Dracula (R)
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This movie came out in 1979, but I didn't see it until 2025. It's based partly on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, and partly on a stage adaptation from 1924, but there's a fair amount of stuff about the film that differs from the source material. Most of the time, it almost seems like the movie is in black & white, which feels fitting. Really the colors are just desaturated, but at least some of the time I could notice them, if only barely. Apparently the original theatrical release had brighter colors, but I think the muted colors are better for the overall gloomy feel of the story.

Wikipedia says it's set in 1913, but I didn't see any indication of the precise year in the film. It was obviously set in the early 20th century, though, because most people used horses & carriages, but there were some cars. It begins with a storm-tossed ship washing up on the English shore, so right there we see a large portion of the book has been entirely cut. The whole crew is dead, and there was a wolf onboard, which I thought was separate from Dracula himself (Frank Langella), but maybe it was him. Meanwhile, we meet Lucy Seward (Kate Nelligan), who in this adaptation is the daughter of Dr. Jack Seward (Donald Pleasence). Her friend Mina Van Helsing is visiting them for awhile, apparently to recover from an illness, though she doesn't seem all that ill to me. On the night of the ship crash, Mina goes down to the beach, where she sees a wolf, and for some reason follows it. Then she finds Dracula lying almost unconscious on the shore (looking to me like he had just transformed from wolf to human, wearing like a fur coat or whatever).

Later, Dracula shows up to a dinner party at the Sewards' home. Lucy dances with him at one point, to the apparent displeasure of her fiancé (and Dracula's solicitor), Jonathan Harker (who of course was Mina's fiancé in the book). Later that night, Lucy sneaks out of the room she shares with Mina and meets up with Jonathan. While she's gone, Dracula climbs down the wall of the mansion to enter Mina's bedroom, where he drinks her blood. The next morning, Mina dies. So Dr. Seward sends a message to Mina's father, who in this movie is Professor Abraham Van Helsing (Laurence Olivier). Soon after he arrives from Paris, he begins to suspect that a vampire was responsible for his daughter's death, of which he eventually convinces Dr. Seward. Meanwhile, Lucy goes to visit Dracula at his home, where they share a passionate night together.

Well, there are lots of details I'm leaving out, including the fact that a man named Renfield is in the film. I don't really know what to say about him, as he seems pretty unimportant to the plot. Like, they just had to include him because he's in the book. (Though I can think of at least one other character from the book who isn't in the movie at all.) I don't want to say too much about how it ends, except that Dracula tries to take Lucy with him to Transylvania, but Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, and Harker give chase. And, yeah, that's all I want to say about the plot. I'm not entirely sure I understand the ending, anyway. But I thought the movie was okay, even with all the changes. I don't expect to find it particularly memorable, but I guess it was worth watching. (I probably found it roughly equal in quality and enjoyability to the 1931 film, which is nevertheless more memorable and iconic than this one.)