gobbi, Giovanni Paolucci, Enrique Cerezo
Multimedia Film Production, supported by MiBAC, Les Films de l'Astre, Enrique Cerezo Producciones
Bolero Film [Italy]
world sales:
Filmexport Group [Italy]
Italy/France/Spain
film run:
3D - colour
festivals & awards:
Linz Film Festival: Crossing Europe 2014: Night Sight
Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film 2013: Official Selection
Chicago International Film Festival 2013: Special Presentation
Pantalla Pinamar International Film Festival 2013: The Event
Festival de Cannes 2012: Hors Compétition
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2012: Midnight Screenings
Reykjavík International Film Festival 2012: Dario Argento
Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia 2012: Official Fantàstic Galas
Noir In Festival 2011: Special Event: the Backstage (25')
The tale begins with Jonathan Harker, journeying by train and carriage from England to Count Dracula's crumbling, remote castle situated in the Carpathian Mountains on the border of Transylvania.
The purpose of his mission is to catalogue the big library of Dracula. At first enticed by Dracula's gracious manner, Harker soon discovers that he has become a prisoner in the castle. He also begins to see disquieting facets of Dracula's nocturnal life. One night while searching for a way out of the castle, and against Dracula's strict admonition not to venture outside his room at night, Harker falls under the spell of three wanton female vampires, the Brides of Dracula. He is saved at the last second by the Count, because he wants to keep Harker alive. Harker barely escapes from the castle with his life. Soon Dracula is tracking Harker's devoted fiancée, Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray, and her friend, Lucy Westenra. There is a notable encounter between Dracula and Renfield, an insane man who means to consume insects, spiders, birds, and other creatures — in ascending order of size — in order to absorb their "life force". Renfield acts as a motion sensor, detecting Dracula's proximity and supplying clues accordingly. Lucy begins to waste away suspiciously. All her suitors fret, and Seward calls in his old teacher, Professor Abraham Van Helsing from Amsterdam. Van Helsing immediately determines the cause of Lucy's condition but refuses to disclose it, knowing that Seward's faith in him will be shaken if he starts to speak of vampires. Van Helsing tries multiple blood transfusions, but they are clearly losing ground. On a night when Van Helsing must return to Amsterdam, Lucy and her mother are attacked by a wolf. Mrs Westenra, who has a heart condition, dies of fright, and Lucy apparently dies soon after. Lucy is buried, but soon afterward the newspapers report children being stalked in the night by a "bloofer lady". Van Helsing knows that this means Lucy has become a vampire. The suitors and Van Helsing track her down, and after a disturbing confrontation between her vampiric self and Arthur, they stake her heart, behead her, and fill her mouth with garlic.
Around the same time, Jonathan Harker arrives home from recuperation in Budapest; he and Mina also join the coalition, who turn their attentions to dealing with Dracula. After Dracula learns of Van Helsing and the others' plot against him, he takes revenge by visiting—and biting— Mina at least three times. Dracula also feeds Mina his blood, creating a spiritual bond between them to control her. The only way to forestall this is to kill Dracula first. Mina slowly succumbs to the blood of the vampire that flows through her veins, switching back and forth from a state of consciousness to a state of semi-trance during which she is telepathically connected with Dracula. It is this connection that they start to use to deduce Dracula's movements. It is only possible to detect Dracula's surroundings when Mina is put under hypnosis by Van Helsing. This ability gradually gets weaker as the group make their way to Dracula's castle. Dracula flees back to his castle in Transylvania, followed by Van Helsing's group, who manage to track him down just before sundown and destroy him by shearing "through the throat" with a knife and stabbing him in the heart also with a knife. Dracula crumbles to dust, his spell is lifted and Mina is freed from the marks. Quincey Morris is killed in the final battle, stabbed by Gypsies who had been charged with returning Dracula to his castle; the survivors return to England.
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