Coppola's Dracula

JP with Jaxx, Trustno1 and Cindy

Spoiler Alert: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

"We could try Coppola's Dracula before going to bed." said Sartre.

"If everyone's up for it, sure." Alyssa responded. Having had that nap earlier meant she was still pretty awake. They could do the Howling another night.

"The fans actually rooted for Dracula in this movie." said Sartre."What are your favorite horror movies Alyssa?" asked Sartre.

"I prefer suspenseful movies, over straight horror. Misery was really good." Alyssa commented.

Agent Powers swallowed his popcorn and washed it down with a bottle of water. Then he said, "I'm fine with whatever. We have too many choices in a short time anyway." Ekaterina elegantly smiled as she took a popcorn from the bucket Agent Powers was eating from and delicately ate it with a grin. Then after she swallowed it she said, "I am fine either way, as long as we don't stay up too late.”

"Well, then let's make Coppola's the last one for tonight." Alyssa commented.

In 1462, Vlad Dracula returns from a victory in his campaign against the Ottoman Empire to find his beloved wife Elisabeta has committed suicide after his enemies falsely reported his death. A priest of the Romanian Orthodox Church tells him that his wife's soul is damned to Hell for committing suicide. Enraged, Vlad desecrates the chapel and renounces the Christian God, declaring he will rise from the grave to avenge Elisabeta with all the powers of darkness. He then drives his sword into the chapel's stone cross and drinks the blood that pours from it, becoming a vampire.

In 1897, solicitor Jonathan Harker takes the Transylvanian Count Dracula as a client from his colleague R. M. Renfield, who has gone insane and is now an inmate in Dr. Jack Seward's asylum. Jonathan travels to Dracula's castle in Transylvania to arrange Dracula's real estate acquisitions in London. There, he meets Dracula, who finds a picture of his fiancée Mina Murray and believes she is the reincarnation of Elisabeta. Dracula leaves Jonathan to be fed upon by his brides, while he sails to England with Transylvanian soil, taking up residence at Carfax Abbey.

In London, Dracula hypnotically seduces and bites Mina's best friend Lucy Westenra, with whom Mina is staying while Jonathan is in Transylvania. Lucy's deteriorating health and behavioral changes prompt former suitors Quincey Morris and Dr. Seward, along with her fiancé Arthur Holmwood to summon Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, Seward's mentor, who recognizes Lucy as being the victim of a vampire. Dracula, appearing young and handsome during daylight, meets and charms Mina. Mina develops feelings for Dracula, accompanying him on several outings. When Mina receives word from Jonathan—who has escaped the castle and recovered at a convent—she travels to Romania to marry him. A heartbroken Dracula transforms Lucy into a vampire. Van Helsing, Holmwood, Seward, and Morris kill the undead Lucy the following night.

After he and Mina return to London, Jonathan and Van Helsing lead the others to Carfax Abbey, where they destroy the Count's boxes of soil. Dracula enters the asylum and kills Renfield for warning Mina of his presence. He visits Mina, who is staying in Seward's quarters, and confesses that he murdered Lucy and has been terrorizing Mina's friends. Though furious at first, Mina admits that she still loves him and remembers Elisabeta's previous life; at her insistence, Dracula begins transforming her into a vampire. The hunters burst into the bedroom, and Dracula claims Mina as his bride before escaping. As Mina changes, Van Helsing hypnotizes her and learns via her connection with Dracula that he is sailing home in his last remaining box. The hunters depart for Varna to intercept him, but Dracula reads Mina's mind and evades them. The hunters split up; Van Helsing and Mina travel to the Borgo Pass and the castle, while the others try to stop the Romani transporting Dracula.

At night, Van Helsing and Mina are approached by Dracula's brides. Mina succumbs to their chanting and attempts to seduce Van Helsing. Before Mina can feed on his blood, Van Helsing places a communion wafer on her forehead, leaving a mark that slows her transformation. He surrounds them with a ring of fire to protect them from the brides, then kills the brides the following morning. Dracula's carriage arrives at the castle, pursued by the hunters. A fight between the hunters and Romani ensues. Morris is fatally stabbed in the back and Dracula bursts from his coffin at sunset. Jonathan slits his throat with a kukri knife while Morris stabs him in the heart. Van Helsing and Jonathan allow Mina to retreat with the Count while Morris dies in the arms of Seward, comforted by his friends.

In the chapel where he renounced God, Dracula lies dying. He and Mina share a kiss as the candles adorning the chapel light up and the cross repairs itself. Dracula reverts to his younger self and asks Mina to give him peace. Mina thrusts the knife through his heart and as he dies, the mark on her forehead disappears freeing her from his curse. She then decapitates him and gazes up at a fresco of Vlad and Elisabeta ascending to heaven together, finally reunited.

Ekaterina sipped her water through a straw and swallowed it before she said, "Such a dark romance. It reminds me of Shakespeare." Agent Powers gave Ekaterina a smolder and then asked, "As in the fishing rods?" Ekaterina elegantly looked at Agent Powers and paused to gauge his comment. Then she elegantly smiled as she answered, "I was referring to the English playwright, poet and actor that lived in the late 1500's. He wrote a lot of plays with twisted endings." Agent Powers nodded as he replied, "Oh my bad. History is not my strong point." Ekaterina elegantly smiled as she said, "Its okay Mr. Powers. We all have things we are not good with.”

"It is very Shakespearean. Romeo and Juliet. In that whole bounded beyond death. Maybe, a little King Lear thrown in." Alyssa stated. She finished the last of her popcorn and drank the last of her water.