Technology even becomes part of a competition within the novel as our heroes race Dracula's sail-powered ship with a steam-powered locomotive (Stoker, 354). Very fitting since Van Helsing is said to be the left hand of God. It contained the film on VHS, which included a behind-the-scenes documentary, and the original Dracula novel by Bram Stoker in paperback. The grey werewolf featured earlier in the film (the one that bites Velkan), was intentionally designed to resemble Rick Baker's werewolf creation from the film An American Werewolf in London (1981). Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). At one point in the opening, Dr. Frankenstein is packing a trunk. Richard Roxburgh plays Dracula while Silvia Colloca plays Verona, one of his brides. Jessica Chastain Reveals Her Favorite Red Carpet Dress, That Time She Went Through a Goth Phase and More! The film was created as the ultimate mash up of Universal Monsters, and to leave Gill-Man out of the mix means that Stephen Sommers, for once, was afraid to throw that kitchen sink into one of his films. In a career retrospective compiled by Entertainment Weekly, Reeves was described as having been "out of his depth" and "frequently blasted off the screen by Gary Oldman". Add your name now! Dracula's diminutive henchmen, the Dwerger, are actually dwarfs from Germanic folklore. It seems to be the case with the other actresses playing the Brides too. "[19] Richard Corliss said, "Coppola brings the old spook story aliveEveryone knows that Dracula has a heart; Coppola knows that it is more than an organ to drive a stake into. Hunted Down: Directed by Leslie Hope. During filming, Hugh Jackman accidentally broke an extra's hand. Don't talk". [6][8] He had an artist storyboard the entire film in advance to carefully illustrate each planned shot, a process which created around a thousand images. The doctor holds up a plant in front of Renfield - its scent makes him violently shriek, hiss, and back away. What the crew did not know, was that there were a lot of spiders in the area, and when Kemp's scene was finally completed, he went home with numerous spider bites on his back and arms. Ironically, Silvia Colloca played the queen bride as Monica Bellucci did and the two have been compared often. At some point in pre-production, a cameo appearance by the Gill-Man from Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) was slated to appear in the underground cave where Van Helsing and Anna discover Frankenstein's Monster. When Anna and Velkan are fighting the werewolf at the beginning of the movie, there are about a dozen people helping them. Also, the fair haired vampire (Marishka) dies first in both movies. It became a box-office hit, grossing $82,522,790 in North America and becoming the 15th-highest-grossing film of the year. [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] Virgin Media journalist Limara Salt, in listing the "Top 10 worst movie accents", wrote: "Keanu Reeves is consistently terrible at delivering any accent apart from a California surfer dude, but it's his English effort in Dracula that tops the lot. "[18] Vincent Canby described the film as having been created with the "enthusiasm of a precocious film student who has magically acquired a master's command of his craft. Another clip shown is the brides' rooftop discussion, and Verona's "Never trust a man to do a woman's job," line. ; Disguised in Drag: In the animated prequel he poses as a woman to fool Hyde into attacking him. [65], The film appeared in Entertainment Weekly's "5 best vampire movies",[66] Forbes's "Top 10 Best Vampire Movies Of All Time",[67] Esquire's "20 Best Vampire Movies",[68] and "Sexiest Horror Movies Ever Made". He was so consumed with Godfather III. "[31], Reeves's attempt at London vernacular has been cited as one of the worst accents, if not the worst, in the history of recorded film. Towards the end of the movie, during the battle between Dracula and Van Helsing as a werewolf, Van Helsing bares the claws on his right "hand" in a manner very similar to the way the X-Men's Wolverine, also played by Hugh Jackman, bares his. When Mina receives word from Jonathan who has escaped the castle and recovered at a convent, she travels to Romania to marry him. Hugh Jackman had hair extensions added for filming. Special features include an introduction and audio commentary by director Francis Ford Coppola, deleted and extended scenes, teaser and full-length trailers, and the documentaries "The Blood Is the Life: The Making of Dracula", "The Costumes Are the Sets: The Design of Eiko Ishioka", "In Camera: The Nave Visual Effects of Dracula", and "Method and Madness: Visualizing Dracula". During the movie, Jackman's Van Helsing is bitten by a werewolf he's fighting off during an exciting carriage chase sequence. He fights for The User. Coppola stated, "they got along and then one day they didn'tabsolutely didn't get along. Stan Helsing is nothing more than stale junk food - candy corn gone bad. It was filmed in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California. The glass of blood one of the Brides drinks leaves a pulpy residue on the glass - a trait of tomato juice. The film's hair and makeup designer, Michle Burke, recalls: "Francis didn't want the typical Dracula that had already been done in Hollywood. [8][9] Due to delays and cost overruns on some of Coppola's previous projects such as Apocalypse Now and One from the Heart, Coppola was determined to bring the film in on time and on budget. Filming was then resumed in Canada in June 2020 and subsequently wrapped up in September. He mentioned it in a 2011 list of the "50 Performances That Ruined Movies", and wrote: "You can visibly see Keanu attempting not to end every one of his lines with 'dude'. To have been called "Transylvania", it was to have featured a wild-west Sheriff taken to Europe to battle monsters, with occasional guest appearances by Hugh Jackman as Gabriel Van Helsing. After Van Helsing brings her up to the balcony, Anna's tiara is missing. Vanessa Helsing, distant relative of famous vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, is resurrected only to find that vampires have taken over the world. Elena Anaya was originally featured in the masquerade ball, but her scenes were deleted. Shuler Hensley reprised his role of Frankenstein's Monster in Mel Brooks's stage adaptation of Young Frankenstein (1974). [64] The film was also a landmark in vampire horror as it is the only Dracula adaptation to win Oscars. He and Mina share a kiss as the candles adorning the chapel light up and the cross repairs itself. [22] Jonathan Rosenbaum said the film suffered from a "somewhat dispersed and overcrowded storyline" but that it "remains fascinating and often affecting thanks to all its visual and conceptual energy. Ivory and Scab assume control of the Daywalker horde. Co-starring Roger Bart as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, the play opened at the Hilton Theater, New York City on November 8, 2007. Instead the decision was made to have the character rip his skin off to reveal the werewolf form underneath, going with the idea that the beast "comes from within".