From the moment Dracula (Oldman) trails a bloodied razor across his tongue with a look of ecstasy, you know that this version, going back to source in Stoker's novel, isn't going to offer a silver-tongued bloodsucker hovering over swooning damsels. In the opening sequences, Dracula's soul-mate Elisabeta (Ryder) commits suicide in the mistaken belief that he had died in battle. Forsaking God, he seems doomed to an endless existence of guilt and loneliness, until lawyer Jonathan Harker (Reeves) shows him a picture of his fiancée, who just happens to be the spitting image of Elisabeta. A gorgeous, stylised adaptation, full of visual tricks and dazzling camerawork, this places the emphasis firmly on perverse, rampant eroticism. Equally forceful is Oldman's extraordinary performance, especially in his older guise, complete with bouffant hairdo and elongated fingers. In contrast to Hopkins' aggressive performance as vampire-hunter Van Helsing, a stupefied Reeves puts in a hopeless show of defiance. This lack of a convincing central dynamic leads to the occasional sense that the film is little more than a spectacular edifice, but you'll be too spellbound to resist seduction.

This is probably the sexiest version of Dracula I have seen. Granted I had a bit of a thing for one of the Draculas in the 50s or 60s version when I was younger...but Gary Oldman presents a very interesting and multi-dimensional Dracula indeed! Some may even complain that this movie may have paved the beginnings of sparkly, romantic vampires and other monsters! Winona Ryder was stunning as usual as the female protagonist in the movie, and Keanu Reeves was okay. I liked the manically nerdy Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing. The director made this Dracula film seem like a Shakespeare work or something! And that scene where the girl in the red dress walks/floats around the garden- unforgettable! The music is so good that American Horror Story kept using the scary theme repeatedly. Rave rave rave...