Bram Stoker's Dracula (Silent Film Version)

I've been watching a lot of silent movies recently, so I was excited to see this edit. It did not disappoint and moves straight on to my personal list of best-ever-fanedits. The efforts taken to make this look, feel, play and "sound" like a silent movie were brilliantly accurate.

Audio/Video Quality: 10/10
I watched a 720p mkv and it looked fantastic. The pin-sharp blu-ray of the 1931 Dracula and Coppola's version are rendered well. The tinting, iris, fading, borders etc look very authentic

Visual Editing: 9/10
The best thing was seeing the seamless inter-cutting of the 1931 and 1992 films. It helps that Coppola used only silent-era techniques on the 1992 movie.

Audio Editing: 8/10
I'll give it an '8' since there wasn't any soundFX to deal with, or edit. However, the scoring was first class and always felt instep with the images. I didn't listen to the alternate score though but there's always next time!

Narrative: 8/10
It was very well put together and told, plus amiliarity with the famous story makes things easy to follow anyway. I'd have scored this higher if the pace was a bit slower. Longer to read the intertitles and take them in, and then longer to read the actors faces.

Enjoyment: 10/10
As I've said, to watch a fan silent movie, among many original ones was a treat. I'd love to see more fanedits like this, blending films from different eras, within the silent style framework (Hint... Nosferatu 1922, 1979, 2000)

If I had to criticise/nitpick... the text on the intertitles is too small (As I think everyone pointed out already in the ITW thread) and when that is combined with two elaborate fonts, it's not as easy to read as I'd like. Some of the intertitles stay on screen for only just enough time to read them and digest their meaning in context with the surrounding images. Also the tinting could have been pushed further. Many silents seem to have used a blue tint to denote night, or darkness, or used tints to convey setting and place, so I'd have liked to have seen some of that used. The "film particle" FX looked a bit fake at times (They looked like Vegas FX to me). Some genuine 35mm damage would have been better. If this was supposed to be genuinely a silent-era movie, there was way too much nudity (Some fleeting pre-code shots would be fine). These are all small problems though, compared to the overall enjoyment.

It had been years since I'd revisited my copy of BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA. Now, I feel I won't need to again. This fanedit takes Coppola's goregous but flawed movie and reincarnates it using the framing of the original novel and the trappings of a silent film, and in the process creates something that both delights the Stoker purist in me, tantalizes my old horror move buff tendencies, while still holding onto, and in many places enhancing, the sumptuous visuals that made the original film memorable. This will be a treat to return to come Halloween. Bravo!

Being a fan of Coppola's Dracula interpretation and enjoying silent movies from time to time, I was 'dying' to see this edit. And I enjoyed it a lot. Besides the lower frame rate, sepia coloring and added film grain, even the aspect ratio was altered. And sometimes short in-between shots were removed, causing a jump in the 'continued' shot which is also very much a silent-movie characteristic.
I also applaud the insert shots from other Dracula movies (I presume the Legosi and Nosferatu, but I've seen both only once so I can't be sure). Especially replacing Coppola's castle with a more traditional one was to my liking. I respect Coppola's intent to avoid cliche's, but his castle was a bit too original for my taste.
The scene that impressed me most was the encounter between Mina and Dracula, with some shots not only in a different progression but sometimes even backward. Very well done indeed.
On a side note, this version made me aware of how strange the added love story for Dracula and Mina in Bram Stoker's Dracula actually is. After all, why would the count kill off the best friend of his lover, when there are countless (pun intended) other possible victims? This edit strips the story down to what Stoker wrote, and that's enough for an enjoyable outing in vampire-land.
Narrative-wise I have the same quarrel already mentioned by other reviewers: the title cards are too short, making it sometimes difficult to follow. And I also agree with other reviewers that Dracula's death comes to quick. I think that could be mended by adding the shot of the count in his last scene in the church, when he looks up into the light. Add that shot after the title card about how he seemed to smile when he died, and the audience gets a proper goodbye.

Apart from these narrative issues, I think this is a beautiful edit. The music by Glass works also well, which surprised me as I somehow didn't enjoy it in the Lugosi version. I can't however say that I like this version more than Coppola's original, because it is so completely different that it stands wholly on it's own. It's one of the most original, daring and inventive fan-edits I've seen so far - but I wouldn't mind to see a new version with the alterations mentioned above ;)

This is a really good fanedit; I'm a sucker for the idea of presenting/editing a film into a different style than its original form, and this edit is a very very good example of how to go about it.

Audio and video quality are both great - I haven't listened to the complete alternate score, but have no reason to assume there are any problems there.

The video editing is mostly very strong - the use of tinting was very nice, with a number of subtleties that helped sell the effect. Similarly, the styling on the titlecards and fades/transitions were very nice, and the film-aging effect was elegantly restrained, present without drawing undue attention to itself. Unfortunately, there are still some issues - while I really appreciate the font chosen, combined with the font size and titlecard duration it was almost impossible to read the entirety of any titlecards more than 2 lines long. Similarly some of the transitions felt hurried. I don't want to end this part on a negative note, though, so I'll mention here that there were a number of shots that were simply breathtaking as presented here - the flash of lightning when Harker is in the coach on the way to Dracula's castle is but one of many memorable images in this edit.

Narratively, I felt it was very good for someone already familiar with the story and Coppola's film (or Nosferatu, for that matter). The breakneck pace never lets up and actually becomes somewhat disorienting towards the end, with several shots in the climactic chase sequence feeling too short to be effective. Combined with the brevity of the intertitles, I suspect someone new to the material would have a hard time keeping up. In this regard it felt like some of the editing choices were made to suit the running time of the score rather than the narrative, which is rather unfortunate.

It may seem that I'm complaining a lot about this edit; that's not my intention. This edit is definitely worth viewing, flaws notwithstanding - if you like Coppola's film, or Murnau's Nosferatu, you will almost certainly derive a great deal of enjoyment from this edit. The fact that such a high standard has been achieved by a first-time editor is even more commendable; I look forward to seeing whatever Paulisdead turns their hand to next.

Very creative and well done. =)