Bram Stoker's Dracula

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Polish composer Wojciech Kilar introduced himself to the world of cinema when he entered Hollywood with Dracula, Francis Ford Coppola's version of Bram Stoker's tale. The score now stands as the classic when it concerns the list of Kilar and is indeed a very good score. I haven't always been a big fan of horror tales but the classical approach by Kilar made the movie successive and the score intriguing. Bram Stoker's Dracula offers you almost 50 minutes of interesting quality music, perhaps a bit too classical influenced for my liking but overall it is still the dynamic use of choir that raises the stakes. And apart from Annie Lennox's out of place song and a giant terrifying mood setter, the score is as intriguing as it is scary. From that day on Wojciech Kilar sort of inspired me to more of his work and it is easy to see I have picked up the seeds of that testament, Dracula is one for sure.

The first track already sets the mood of this score with a strong footprint, 'Dracula / The Beginning' offers the listener a very unsatisfying moment of music, through it you encounter the sharp strings, the moody cello and the solemn voice that supports the dark music. In latter stages this will become Mina's love theme but still by then it actually is the main love theme (Mina as Dracula's deceased wife). The track ends with dark choral menace. 'Vampire Hunters' is one of today's hot trailer picks, used for instance in both Mummy trailers, a dark powerful march that stirs the interest even more. 'Mina's Photo', 'Love Remembered', 'Mina / Dracula' and 'Love Eternal' all feature a good use of the Mina love theme, a romantic somber theme that does the movie justice but I feel hardly sets me on fire. I rather liked the menacing use of orchestra and choir, 'The Storm' is a brilliant display of choir, between it a vocal voice haunts the score and even a distinct twinkling motif starts to hypnotize you for sure. This thematic hypnotism was first discovered in 'Lucy's Party'. Also one to remember is 'The Hunt Builds' which offers a combination of the love theme with the dark march, it is a very interesting effect at the end.

But as I already encountered with The Ninth Gate and of course with other Kilar scores, it is the classical approach that holds me a bit back in over enthusiasm. I mean, this soundtrack is truly one of the better horror soundtracks and mainly doesn't offer a set of dissonance but I lost parts of this score, partly due to the hypnotic music, partly due because they didn't inspire me that much. But that is more my own uninteresting nature then the quality of the music, so people with a knack for Kilar shouldn't panic about that fact. Two things to mention though, the Annie Lennox song isn't bad but fails completely when it concerns the overall mood with Kilar's score and one terrifying cue is mixed during the presentation of the score to give you score fans a real scare. Track 12 'The Ring of Fire' is a complete atmospheric nightmare scene which offers you almost laughing children (at an ugly way), terrified horses and a wolf in a full surround sound system. Those who like a scare or two should try to remain calm when they close the doors and put out the lights. Anyway, this doesn't bother the score that much and overall, Bram Stoker's Dracula is an intriguing listen, but more a stunning score when combined with Coppola's movie.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Dracula / The Beginning (6.40)

2. Vampire Hunters (3.05) Excellent Track

3. Mina's Photo (1.24)

4: Lucy's Party (2.56)

5. The Brides (4.56)

6: The Storm (5.04) Excellent Track

7. Love Remembered (4.10)

8. The Hunt Builds (3.25)

9. The Hunters Prelude (1.29)

10. The Green Mist (0.54)

11. Mina / Dracula (4.47)

12. The Ring Of Fire (1.51)

13. Love Eternal (2.22)

14. Ascension (0.50)

15. End Credits (6.42)

16. Love Song For A Vampire: Annie Lennox (4.20)

Total Length: 55.09

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=== Link to Composer Site: Wojciech Kilar ===