And now to a more modern adaptation. If you have seen The Simpsons’ Halloween take on Dracula, this is why Burns has that hair.

“Wallachia, Romania, 1462. After defeating the Ottomans’ hordes, Vlad III Dracula, the invincible Romanian monarch, tastes the unbearable pain of loss. Four centuries later, a successful real estate deal brings the Transylvanian count to bustling late-nineteenth-century London, where he searches for Mina, a woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to his late wife. However, with Mina’s solicitor fiancé Jonathan Harker imprisoned in the demonic aristocrat’s impregnable castle, helpless victims fall victim to the dark lord’s unquenchable lust for blood. In response to the spreading evil, undaunted vampire killer Professor Abraham Van Helsing emerges, promising to liberate the world from Dracula’s tyranny. Once, love cursed Vlad to walk among the living for all eternity. Aeons later, will love mark Dracula’s end?”

For those who have never seen the movie, the special effects are excellent. Except for Keanu Reeves, all of the actors give a great performance. One note, this movie falls into the trope that vampires drinking blood is visually connected to sex, so be aware.

For this movie, I have four thoughts I would like to talk about.

Firstly, Renfield. This man is a strange mash-up of the Renfield from the book and the Renfield in the Universal movie. Like in the book, Renfield is 59, has an obsession with eating the life force in flies and spiders, and is able to sense when Dracula is near. From the Universal version of this character comes the idea that Renfield was sent to Transylvania before Jonathan Harker, which begs the question. What did Dracula do to Renfield?

Secondly, here are some of the things they pull from the book. Specifically, the fact that they keep some of the diary entries and letters, and it is interesting how they preserve so much of the original dialogue. Also, all three of Lucy’s suitors are in this movie. Where this movie shifts things is the fact that in this movie Lucy seems to be gaining some vampiric powers, specifically hearing, this leads to Doctor Steward considering whether she needs to be committed.

Thirdly, the blood drinking is connected to sex. I know that this is not the only movie that does this, but it still feels weird. This idea is so glaring because I have just come from Universal’s Dracula, a movie, where we fade to black before we see Dracula feed on people, so going from that to people writhing on the floor when their blood is being drained is a trip.

Fourthly, the invented backstory for Dracula in this movie is fascinating because his lost love is at the heart of everything. He becomes a vampire by denying the Christian God in a grief-stricken madness, and in the movie, when he realizes that his love has been reborn, he seems to change at least some of his plans. Like I have said before, every adaptation of Dracula has some sort of romance between him and either Lucy or Mina, but this romance feels sad. It makes sense that Mina kills Dracula herself.

Thank you for joining me for this, and until next week.

Happy reading to all, and to all a good night.